Description
This course explores the elements of modern drama and film, including dramatic structure, theatrical spectacle, cinematography, conflict, characterization, aesthetics, acting, and directing. Students view a small number of films by directors such as Martin Scorsese, Julie Taymor, Francis and Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Quentin Tarantino, Susanne Bier, the Coen Brothers, Kathryn Bigelow, Alejandro González Iñárritu, or Christopher Nolan and read a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) or Diablo Cody (Juno). They consider Sondheim’s musical adaptation of Sweeney Todd and discuss several plays, choosing from such dramatists as August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, Lorraine Hansberry, Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Adrienne Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Caryl Churchill, Arthur Miller, Theresa Rebeck, and Yasmina Reza.