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Courses by Haim Calev, Ph.D. |
Postmodrnistic
Esthetics in Cinema
DR. HAIM CALEV
Course Description
Examination of esthetic principles in cinematic expression, ensuing from Postmodernistic
visions. Critical analysis of the relationship between the notion of
"meta-narrative" in cultural studies and "narrative" in
film. Intertextuality as citation, simulation, collage and pastiche,
metafictional and parodical observation of the fictional word, neglecting
hierarchies of popular and sublime, playing with genre conventions and their
parodical juggling, importing 'ready to wear' narrative systems instead of
original dramatization to illustrate the repetitive nature of human experience.
The course is based on film analysis.
Time and Space in
Cinema and Theater - Seminar
(Semesters 1 and 2)
DR. HAIM CALEV
Course Description
A study of the artistic organization of screen time and of stage time as means
of dramatic representation, ideological articulation and emotive effectiveness.
Correspondingly, a study of the organization of cinematic space in creating
patterns of cinematic expression and of stage space in creating theatrically
conventions. The comparative study of cinematic and theatrical time and space
should lead to an understanding of the specific expressive powers of the two
media. The course will be based on film analysis and the analysis of theater
shows.
Representation of
Interior Life in Cinema and Literature
DR. HAIM CALEV
Course Description
Striving to represent the characters' interior lives, parallel strategies have
been developed in cinema and in literature, despite their diverse medial means.
The most prominent strategy in both arts is the representation of interior
processes through external events which provide an analogy to the interior flow
and serve as its objective correlative. In addition, both arts strive to create
techniques of direct representation of thoughts and emotions by simulating the
stream of ideas in the characters' minds through medially available materials
and structures. A comparative study of cinematic and literary practices will
illustrate potentialities and deficiencies of each of the two arts in such
representation. The course will be based on film analysis and the analysis of
literary texts.
Narrative Dynamics
in Literature, Theater and Cinema
DR. HAIM CALEV
Course Description
A comparative study of different medial approaches in facing common narrative
challenges in the three major mimetic arts. Established medial conventions are
examined in practices of narrative selection, narrative succession,
characterization, patterns of repetition and the deliberate creation of
narrative gaps which invite active participation by the reader or the
spectator. Comparing the narrative dynamics of the three arts helps define
their unique rhetorical powers. The course is based on the analysis of
literary, theatrical and cinematic texts.
Stream of
Consciousness in Cinema and
Literature
DR. HAIM CALEV
Course Description
Cinematic and literary representations of mental processes come from an
awareness of the drama that takes place within the individual's consciousness.
Striving to express it, both media share the following assumptions: the
coexistence of past, present and future in the character's mind and their
manifestation in every moment of experience; the coexistence of the factual and
the imaginary and their equal weight in the mind; the constant flow of ideas
and their appearance according to the principle of free association; the
frequent deviation from a linear succession to a seemingly chaotic and
incoherent succession, which eventually reveals private implications; the
accumulation of private significance around enigmatic images and the creation
of personal symbols. Literary techniques will be presented through texts by
Joyce, Wolf, Gnessin and Yizhar. Cinematic techniques will be presented through
films by Resnais, Polanski, Bunuel, Bergman, Fellini , Taviani and others. A comparative
study of cinematic and literary practices will pinpoint the potentialities of
each of the two arts in striving to represent the mental flow in the individual
mind.