World Film History to 1945

Course Number
CIMS 1010 601
Course Code
CIMS1010601
Course Key
78934
Day(s)
Tuesday
Thursday
Time
5:15pm-6:45pm
5:15pm-6:45pm
Instructor
COPPOLA, JOSEPH M
Secondary Program
Course Note
Fulfills the Arts and Letters Sector (All Classes)
Fulfills
Cross Cultural Analysis Course (for students admitted in Fall 2006 and later)
Arts & Letters Sector (All Classes)
Course Description
This course surveys the history of world film from cinema s precursors to 1945. We will develop methods for analyzing film while examining the growth of film as an art, an industry, a technology, and a political instrument. Topics include the emergence of film technology and early film audiences, the rise of narrative film and birth of Hollywood, national film industries and movements, African-American independent film, the emergence of the genre film (the western, film noir, and romantic comedies), ethnographic and documentary film, animated films, censorship, the MPPDA and Hays Code, and the introduction of sound. We will conclude with the transformation of several film industries into propaganda tools during World War II (including the Nazi, Soviet, and US film industries). In addition to contemporary theories that investigate the development of cinema and visual culture during the first half of the 20th century, we will read key texts that contributed to the emergence of film theory. There are no prerequisites. Students are required to attend screenings or watch films on their own.
Subject Area Vocab