FAVBKa060 History of World Cinema I

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Michal Večeřa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Sat 10. 10. 9:00–12:40 C34, Sat 17. 10. 14:00–17:40 C34, Sat 28. 11. 14:00–17:40 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course provides a basic overview of the most important trends in world cinema, filmmaking practices and aesthetic standards in world cinema until the onset of so-called New Waves. Thus the film will not be perceived only as an artform, but also as a complex industry whose varied forms of production and distribution affect the preferred artistic choices.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, students will have been able to understand:
- changes in world cinematography in the transition period of the 10´s of the twentieth century;
- the onset and the establishment of the studio system in the history of classic Hollywood cinema, in the aesthetic, production and distribution sense;
- the context of commercial and non-commercial film movements (Expressionism, Kammerfilm, Impressionism, Montage school, avant-garde, Neorealism);
- the beginning of sound and its influence on the film industry and artistic practice;
- the transformation of national cinemas, international aesthetic standards and trade agreements between so-called large cinemas before, during and after the WWII;
- the arrival of television and new film formats,
- the works of selected filmmakers on the background of the aforementioned topics.
Syllabus
  • Approximate topics that are later adjusted to the time possibilities of the semester:
    - early cinema and commercial and aesthetic changes in world cinema in the transition period of the 1910´s;
  • - the emergence, establishment and studio system in the history of classic Hollywood cinema, in the aesthetic, production and distribution sense (several lectures cutting through different periods);
  • - commercial and non-commercial film movements in the 1920´s (Expressionism, Kammerfilm, Impressionism, Montage school, avant-garde), which will be explained in the background of standard film practice: German Expressionism, German Kammerfilm, French Impressionism, Soviet Montage school;
  • - the period of sound arrival and its impact on the film industry and artistic practice in Hollywood cinema, European cinemas and in Japanese cinema as a long-term alternative;
  • - changes in national cinemas, international aesthetic standards and trade agreements between so-called large cinematographies before, during and after the WWII (several lectures);
  • - Italian neorealism and its influence on other cinemas;
  • - the arrival of television, new film formats and the gradual standardization of color film after the WWII with regard to the changes in the film industry
  • - works of selected filmmakers on the background of the aforementioned topics (e.g. Sergej Ejzenštejn, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Jasudžiro Ozu).
  • Contact lectures will be devoted to the introduction to the topic and selected topics that are not supported by the obligatory and recommended literature.
Literature
    required literature
  • THOMPSON, Kristin and David BORDWELL. Film history: an introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994, xliv, 857. ISBN 0070064490. info
    recommended literature
  • GOMERY, Douglas - PAFORT-OVERDUIN, Clara. Movie History. A Survey. New York: Routledge, 2011.
  • GOMERY, Douglas. The Hollywood studio system : a history. 1st pub. London: BFI Publishing, 2005, vii, 333. ISBN 1844570231. info
  • The Oxford history of world cinema : [the definitive history of cinema worldwide]. Edited by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. 1st pub. in pbk. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, xxii, 824. ISBN 0198742428. info
  • ALLEN, Robert C. and Douglas GOMERY. Film History: Theory and Practice. McGraw - Hill, 1985. info
    not specified
  • THOMPSON, Kristin. Exporting Entertainment: America in the World Film Market, 1907-1934. London: BFI, 1985.
  • O'BRIEN, Charles. Cinema's conversion to sound : technology and film style in France and the U.S. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005, xi, 200. ISBN 0253217202. info
  • THOMPSON, Kristin. Herr Lubitsch goes to Hollywood : German and American film after World War I. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2005, 154 s. ISBN 9053567089. info
  • CIV'JAN, Jurij Gavrilovič. Early cinema in Russia and its cultural reception. Edited by Richard Taylor, Translated by Alan Bodger - Tom Gunning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998, xxii, 273. ISBN 0226814262. info
  • BORDWELL, David. On the history of film style. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997, x, 322. ISBN 0674634292. info
  • CRISP, C. G. The classic French cinema, 1930-1960. 1st pbk. ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997, xix, 485. ISBN 0253211158. info
  • SALT, Barry. Film style and technology : history and analysis. 2nd. expand. ed. London: Starword, 1992, 351 s. ISBN 095090662X. info
  • ABEL, Richard. French cinema : the first wave, 1915-1929. 1st Princeton pbk. print. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987, xxi, 672. ISBN 0691008132. info
  • BORDWELL, David, Janet STAIGER and Kristin THOMPSON. The classical Hollywood cinema : film style & mode of production to 1960. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985, xv, 506. ISBN 0231060556. info
  • RICHIE, Donald. Japanese cinema : film style and national character. New York: Anchor Books, 1971, xxvi, 261. ISBN 0385094418. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, film screenings, home study of films, home reading.
Assessment methods
The subject will be tested in two interconnected ways.
Students will get a number of films to watch every week, of which they will write continuous tests.
At least fifty percent success rate in each of these tests will then be a prerequisite for admission to the final written test which, in addition to the lecture, will also include questions related to the texts that will be read during the semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2020/FAVBKa060