Film
About Us
The study of film is primarily concerned with motion picture history, theory, and criticism. These areas are approached through intensive critical analysis of individual films, through research into the primary documents of filmmakers and the film industry, and through the construction of theoretical models of film forms and styles, national cinemas, film genres, and the economics of the film industry. Film production is meant primarily for students studying history, theory, and criticism as a way to enhance their understanding of the practical decisions filmmakers confront. The program is not designed for students whose sole interest is in film production.
The Program
A weekly graduate student/faculty colloquium gives students the opportunity to present their own work and to hear guest lecturers from a range of disciplinary perspectives, often in cooperation with other departmental areas. We also use this time to present information and facilitate discussions of publishing, conference presentations, and the job search process.
For degree requirements and other detailed program information, please consult the graduate handbook.
Opportunities
A weekly graduate student/faculty colloquium gives students the opportunity to present their own work and to hear guest lecturers from a range of disciplinary perspectives, often in cooperation with other departmental areas. We also use this time to present information and facilitate discussions of publishing, conference presentations, and the job search process.
The Velvet Light Trap is a semi-annual journal publishing work on film, television, and other media. It is edited entirely by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the University of Texas-Austin.
The study of film, media and culture is enhanced at Madison by the presence of significant resources that aid critical inquiry and research. In particular, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, founded in 1960, is one of the leading US centers for archival documentation in film, television, radio and theater history, housing 20,000 motion pictures, television shows, and videotapes; 2 million still photographs and promotional graphics; and hundreds of primary-document collections from major production companies, directors, screenwriters, actors, producers, and designers.
Three nights a week, our amazing, professionally programmed, free Cinematheque showcases rare archival prints, art films, and popular works from around the world. Equipped with state-of-the-art projectors (all formats and DCP) and a stunning sound system, our departmental theater ranks as one of the finest screening rooms in the nation.
Offered Courses
- Film Culture (K. Conway)
- Film Festivals (K. Conway)
- Francophone Feminist Film: Varda, Akerman, Denis (K. Conway)
- French Film (K. Conway)
- Global Art Cinema (K. Conway)
- Globalization and French National Cinema (K. Conway)
- Women and Film (K. Conway)
- Documentary Film and TV Production (A. Greer)
- Introduction to Film and Video Production (A. Greer)
- Screen Directing (A. Greer)
- Writing for TV and Film (A. Greer)
- American Film Industry in the Era of the Studio System (E. Hoyt)
- Digital Media Production for Graduate Students (E. Hoyt)
- Film Historiography (E. Hoyt)
- Gender, Sexuality and the Media (D. Mini)
- Transnational Film and Media Ecologies (D. Mini)
- Seminar: Transnational Media Ecologies (D. Mini)
- Colonial Film and Photography: Visualizing Empire (D. Mini)
- Indian Cinema in the US and Beyond (D. Mini)
- Migrant Media and Diasporic Imaginations (D. Mini)
- Film Theory (D. Mini)
- The Coen Brothers and Their Influences (J. Smith)
- Critical Film Analysis (J. Smith)
- Cognitive Film Theory (J. Smith)
- Black American Cinema (J. Smith)
- Contemporary Hollywood (J. Smith)
- Film Noir (J. Smith)
- Film Sound: Theory and History (J. Smith)
- Hollywood Film Score (J. Smith)
FILM FACULTY
Kelley Conway: My research focuses on French film history and aesthetics, film authorship and modes of production, film culture, and national and transnational cinema.
Jonathan Gray: I study streaming television, qualitative audience studies, textuality and paratextuality, comedy, and political entertainment.
Aaron Greer: My creative work focuses on narratives exploring identity formation or investigations of history through personal lenses, and my documentary work often involves collaboration with performing artists and an examination of the creative process.
Eric Hoyt: Archives, media industries, digital humanities. Film, radio, television. I save and share collections of media history in physical and digital form.
Derek Johnson: Media industries across the boundaries of TV, film, games, comics, and consumer products. I ask how long-term investment in shared media culture produces struggle over creativity and the future.
Darshana Sreedhar Mini: My research examines film and media through feminist political economy and transnational frameworks, with a focus on labor, migration, and visual culture across South and Southeast Asia.
Jeff Smith: Film music, film sound, and the comprehension and interpretation of narrative films, the latter with an eye toward the particular role played by cognitive heuristics.