FMST 005. First-Year Seminar: Special Effects and Film Spectacle

Focusing on the history and theory of spectacular media culture with an emphasis on visual effects and other forms of behind-the-scenes industrial knowledge, this class introduces students to the basics of studying and writing about spectacle in film, television, and digital entertainment, exploring questions such as the relationship between style and technology; formal and narrative principles of “showstoppers” such as musical numbers and fight scenes; and issues of realism and illusion, visual pleasure, sensory immersion, capitalism, cultural worth, and ideology.
Humanities.
Writing course.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Film and Media Studies
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/film-media-studies

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