Film 2700

History of Motion Pictures

Summer 2006

Mondays & Wednesdays

10:55am to 1:40pm

600 General Classroom Building

 

Mr. Bryan Cardinale-Powell

Room 729, One Park Place

(404) 651-0468

joubcp@langate.gsu.edu

 

Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10 to 10:50 am, or by appointment

 

Course Description:

This course acquaints students with an historical perspective on some of the aesthetic, cultural, economic, and technological trends affecting motion pictures from their origins in the late 19th century through the present. 

 

Required Text:

Mast and Kawin, A Short History of the Movies, Custom Edition for GSU.  Longman: New York, 2006.

 

Readings assigned for this course were carefully selected to complement class activities and screenings.  Therefore, reading assignments should be completed before attending class.

 

Course Requirements:

As outlined below, there will be three exams in this class.  Each exam will likely consist of multiple-choice items derived from the text, screenings, and lectures.  Additionally, students are required to submit two short screening responses to movies projected in class.  No cheating and/or academic dishonesty in any form will be tolerated in this course.  Please refer to the Policy on Academic Honesty explained in the online student handbook available at http://www2.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwdos/codeofconduct_conpol.html for further details.

 

The last exam will be comprehensive in the sense that some exam questions will be designed to test your knowledge of topics covered throughout the semester, though the majority of questions will pertain to the material covered in the last third of the course.

 

A record of your attendance will not be kept for grading purposes.  However, you will no doubt find that your Exams will be much easier to complete successfully if you regularly attend class. 

 

Make-up exams and grades of Incomplete (I) are reserved solely for verifiable hardships.

 

Grading:

The grading scale is consistent with the scale administered by the University:

 

 

90-100

A

 

 

80-89

B

 

 

70-79

C

 

 

60-69

D

 

 

0-59

F

 

 

Students will earn final grades based on the following formula:

 

         30%  Exam 1

         30%  Exam 2

         30%  Exam 3 (Final)

         10%  Screening Responses (2)       

 

July 3rd is the last day students can withdraw from this class and receive a grade of W.  If you choose to withdraw from this course, please be sure to follow the Registrar’s procedure to make sure your withdrawal is official before the deadline, otherwise you will receive an F for the course. 

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time during the semester to discuss your classroom performance.  They’re your grades.  You earn them.

 

 

Tentative Class Schedule

Changes may be necessary due to unforeseen circumstances

 

WEEK 1

JUNE 12

 

 

 

14

Origins of the movies

• Course introduction

• Scientific, commercial, social, and artistic foundations of motion pictures

 

• Early audiences and the development of narrative technique

*** READ: Chapters 2 & 3 ***

 

WEEK 2

19

 

 

 

21

Silent film in the United States

• Prominent producers, directors and the establishment of Hollywood

*** READ: Chapters 4 & 5 ***

 

• Movie stars and movie culture

*** READ: Chapter 6 ***

 

WEEK 3

26

 

 

28

 

*** EXAM 1 ***

Screening following exam: The General

 

Silent film in Europe

• German Expressionism

Screen: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

*** READ: Chapter 7 ***

 

WEEK 4

JULY 3

 

 

 

5

 

• Soviet montage

*** READ: Chapter 8 ***

*** July 3rd is last day for Withdrawal with a W ***

 

• French cinema – surrealism to poetic realism

Screen: Grand Illusion

*** READ: Chapter 10 ***

 

WEEK 5

10

 

 

 

12

Hollywood Heyday

• Development of sound technology

• The rise of the Hollywood studio system

*** READ: Chapters 9 & 11 ***

 

*** EXAM 2***

Screening following exam: The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

 

WEEK 6

17

 

 

 

 

 

19

Postwar European cinema (and elsewhere)

• Italian Neorealism

• French New Wave

• Other national cinemas

*** READ: Chapters 13 & 14 ***

 

Postwar Hollywood

• The Blacklist

• Television and transition

*** READ: Chapter 12 ***

 

WEEK 7

24

 

 

 

 

26

Hollywood Rebound

• Auteurs

• The film school generation

• American Independent cinema

*** READ: Chapters 15 & 17 ***

 

Cinema and the Digital Frontier

• Development of video technologies

• Studios as part of multinational businesses

• Recent developments in the movie business

*** READ: Chapter 18 ***

 

 

AUGUST 2

 

FINAL EXAM

*** Thursday August 2nd at 10:15am ***