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TheEvolutionofChineseCinemaandtheChineseFilmIndustryIntensivecourse,ZhejiangUniversity

Generaloutline

TheChinesefilmmarketisbynowthesecondlargestfilmmarketafterHollywoodandits

figuresarerapidlygrowing.However,fromthe1950suntilthemid-1990stheChinesefilm

industrywasastateindustrythatwasnotgeneratingmuchprofit.Whichwerethemain

phasesoftransitionfromastateindustrytooneofthemajorplayersintheglobalbusiness?

Moreover,Chinesefilms–fromtheearlyscreeningsattheShanghaiteahousestorecent

globallysuccessfultitles–haveraisedquestionsofnationalandculturalidentity.Howhave

filmsarticulatedthenarrativeofChinaacrossthe20thand21stcenturies?HowhaveChinese

filmscirculatednationallyandabroad?

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Throughthelensofasetoffilms,thecoursewillexamineChinesefilmandthefilmindustry

atdifferentmomentsinthedevelopmentofChinesecinema(s).Withoutfollowingastrict

historiography/chronologicalperspective,thedifferenttopicswillbeapproachedfroma

multidisciplinaryperspectivesoastoincludediscussionoftransnationalChinesecinema,

earlycosmopolitanismandcontemporaryglobalfilmcirculation.

Thecourseisplannedasaone-weekintensivecourseforScandinavianMAstudentsinChina

Studies,andcountsasatotalof5ECTS(135hours).ItwilltakeplaceataChineseuniversity

campusandwillbeco-taughtbyoneteacherfromtheChineseuniversityandoneteacher

fromaScandinavianuniversity.ThelanguagesofinstructionwillbeChineseandEnglish.

PrerequisitesItisassumedthatstudents:

• ReadandspeakModernStandardChinese(Putonghua)atalevelcorrespondingtothe

requirementsforaBAdegreeinChinaStudiesataScandinavianuniversity

• HavecomprehensiveknowledgeofChinesecultureandsociety

• Haveabasicinterestandknowledgeofculturalstudyresearchmethods

AimsofthecourseThemainaimsofthecourseare:

• thatstudentsachieveabasicunderstandingoftheevolutionofChinesecinemaandtheChinesefilmindustry

• thatstudentscanproblematisevisualnarratives/filmmodes/historicalphasesin

Chinesefilmhistoryinconnectiontosocial/political/economicdynamics

• thatstudentscandiscussmedia/filmswithappropriateterminology

• thatstudentsgetabasicgraspofmajorfilmstudiesframeworks(i.e.filmindustryframework,aestheticframework,socio-culturalframework)

• thatstudentscanrelatefilmsandvisualculturetodifferentaspectsofChineseculture

andsociety

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Courseoutline

Time Theme/Title Material

DayOneMorningsession

WelcomeandPresentationIntroductiontoChinesecinema(1):fromtheperspectiveofthefilmindustry

A) WhydoesChinesecinemamatter(domesticallyandglobally)?B) Which are the key moments in the evolution of the

contemporaryChinesefilmindustry?Discussionofthemainstakeholdersinthefilmbusiness,examplesofdomesticblockbusters,co-productionstrategiesandtransnationalfilms.Connectedtopics:internationalfilmfestivals,Chineseandglobalstardom.

FocusontheChinesefilmindustryandglobalentertainmentbusiness(Singh2011,DeValck2007,Chua2012).Excerptsfromvariousfilms.

Lunchbreak

Afternoonsession

IntroductiontoChinesecinema(2):fromtheperspectiveofthefilmhistoriography

A) SomepossibleperiodisationinChinesefilmhistoryandissuesrelatedtothisperspectiveofanalysis.

Groupwork/ReviewofthetopicsHowChinesemedia(blogs,informationportals,traditionalmedia)promoteChinesefilms.Differentapproachestomarketingoftheentertainmentbusinesswillbediscussed.WhicharethemosteffectivemarketingtoolsinChinaandwithonlinefilmservices?Summaryoftheactivityoftheday:approachingcinemafromtheperspectiveofthefilmindustry.

FocusonChinesefilmhistoryandvariousmethodologicalapproaches(Zhang).

DayTwoMorningsession

Students’discussionandpresentationoftheresultsofTuesday’sonlinesearch.ComparativeanalysisofthefilmindustryinChinaandabroad.EarlyShanghaicosmopolitanismandthefilmsceneChineseearlycinemaanditsinternationalconnections,earlystardomandculturaldebates.

SearchforearlyfilmsonlineandChinese-relatedacademicarticles.FuYongchun,PoshekFu,2003.陆弘石,2005.

Lunchbreak

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Afternoonsession

ScreeningScreeningofanearlyChinesefilm(titletobeconfirmed)Workgroup:DiscussionandelementsoffilmanalysisInaworkshopform,studentswillbeguidedinhowtodiscussafilmintermsofitscinematicelementsandinrelationtothesocialcontext.Summaryoftheactivityoftheday:approachingcinemafromtheperspectiveoffilmstudies.

DayThreeMorningsession

DiscussionoftheanalysisofoneearlyChinesefilm(students’choice)-analysis-approach-references(howtousevisualandtextualreferences)Chinesecinemabetweenartandmarket(1)LinesofdevelopmentoftheChinesefilmsceneafterthe1990s:analysisofdifferentexamplesoffilm“auteurs”,commercialdirectors,filmgenresandChineseblock-busters.

Bringtoclassadraft(2-3pages)ofafilmanalysisofanearlyChinesefilmandrelatedreferences(Chinesearticles,onlinematerials,visualreferences,etc).

ZhouXuelin,2007.ElenaPollacchi,2008.

Lunchbreak

Afternoonsession

Workshop:developthetopicsandmethodologyoftermpapersIngroups,studentswillselecttwoChinesefilmsthattheythinkexemplifycontrastingapproachestocinema(i.e.moreorientedtowardsfilmartormoreorientedtothemarket),anddeveloptheirownanalysisanddiscussionoftheselectedworksintermsofthefilmindustryperspectiveand/orfilmstudiesperspectives.

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DayFourMorningsession

Chinesecinemabetweenartandmarket(1):expansionoffilmactivities-Strategiesofglobalvisibility:thecaseoftheBeijingInternationalFilmFestivalHowChinahasimportedthemodeloftheglobalfilmevent.Chinesecinemabetweenartandmarket(2):expansionoffilmactivitiesThecaseofChineseauthors(JiaZhangke,DiaoYinan,etc).

Studentswillfurtherdeveloptheirtermpapers:--Questions-Problems

Pickowicz&Zhang,2006.

Lunchbreak

Afternoonsession

Filmactivityand/orguestvisit(tbc)–thisactivitymightchangetime/dateaccordingtotheavailabilityofguestsduringtheweek.

DayFiveMorningsession

Discussion:ThechallengesoftheChinesefilmindustryanditsexpansionOnthebasisofthevariousapproachesadoptedduringthecourse,thisfinallecturewilllookatthemostrecentdebates/studiesinrelationtotheChinesefilmindustry.WhicharethechallengesthatthesectorisfacinginviewofthechangesrelatedtotheWTOagreement?HowistheChinesefilm(andentertainment)sectorexpandingthroughothervisualsupports(mobilephones,tablets,etc.)?WhatistheimpactontraditionalfilmproductionandhowwillitaffecttheChineseaudiencevis-à-vistheinternationalaudience?-Examinationrequirements

Allarticlesandfilmsonthereadinglistshouldbecompleted.

Lunchbreak

Afternoonsession

Studentpresentationsofthedraftsinviewofthetermpapers.Thecoursewillbeconcludedwithabriefoverviewoftheinter-relatedfieldswhichhavenotbeendiscussedindetailsuchasanimation,documentaryfilms,TVseries,etc.Wrapupandevaluationofthecourse.

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Learningactivities

Thecoursecombineslectures,screeningsandgroupdiscussionsheldinEnglishandChinese

withafieldtrip.Studentswillbegivenassignmentstopreparebeforeeachrespectiveclass

session.Basedonthecourseandthefieldtrip,thestudentsarerequiredtopresentideasfor

afinalpaperonthelastdayofthecourseandtohandinafinalessayatalaterdateviaemail.

AttendanceiscompulsoryaccordingtotheregulationsoftheChineseuniversityandstudents

areexpectedtocometoclasseswellprepared.Studentswillreceivethelistofreadingsabout

onemonthbeforethecoursestartsandareexpectedtohavereadatleastthemandatory

textsbeforethebeginningofthecourse.

Courserequirements/examination

The students’ performance during the course, including active class attendance, written

assignments,andthefinalpaper,counttowardsthefinalgradeforthecourse.Exampapers

mustbe8-10pages includingreferencesandnotes(2300characterswithspacesperpage).

Thepaperhastoinclude:a)anintroductionpresentingthetopicandtheoreticalapproaches;

b)abriefsectionpresentingtheselectionoffilmsorwrittentextsrelevantforthetopic;c)2-3

sectionspresentinganddiscussingthedataandthetopic;d)asectiontitled“conclusion”with

the1-3mainresults(conclusions)ofthepaper;e)a“listofreferences”thatincludeatleast5

academicsourcesthatareusedinthepaper.Onlypapersincludingallofthesepointswillbe

abletopass,andpaperswillbegradedpassed/notpassed.

CourseMaterial

Bordwell,DavidandThompson,Kristin,FilmArt:Anintroduction(9thed)(McGrawHillEducation,2010)Cook,Pam(ed.)TheCinemaBook(3rded.)(BFI,2007)Dix,Andrew,BeginningFilmStudies(ManchesterUniversityPress,2008).FuYongchun,“From‘parrot’to‘butterfly’:China'shybridizationofHollywoodindistributionsystemsinthe1920sand1930s”,JournalofChineseCinemas,8:1,1-16.Gibbs,John,Mise-en-scène:FilmStyleandInterpretation(WallflowerPress,2002)Hill,JohnandChurchGibson,Pamela,(eds.)OxfordGuidetoFilmStudies(OxfordUniversityPress,1998)

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陆弘石,中国�电影史㸦1905-1049㸧，中国早期电影的叙述与记忆，文艺术出版社，2005年，附录部分的影人访谈.Monaco,James,HowtoReadaFilm(OxfordUniversityPress,2009)Nelmes,Jill,(ed.)AnIntroductiontoFilmStudies(Routledge,2007)Perkins,V.F.,FilmasFilm:UnderstandingandJudgingMovies(DaCapoPress,1993)Pickowicz,PaulandYinjingZhang,FromUndergroundtoIndependent,Oxford:Rowman&Littlefield,2006,pp.1-41.Pollacchi,Elena,‘TheSoundoftheCity:ChineseFilmsofthe1990sandUrbanNoise’,inE.WilsonandA.Webber(eds),CitiesinTransition.TheMovingImageandtheModernMetropolis,London:WallflowerPress,2008,pp.193-204.PoshekFu,BetweenShanghaiandHongKong,Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,2003,pp.1-50.[Chinesetext]，京大学出版社，�双城故事�傅葆石，25-96页。LinktodownloadtheChinesetext:http://pan.baidu.com/s/1dDdPNO1Stam,Robert,FilmTheory:AnIntroduction(Blackwell,2000)White,PatriciaandCorrigan,Timothy,TheFilmExperience(2Nded)(PalgraveMacmillan,2009)ZhangYinjing,XiaoZhiwei(eds.),EncyclopediaofChineseFilm,LondonandNewYork,Routledge,1998.[Historicalintroduction,pp.3-30ZhouXuelin,YoungRebelsinContemporaryChineseCinema,HongKong:HongKongUniversityPress,2007,ch.4pp.105-134.Selectedessaysfromthevolume:SongHweeLim,JulianWard(acuradi),TheChineseCinemaBook,London:BFI2011;PART1THEORIESIntroduction(pp.1-5);C.Berry,“TransnationalChineseCinemaStudies”(pp.9-16);Y.Zhang,“NationalCinemaasTranslocalPractice:ReflectionsonChineseFilmHistoriography”(pp.17-25);PART2TOPICSW.Larson,“TheFifthGeneration”(pp.113-121);JasonMcGrath,“UndergroundandIndependentFilmsfromthePRC”(pp.167-175);YomiBraester,“ContemporaryMainstreamPRCCinema”(pp.176-184);

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Selectedessaysfromthevolume:ZhangZhen(ed.)TheUrbanGeneration.ChineseCinemaattheTurnoftheTwenty-firstCentury,DurhamandLondon:DukeUniversityPress,2007:ZhangZhen,“BearingWitness.ChineseUrbanCinemaintheEraof‘Transformation’(Zhuanxing)”(pp.1-45);JasonMcGrath,“TheIndependentCinemaofJiaZhangke:FromPostsocialistRealismtoaTransnationalAesthetic”(pp.81-114).