• Ever wondered what distinguishes a good film from a mediocre one?
• Ever wondered what gives some filmmakers a consistent edge over his or her competitors?
• Ever wondered who killed Sean Regan in The Big Sleep (1946)?

In the MA in Film Studies program at Chapman University we attempt to answer these (and other) questions.

The program focuses on film theory, film history, and offers surveys of world cinemas. In film theory, we teach a critical way of thinking about the cinema, and ways to apply that thinking to individual films. In film history, we examine the most significant and influential films made since the invention of cinema, and place these films in their social and historical context. And in our surveys of world cinema, we screen and discuss European, Asian, South American, and Middle Eastern films.

At Chapman you will end up with an expert view of the cinema, a transformation of your everyday movie experience. You become a connoisseur of the history and theory of cinema.

If you’re wondering who killed Sean Regan – it was Eddie Mars, although he pins it on Carmen Sternwood, and then blackmails the Sternwoods (via Arthur Geiger).

Year 1

First Semester:
Seminar in Film Studies:  Genre & Auteurs
Film Theory and Criticism
Survey of American Cinema

Interterm (January Semester):
Research Techniques and Archives Tour

Second Semester:
Seminar in Film Studies:  American & International Cinema
Production Workshop I
Survey of World Cinema

Year 2

First Semester:
Seminar in Film Studies:  Genre & Auteurs
Television & New Media Culture
Thesis Project Design I

Second Semester:
Seminar in Film Studies:  American & International Cinema
Film Reviewing
Thesis Project Design II

Contact our Film Division Chair, Joe Slowensky, at jslowens@chapman.edu with any additional questions.