Week 2 - The Classical Hollywood Style

FIL2400 - History of the American Cinema

Week 2 - The Classical Hollywood Style

Film makers such as Martin Scorsese and Joseph Mankiewicz, award- winning cinematographers and editors, and prominent film historians provide a comprehensive introduction to the broad themes and stylistic tendencies of Hollywood films. Featuring clips of films from Scarface (1932) to Grand Canyon (1992), this segment explores the relative coherence of Hollywood style as art form, as technological product, as communications system, and as cultural artifact.

Reading Assignments
Study Guide - Unit 1: "The Hollywood Style"
American Cinema - Chapter 2: Classical Hollywood Cinema: Narration
Chapter 3: Classical Hollywood Cinema: Style

Ron Magid, "Godzilla Lives", American Cinematographer Magazine, June 1998, http://www.cinematographer.com/magazine/jun98/godzilla/art1/index.htm

"The Beginnings of Photographic Composition", The Eastman Kodak Company, 1994-1998, http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/programs/
composition/photoProgramCompMainClass.shtml

Television Assignment
Sunday Night/Monday morning - September 14
Midnight - 1:00 AM
Program 1 - The Classical Hollywood Style

Additional Screenings
*Citizen Kane (Edison Library - PN 1997 .C518 1980)
*Goodfellas
All About Eve
Scarface (1932)
Shadow of a Doubt
The Gold Rush
Some Like it Hot

Learning Objectives
A. Recognize and use formal film terms
B. Trace in broad outlines the changes in American society and world culture that enabled Hollywood to emerge as an entertainment institution;
C. Perceive the relationship between Hollywood's technology and art
D. Grasp the central elements of classical Hollywood narrative - linearity and a concern with individual characters and their goals
E. Begin to see the central elements of classical Hollywood formal style, particularly its use of space.
F. Understand the concept of identification as it relates to classical Hollywood style
G. Describe the importance and implications of seamless editing in Hollywood films

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