Introduction to Film History
| Module title | Introduction to Film History |
|---|---|
| Module code | EAF1504 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Felicity Gee (Lecturer) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 30 |
|---|
Module description
This module will introduce you to key developments in the history of film and cinemagoing from pre and early cinema in the 1890s to the 1960s. The module introduces you to a range of key movements in international film history in countries such as Britain, Italy, France, Japan, Germany and the USA. Attention will also be paid to the history of experimental and avant-garde filmmaking, and to the impact of changing technologies and social and political events in shaping film forms and film industries.
Module aims - intentions of the module
- To provide an outline history of film from the 1890s to the 1960s. Particular attention will be paid to the international nature of film as well as to a number of key developments, movements and trends in countries such as Britain, Italy, France, Japan and Germany. Attention will also be paid to the history of experimental and avant-garde filmmaking.
- To introduce you to the historical artefacts and resources of the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture and to debates about the inevitably selective nature of almost all histories of film.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate a critical appreciation of some of the principal concepts, methods and debates informing the study of film history
- 2. Demonstrate an ability to analyse the form and content of particular films
- 3. Demonstrate an awareness of the ways in which films can be related to the historical contexts from which they emerged
- 4. Demonstrate an understanding of different forms, traditions and styles of filmmaking in different national and international contexts
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Demonstrate skills in the close analysis of different kinds of films
- 6. Demonstrate skills in the research and evaluation of relevant critical and historical materials for the study of film
- 7. Demonstrate an ability to interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
- 8. Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse relevant ideas, and to apply these ideas to films
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 9. Through seminar work and group presentations, demonstrate communication skills, and an ability to work both individually and in groups
- 10. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument and a capacity to write clear and correct prose
- 11. Through research for seminars and essays, demonstrate proficiency in information retrieval and analysis
- 12. Through research, seminar discussion, and essay writing demonstrate a capacity to question assumptions, to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to reflect critically on their own learning process
Syllabus plan
- Early Cinema and Issues of Film History
- European and US Cinema in the 1910s
- The USSR and Germany in the Early 1920s
- French and Pan-European Cinema in the late 1920s
- The Transition to Sound Cinema in Europe
- Early Sound Cinema in Britain and France
- Postwar Italian Cinema
- Postwar Japan
- International Cinema in the 1950s
- Postwar France and the French New Wave
- Cinema and Politics in the 1960s
Teaching is by means of a one-hour lecture, a two-hour seminar, and two screenings per week. Students will be expected to participate in class discussion and to hold independent small group meetings in preparation for seminars.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 110 | 190 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 11 | Weekly 1 hour lecture |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 22 | Weekly 2 hour seminar |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 11 | Two weekly half-hour introductions to screenings |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 55 | Two weekly screenings |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 11 | Weekly 1 hour workshop on a film from the further viewing list OR guided study group work |
| Guided independent study | 190 | Private study |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical source analysis | 1000 words | 1-8, 10-12 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for office hours follow-up |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 45 | 45 | 10 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar participation | 10 | Continuous | 1-9, 11-12 | Oral feedback from tutor and opportunity for office hours follow-up |
| Take home paper: Group Bill Douglas Centre blog post (2000 words) and individual reflective commentary (500 words) | 45 | 2500 words (group and individual elements) | 1-8, 10-12 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for office hours follow-up |
| Essay | 45 | 1500 words | 1-8, 10-12 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for office hours follow-up |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar participation | Repeat study or mitigation | 1-9, 11-12 | Referral/deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-8, 10-12 | Referral/deferral period |
| Take away paper | Essay 1500 words | 1-8, 10-12 | Referral/deferral period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Core reading:
- Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction (McGraw Hill, various editions) STUDENTS ARE ADVISED TO BUY THIS BOOK
- Robert C. Allen and Douglas Gomery, Film History: Theory and Practice (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985)
- Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed), The Oxford History of World Cinema (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
Core viewing:
- Early films by Edison, Lumiere, Paul, Méliès, Pathé and others.
- Ingeborg Holm (Victor Sjöstrom, Sweden, 1913)
- Strike (Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1924)
- Nosferatu (Friedrich Mumau, Ger. 1922)
- The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Dreyer, France, 1928)
- La Regle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) (Jean Renoir, France, 1939)
- Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, Italy, 1948)
- Sansho Dayu (Sansho the Bailiff) (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1954)
- Roman Holiday (William Wyler, US, 1953)
- Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda, France, 1964)
- The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri) (Gillio Pontecorvo, Italy/Algeria, 1966)
- L`Armée des Ombres (Army of the Shadows) (Jean-Pierre Melville, France/Italy, 1969)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Yale Film Analysis Website: http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/
David Bordwell’s website on cinema: http://www.davidbordwell.net/
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
- David Bordwell ‘Doing Film History’ – online essay here: http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/doing.php
- Robert C Allen and Douglas Gomery, ‘Researching Film History’, Chapter 2 from Film History: Theory and Practice (Boston and New York: McGraw Hill, 1985), pp. 25-42. AVAILABLE ON ELE
- Roberta Pearson, `Early Cinema` in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed), The Oxford History of World Cinema (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 13-23. AVAILABLE ON ELE
- Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, chapters entitled ‘The Invention and Early Years of the Cinema, 1880s-1904’ and ‘The International Expansion of the Cinema, 1905-1912’ in Film History: An Introduction (New McGraw-Hill, several editions)
- Tom Gunning, ‘The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde’ Wide Angle, vol 8. nos. 3-4, Fall 1086, pp.63-70. AVAILABLE ON ELE
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 4 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 2011 |
| Last revision date | 23/10/2018 |
