CINEMA KOREA: ENGAGING KOREAN HISTORY THROUGH FILM Seoul, Korea 2013 Instructors: David Chung, Professor, Penny

W. Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan and Core Faculty, Nam Center for Korean Studies Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film Archive and Lecturer, Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University Bertrand Laurence, Technical Advisor Class time and location: 10am 12noon, Monday through Thursday except as indicated Ewha University, IEB Building Room 1002 except as indicated

This course combines a critical and practical introduction to filmmaking, interweaving the close study of films about History with basic training in the essential stages of film production. In an intensive five weeks we will explore different ways that the cinema can engage major and influential events in Korean history, both by studying and making films that creatively interpret the nation's past. We will explore a range of different theoretical and historical approaches to filmmaking, guided by weekly screenings and close discussion of films, both fiction and documentary, that interpret events with a shaping impact on contemporary Korean society. Practical instruction in digital filmmaking will further structure and define this course through weekly instructional sessions focused on the basics of camera operation, editing, sound and post-production. Working in teams students will produce, as their final and mid-term projects, short films expanding on the notion of the cinema as a tool for creatively engaging with history as a malleable and at times quite eccentric form of story-telling. Several larger questions inspire the critical and practical objectives of this class. What does cinematic form and narrative uniquely bring to the exploration of history? How is our understanding of history different when seen through the lens of the cinema, whether as a film-viewer or filmmaker? How does Korea's especially turbulent history lend itself to cinema? And how has film traditionally represented and explored Korean history? At the center of the class will be guided class excursions to key sites in Seoul and also to historically significant regions of South Korea, journeys of discovery where students' newly learned filmmaking skills will be immediately tested. Throughout the class visits by historians, filmmakers and artists versed in traditional Korean arts will provide unique encounters with different authoritative and authentic voices on Korean history as an interpretative field.

Course requirements and goals: Your first requirement is attendance at all weekly screenings (TBA) and discussion seminars, production workshops and weekly film production group assignments which will involve field recording sessions (outside the classroom). Any unexcused absence from any of these will count against your grade. If you have a legitimate emergency of some sort that requires you to miss a class or screening, please be in touch with either David Chung or the class Teaching Assistant before the start of class and please provide a clear explanation. Being too overwhelmed with work for another class is not a valid excuse. Any health or medical excuse must be accompanied by a message from your doctor. The weekly screenings are mandatory. Since each screening will be accompanied by a extended introduction of the weekly films and will often include in person appearances by celebrated Korean filmmakers, simply watching the films by yourself is not the same. You are encouraged, however, to view the films more than one time, if you are interested and for this purpose screening copies of all the films will be on reserve at the library. In addition to active participation in the discussion seminars in which we will discuss the films viewed and their relationship to your film projects, you will also be required to keep a weekly viewing journal, reflecting on the films you have seen in class. All of you have learned the importance of taking careful notes as you read course texts, underlining and jotting down questions and relevant ideas. It is equally important to take notes as you watch the films that constitute the primary texts of this course. With this in mind, you are required to keep a weekly viewing journal, writing down your observations and questions about each of the films you have seen and providing no less than 300 words per title. Hard copies of the viewing journal, which should be lose leaf paper (rather than a bound notebook), must be turned in at the start of each discussion seminar. The film production half of the course is comprised of hands-on workshops in digital video production and editing in a professional environment. Students will learn how to operate a video camera, manually adjust white balance, shutter speed, aperture and focus. Shooting techniques and frame composition will also be explored, such as closeups, wide shots, point of view and shots where the camera is moving. The special lighting needs of the video cameras as well proper sound and voice recording will be demonstrated and taught. Subsequently students are shown how to capture the film, log and transcribe the footage. After the footage has been captured, students will learn basic digital video editing and additional post-production techniques such as mixing sound and creating titles. Throughout the course, core concepts in filmmaking methodology will be introduced, with different modes of storytelling, using a scripted narrative as well as experimental methods of documenting, explored through individual and group assignment. Students will work in groups to develop a story idea, plan the shoot and see the project to completion.

Some examples of film production assignments and exercises that will be included in the course are: The Video Portrait/Landscape (2 minutes). In this assignment students create a video portrait of a selected person or a location to learn methods of conveying an idea through filmic techniques. Shooting for Editing: Cause and Effect (2 minutes). One of the central ideas of working in a time-based medium is keeping the viewer engaged through a sequence of images and developing a film vocabulary. Through an exercise in shooting a series of images students learn how one image affects the next one in the sequence and how the viewer might anticipate the chain of events. This is referred to as montage (or film editing).

The main project is an approximately ten minute film that will be divided into three sections. In the first section students will research and develop a story idea of their own choosing. Each group will then plan their shooting schedules and gather the necessary still image, sound and footage files. In the final section the groups will produce their films using the techniques learned during the course. On the third week of the summer session, the entire class will participate in an excursion to visit important historical and cultural sites in Korea. All the travel arrangements will be made for you. A detailed itinerary and trip guidelines will be made available.

Preliminary Schedule All classes meet in Room 1002 unless otherwise indicated. The schedule is subject to change, any changes will be announced as soon as information is available. This schedule pertains to the Cinema Korea course. Please refer to your other schedules for language classes, excursions and outside activities. WEEK ONE Monday, July 1st Introduction to the film course - Planning and organizing a film project - Introduction to postwar Korea and possible themes for the class project Distribution of the equipment, software and laptops this distribution may happen in the prior week Teams production teams will be announced Tuesday, July 2nd Camera basics, fundamentals of videography, sound recording

- Photography mini-assignments Wednesday July 3rd Film screening and discussion - Jiseul, 2012, O Muel, South Korea Thursday July 4th- Montage and shooting for editing - Downloading footage and basic editing - Assignment one Producing a short sequence

WEEK TWO Monday, July 8th - Editing techniques - Assignment due short sequence Tuesday, July 9th- Film screening visit to the Korea Film Archive (TBD) - A Petal, 1996, Jang Sun-woo, South Korea Wednesday, July 10th - Conducting an interview, sound recording - Portrait/Landscape assignment and - Sound and music session Thursday, July 11th- Visit by a guest speaker and discussion

WEEK THREE Monday, July 15th Critique of Portrait/Landscape Assignment 3.5 hour session Tuesday, July 16th through Friday, July 19th Excursion On the third week of the summer session, the entire class will participate in an excursion to visit important historical and cultural sites in Korea. All the travel arrangements will be made for you. A detailed itinerary and trip guidelines will be made available. Travel will be made by chartered bus and lodging at hotels and inns. The faculty and staff will be present during the trip. Video shooting and sound recording assignments will be made in relation to course content during this excursion. The excursion will be a four day trip to the southwest region (Jeolla provinces) of Korea that will include Song Gwang Sa temple (one of the three crown jewels of Korean Buddhism) , the beautiful Jiri-san National Park, the historical city of Gwangju and the spectacular coastal region.

WEEK FOUR

Monday, July 22nd- Presentation of Final Project Concepts - 3 .5 hour session Tuesday, July 23rd- Film Screening - Koryo Saram, 2007, David Chung, U.S. Wednesday, July 24th- Post Production - Filters, titles and transitions Thursday, July 25th- Discussion WEEK FIVE Monday, July 29th- Rough cuts Stage One Tuesday, July 30th- Film Screening - Sans Soleil, 1983, Chris Marker, France Wednesday, July 31st- Rough cuts Stage Two Thursday, August 1st Sound mix and final polish Friday, August 2nd- Final Presentations

READINGS and TEXTS: 1. Cumings, Bruce. Koreas Place in the Sun: A Modern History. Norton, 1998. 2. Eckert, Carter. Korea Old and New: A History. Ilchokak, 1991. 3. Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary, Bloomington, University of Indiana Press, 2010. CLASSROOM POLICIES This is an attendance required summer class. Students are expected to attend all the classes and participate in the excursions and activities. This class follows Harvard University guidelines concerning class participation, assignments and grading.

ABOUT THE INTSRUCTORS Y. David Chung is an acclaimed artist and filmmaker who has exhibited widely throughout the country and internationally at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Gwangju Biennale in Korea, and a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Chung began his career collaborating on documentary films that were produced for network television, HBO,

PBS and independent film companies. Chung is a past Rome Prize finalist and received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Fellowship. Chungs recent documentary film produced with Matt Dibble and Meredith Woo, Koryo Saram: The Unreliable People received the Best Documentary Film Award from the National Film Board of Canada. Chung attended the University of Virginia, the Corcoran College of Art and Design (BFA) and George Mason University (MFA). Chung is a professor with the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design and the former Director of the Nam Center for Korean Studies at the University of Michigan. In 2013, David Chung was the Kim Koo Visiting Professor with the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. A film historian, curator and archivist, Haden Guest is director of the Harvard Film Archive, overseeing the HFAs cinematheque, preservation program, research initiatives and its renowned collections. Guest's research focuses principally upon studio-era Hollywood cinema, postwar American experimental film, and contemporary Argentine, Latin American and French cinema. Guest received a PhD in 2005 from the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently expanding his dissertation, a critical history of the Hollywood police procedural film between 1930-60, into a book. A frequent contributor to Film Comment, Guest is also completing an anthology of unpublished and uncollected writings by maverick American director Sam Fuller. Haden Guest is a lecturer with the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University.

Contact Information: David Chung davchung@umich.edu Haden Guest hguest@fas.harvard.edu Bertrand Laurence bertlarrymusic@gmail.com