Teaching code

4S008748

Teacher

Gianluca Solla

Coordinator

Gianluca Solla

Credits

3

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/01 - THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY

Period

Sem. 1A dal Sep 23, 2024 al Oct 31, 2024.

Erasmus students

Not available

Courses Single

Not Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

Workshop on Philosophy and Cinema
The Workshop of Philosophy and Cinema aims to specifically develop contemporary philosophical research focusing on cinema and related issues. Though it mainly employs philosophical methodologies, it also resorts to use elements and conceptual tools coming from other disciplines, such as psychoanalysis, anthropology, history of culture, and visual studies.
Particular attention will be given to the development of the following skills:
- Understanding the status of art and its political implications;
- Ability to compare peculiar aspects of thought with contemporary themes and / or authors;
- Ability to formulate independent judgments on the genesis, nature and meaning of the issues addressed during the courses.

Prerequisites and basic notions

The Laboratory in Philosophy and Cinema does not provide prerequisites, other than the willingness of each student to combine the fundamental questions of philosophy with the basic notions of cinema and video-art that will be addressed during the meetings.

Program

Gesture, Figure
The focus on body poses and movements is a characteristic that can be traced back to the origins of cinema. A rough notion of gesture can indeed be found in the chronophotographic experi- ments of Étienne Jules Marey and Eadweard Muybridge; these experiments involved the analysis of the postures, movements and expressions of bodies, with a particular attention on the dynamic structure of the human body as a temporal order. What is most striking about a cinematic gesture is that it tran- scends the pure action-reaction dynamic. Instead, it converts the action into a figure of expression. The very notion of the cinematic character could thus be understood as the figure that emerges from the multiplicity of its gestures, which define – or draw – the variable space of its identity.
However, gesture is not a sign exclusively bound to the human figure. Indeed, one could also speak of the gesture of a landsca- pe – the swaying of a tree branch moved by the wind – which, once represented on the screen, breaks the usual configuration of perception and perspective of the landscape itself. Conse- quently, the film transforms the landscape into something other than itself precisely because it is constructed within the medial frame of cinema. When Jean Epstein, in the 1920s, sought to formalize the idea of “photogeny”, he did so precisely by attri- buting to cinema the expressive capacity to transform natural and profilmic event into a gesture.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

1. Theoretical meetings with discussion;
2. seminar meetings starting from the viewing of film material;
3. group work in the classroom;
4. discussion with the guests of the laboratory.
* PER LA SUA CARATTERISTICA IL LABORATORIO SI SVOLGE ESCLUSIVAMENTE IN PRESENZA, NON E' PREVISTA ALCUNA REGISTRAZIONE.

Learning assessment procedures

There is no exam, but a free participation in group work and discussion. Those who, for unavoidable reasons, find themselves in the conditions of not being able to attend the Laboratory experience, will contact the teacher at the end of the Laboratory to agree on a replacement written research.

Evaluation criteria

No evaluation, only partecipation

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

There is no grade, only an approval of the coursework with a minimum of 70 percent attendance or a replacement paper.

Exam language

Italiano