FAVz097 Hollywood's Global Blockbusters

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Peter Kramer (lecturer), Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Tereza Bochinová (assistant)
Mgr. Veronika Lengálová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Patrycja Astrid Twardowska
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 26. 9. 9:00–11:40 C34, 18:00–19:40 C34, Tue 27. 9. 12:00–20:40 C34, Thu 29. 9. 8:00–11:40 C34, 16:00–20:40 C34, Fri 30. 9. 9:00–14:40 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 55 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 17/55, only registered: 0/55, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/55
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 18 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Which films have been most successful in cinemas around the world in recent decades? Can we find similarities between these films; in other words: do they form patterns? And if so, do these patterns change over time?
This course attempts to give some answers to the above questions but it is also designed to enable students to carry out their own research and come up with their own answers, not only to do with hit patterns but also with the production histories, marketing and reception of individual hit movies.
This entails reflections on the Anglo-American and wider international academic context for such research, about sources and research procedures, and also about what Hollywood blockbusters may have to tell us about the present state and future of humanity, its unity and divisions, its dependence on both technology and the natural environment, and its (imagined) place in the universe.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course, students should be able
1) to identify and describe changing hit patterns in US and global box office charts,
2) to discuss individual hit movies in relation to these changing patterns, and
3) to find and work with relevant primary sources concerning the production, marketing and reception of individual hit movies.
Syllabus
  • Session 1
  • Reading in advance of the screening and lecture: Peter Krämer, “A History of Hollywood Blockbusters”, unpublished manuscript
  • Screening with short introductory lecture and, possibly, a brief discussion afterwards: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, 150 min including overture and exit music, plus 10 min intermission)
  • Lecture: Introduction to the Study of Hollywood’s Global Blockbusters – Data, Companies, Filmmakers, Key Films
  • Small Group Exercise within the lecture slot: analysis of global box office charts 2019-2022; also perhaps discussion of 2001
  • Session 2
  • Reading: Peter Krämer, “’Dear Mr. Kubrick’: Audience Responses to 2001: A Space Odyssey in the Late 1960s”, Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, vol. 6, no. 2 (November 2009),
  • https://www.participations.org/Volume%206/Issue%202/kramernew.pdf
  • Screening with discussion after the screening: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, 135 min) or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, 115 min)
  • Lecture: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and the Family-Adventure Movie
  • Small Group Exercise: comparison between Close Encounters or E.T. and 2001 (with a particular focus on audience address)
  • Session 3
  • Reading: Peter Krämer, “Hollywood and Its Global Audiences: A Comparative Study of the Biggest Box Office Hits in the United States and Outside the United States Since the 1970s”, Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies, ed. Richard Maltby, Daniel Biltereyst and Philippe Meers, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, pp. 171-84
  • Screening with discussion after the screening: Jaws (1975, 125 min)
  • Lecture: Human Hubris and Mother Nature in Global Breakthrough Hits from Jaws to Jurassic Park and Avatar
  • Small Group Exercise: comparison of the posters and/or trailers for Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters and/or E.T. (with a particular focus on audience address)
  • Session 4
  • Reading: Peter Krämer, “‘The Girl on Fire’: Children’s Fiction, Female Stars and Contemporary Hollywood Blockbusters” (Part 1), Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 12 February 2016, https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/the-girl-on-fire-childrens-fiction-female-stars-and-contemporary-hollywood-blockbusters/, (Part 2), Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 19 February 2016, https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/the-girl-on-fire-part-ii/
  • Screening with discussion after the screening: Gravity (2013, 90 min)
  • Lecture: Sandra Bullock, Gravity and Women in Science Fiction Blockbusters
  • Small Group Exercise: analysis of the poster and trailer for Gravity
  • Session 5
  • Reading: Peter Krämer, “From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Avatar: Reflections on Cultural Impact and Academic Research”, Screening the Past, no. 42 (October 2017), http://www.screeningthepast.com/2017/09/from-2001-space-odyssey-to-avatar-reflections-on-cultural-impact-and-academic-research/
  • Screening possibly with brief discussion after the screening: Avatar (2009, 160 min)
  • Lecture: James Cameron, Avatar and the End of the World in Hollywood Blockbusters
  • Small Group Exercise: comparison of the Avatar treatment, script and film
  • Session 6
  • Reading: Peter Krämer, “'The Walt Disney Company, Family Entertainment, and Hollywood’s Global Hits”, The Oxford Handbook of Children’s Films, ed. Noel Brown, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, pp. 569-90
  • Screening possibly with brief discussion afterwards: Interstellar (2014, 170 min)
  • Lecture: Christopher Nolan and Interstellar
  • Small Group Exercise: tbc
Teaching methods
The attendance is obligatory on all lectures AND screenings as well and will be regularly checked. Combined students may skip two sessions.
Students are required to read all the items from the obligatory reading list. All of the required materials will be provided. Films will be screened in the screening room C34 at designated times.

Students will watch and discuss key hit movies since the 1960s, including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Avatar (2009), Gravity (2013) and Interstellar (2014). As is obvious from this list, the focus is on Science Fiction, which together with fantasy has been dominating global box office charts since the late 1970s. Students will also carry out small group exercises.
SCHEDULE

Session 1: Monday 26. 9. 9:00 – 12:00: screening 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, 150 min)
18:00 – 19:50: lecture and seminar

Session 2: Tuesday 27. 9. 12:00 – 14:40: screening Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, 135 min) or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, 115 min)
15:00 – 16:30: lecture and seminar

Session 3: Tuesday 27.9. 16:45 – 19:15: screening Jaws (1975, 125 min)
19:30 – 20:50: lecture and seminar

Session 4: Thursday 29. 9. 8:00 – 10:00: screening Gravity (2013, 90 min)
10:15 – 11:45: lecture and seminar

Session 5: Thursday 29. 9. 16:00 – 19:00: screening Avatar (2009, 160 min)
19:15 – 20:45: lecture and seminar

Session 6: Friday 30. 9. 9:00 – 12:30: screening Interstellar (2014, 170 min)
13:00 – 14:30: lecture and seminar
Assessment methods
Apart from the compulsory attendance students will have to pass two test. First test is a preliminary one and it will take place just before the start of the first lecture. With two questions, the test will check the knowledge of the required items from the reading list for the first three lesson. The other test is final, consisting of three questions testing both students' acquaintance with the reading list as well as their knowledge and skills gained throughout the course itself. Ten points maximum can be gathered from both of the test; five points are the necessary minimum in order to pass the course successfully.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
Teacher's information
Peter Krämer is a Senior Research Fellow in Cinema & TV in the Leicester Media School at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK). He also is a Senior Fellow in the School of Art, Media and American Studies at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) and a regular guest lecturer at several other universities in the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. He has been doing courses at Masaryk University for sixteen years. He is the author or editor of eleven academic books, mainly about Hollywood cinema, and co-wrote a book about American cinema for children.
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