The Film Experience

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The Film Experience posted by member150_php on 3/1/2009

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The Film Experience

Fall 2007

Fred Ott in mid-sneeze. This still comes from the 1894 motion picture Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze: the first copyrighted film in history and the primitive origin from which all of modern film began. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Course Description

This course is an introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. The primary focus is on American cinema, but secondary attention is paid to works drawn from other great national traditions, such as France, Italy, and Japan. The syllabus includes such directors as Griffith, Keaton, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, Altman, De Sica, and Fellini.

Special Features

Sample video lectures
Image gallery

Technical Requirements

Special software is required to use some of the files in this course: .mp4, .rm.

Syllabus

This page includes a course calendar.

Primary Goals

This course is an introductory survey of classic films. Emphasis falls equally on cultural and on artistic matters: on films as anthropological and historical artifacts that articulate the values and assumptions of specific societies and eras and on films as works of art. The course aims to sharpen students' analytic skills, to give them a sense of the history and cultural significance of movies, and to improve their writing.

Writing Requirements

This course satisfies the criteria for communication intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Students are required to write a short (1-2 page) response to some aspect of the material in the first two weeks, and three essays, 5-7 double-spaced typed pages each, devoted to films studied during the term. Students must write a minimum of 20 pages over the course of the term.

All students must revise and resubmit at least one of their first two essays, and they are encouraged but not required to revise both. Only the grade received on the revised version of the paper will count toward the final grade in the term. Revisions must be submitted within one week of the date on which essays are returned.

Late Papers

Essays submitted within seven days of the due date will be graded without penalty but will be ineligible for revision and may not receive written comments from the instructor. Papers will not be accepted beyond the seven-day grace period.

Paper Topics

A list of suggested topics will be provided for each of the essays. Students may depart from these suggestions, but the alternative must be approved by their recitation instructor.

Oral Expression

A central goal of the recitation hour in the course is to strengthen students' powers of oral expression. Attendance at recitations is mandatory. Students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions. Performance in these discussions will have a measurable influence on the final grade.

Exams

There will be one 30-minute quiz, one one-hour test, and one three-hour final exam. The quiz will consist of short identification items. Both tests will include essay questions as well as an identification segment. Material covered in lectures and in the assigned reading will supply most of the identification questions.

Calendar

Course calendar.
WEEKS	TOPICS	REQUIRED FILMS	KEY DATES
I. The silent era
1	Introduction Keaton	Porter. The Great Train Robbery. Griffith. A Beast at Bay, The Lonedale Operator. Keaton. One Week, Cops, The General.	Short response due
2	Chaplin	Chaplin. The Immigrant, Easy Street, Modern Times.
3	Film as a global and cultural form: German film	Murnau. The Last Laugh.	First paper due
II. Hollywood genres
4	Hollywood in the 1930s: sound comedy	Capra. It Happened One Night.
	Quiz
5	Hitchcock	Hitchcock. Shadow of a Doubt.
6	The musical	Donen/Kelly. Singin' in the Rain. Fosse. Cabaret.
7	The western	Ford. The Searchers.	Second paper due
8	Film in the 1970s	Altman. McCabe and Mrs. Miller.
III. International masters
9	Renoir and poetic realism	Renoir. Grand Illusion.
	Hour test
11	Italian neorealism	De Sica. Bicycle Thieves.
12	Fellini	Fellini. 8 1/2.
13	Summary perspectives: film as art and artifact
	Final exam

Films and Readings

This page includes the films and readings for each week, and a list of additional recommended readings.

Most hyperlinks on the films point to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). The first few films (pre-1923) are in public domain, so where a legitimate online copy could be found, it has been linked instead and noted.

Primary Course Text

Cook, David A. A History of Narrative Film. 3rd ed. Kingston, MA: R. S. Means Company, 1996. ISBN: 9780393969399.

Required Supplementary Readings

Agee, James. "Comedy's Greatest Era." In Agee on Film. Vol. 1. New York, NY: McDowell, 1958, pp. 2-19.

Mast, Gerald. "The Comics: Mack Sennett and the Chaplin Shorts." In A Short History of the Movies. 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1981, pp. 76-92. ISBN: 9780226509822.

———. "Movie Czars and Movie Stars." In A Short History of the Movies. 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1981, pp. 118-128. ISBN: 9780226509822.

Braudy, Leo. "Genre: The Conventions of Connection." In Film Theory and Criticism. Edited by Gerald Mast and Marshall Cohen. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1990, pp. 443-468. ISBN: 9780195025033.

Course readings.
LEC #	TOPICS	REQUIRED FILMS	SUPPORTING FILMS (clips shown in class)	REQUIRED READINGS
I. The silent era
1-2	Introduction Keaton	Porter, Edwin. S. The Great Train Robbery. (view film) Griffith, D. W. The Lonedale Operator. (view stills) ———. A Beast at Bay. (view film) Keaton, Buster. One Week. (view film) ———. Cops. (view film) ———. The General. (view film)		Cook. A History of Narrative Film. 4th ed. pp. 1-41, 51-85. ———. 3rd ed. pp. 177-182. Mast. From A Short History of the Movies.
3-4	Chaplin	Chaplin, Charlie. The Immigrant. (view film) ———. Easy Street. (view film) ———. Modern Times.		Agee. "Comedy's Greatest Era."
5-6	Film as a global and cultural form: german film	Murnau, F. W. The Last Laugh.		Cook. Chapters 4-5.
II. Hollywood genres
7-8	Hollywood in the 1930s: sound comedy	Capra, Frank. It Happened One Night.	Ball of Fire: Stanwyck character meets Cooper and the other professors. The Lady Eve: Stanwyck character comments on the women trying to get the attention of Fonda.	Cook. Chapters 7-8.
	Quiz
9-10	Hitchcock	Hitchcock. Shadow of a Doubt.	Strangers on a Train: climactic fight on merry-go-round.
11-12	The musical	Donen, Stanely, and Gene Kelly. Singin' in the Rain . Fosse, Bob. Cabaret.	Love Me Tonight: "Isn't It Romantic?" 42nd Street: "Young and Healthy." Top Hat: "Cheek to Cheek."	Braudy. "Genre: The Conventions of Connection."
13-14	The western	Ford, John. The Searchers	My Darling Clementine: Wyatt and Clementine at the church dedication. High Noon: opening ballad with villains riding through town.	Cook. Chapter 12.
15-16	Film in the 1970s	Altman, Robert. McCabe and Mrs. Miller.	Five Easy Pieces: an order of toast. The Long Goodbye: detective Marlowe shoots a friend who got away with murder.	Cook. pp. 845-868.
III. International masters
17-18	Renoir and poetic realism	Renoir, Jean. Grand Illusion.	Boudu Saved From Drowning: Boudu leaves his own wedding party on the river.	Cook. pp. 303-326.
	Hour test
19-20	Italian neorealism	De Sica, Vittorio. Bicycle Thieves.	Rome, Open City: child saboteurs return home to their parents.	Cook. pp. 355-368.
21	Fellini	Fellini, Federico. 8 ½.	La Strada: Zampano the strongman. Nights of Cabiria: near drowning of Cabiria and rescue. La Dolce Vita: statue flying over Rome.	Cook. pp. 531-555.
22	Summary perspectives: film as art and artifact
	Final exam

Public Domain Films

This page presents a selection of image and video related to early films and filmmakers that are covered in the beginning of the course. These resources are all now in the public domain.

Very Early Film

Galloping Race Horse

Three photos of horse running, showing that its legs are all off the ground in mid-stride.

Sequence of a race horse galloping. Photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge, first published in 1887 at Philadelphia.

See the animation of this sequence, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Fred Ott's Sneeze

3 images from Fred Ott's Sneeze film.

Three still shots of Fred Ott sneezing in the 1894 motion picture Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze: the first copyrighted film in history. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

See the complete film, hosted by American Memory at the Library of Congress.

The Kiss

The Kiss stills.

Three still shots from the early short The Kiss. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

See the complete film, hosted by American Memory at the Library of Congress.

The Great Train Robbery

Great Train robbery poster.

A contemporary poster advertising The Great Train Robbery. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Still from the Great Train Robbery.

A still from The Great Train Robbery. When this part of the film was first shown, viewers used to run from the screen in fear, because the actor aiming a gun at the audience appeared so real to viewers unaccustomed to motion pictures. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

See the complete film, hosted by American Memory at the Library of Congress.

D. W. Griffith

DW Griffith stamp.

A stamp released by the U.S. Post Office to commemorate D. W. Griffith. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Birth of a Nation

See the complete film, hosted by Google Video.

Buster Keaton

One Week

See the complete film, hosted by Google Video

The General

Buster Keaton in The General.

A still shot showing Buster Keaton's "great stone face" in The General. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Buster Keaton in The General.

Another still showing Keaton in The General. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

See the complete film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

Steamboat Bill Jr.

See selected clips from the film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

The Balloonatic

See the complete film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin in The Tramp.

Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Charlie Chaplin in Kid Auto Races in Venice.

Charlie Chaplin in his 1914 film debut Kid Auto Races in Venice. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Charlie Chaplin in The Kid.

Charlie Chaplin in a still from his 1921 film The Kid. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Easy Street

Watch the complete film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

By the Sea

Watch the complete film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

Work

See a clip from the film, hosted by Public Domain Comedy.

The Film Experience

Fall 2007

Course Description

Special Features

Technical Requirements

Syllabus

Primary Goals

Writing Requirements

Late Papers

Paper Topics

Oral Expression

Exams

Calendar

Films and Readings

Primary Course Text

Required Supplementary Readings

Recommended Readings

Public Domain Films

Very Early Film

Galloping Race Horse

Fred Ott's Sneeze

The Kiss

The Great Train Robbery

D. W. Griffith

Birth of a Nation

Buster Keaton

One Week

The General

Steamboat Bill Jr.

The Balloonatic

Charlie Chaplin

Easy Street

By the Sea

Work

Related Resources

Internet Film Resources

Early Film

General

Regional Film Resources

MIT Resources