HISTORY OF AMERICAN FILM II



HISTORY OF AMERICAN FILM II – SPRING 2012

Professor Woll

Robeson Library 298

Ex. 6670/6671 or e-mail: awoll@camden.rutgers.edu

Assigned Readings: T. Schatz, The Genius of the System

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks

P. Kael, “Raising Kane” (on e-reserve from Robeson Library)

P. Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

My Blog: ()

January 17 Introduction/From Silence to Sound

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, intro-59

January 31 Films in the Great Depression/The Production Code

Schatz, Intro & Part I

The Production Code

FILM: Duck Soup (1933)

February 7 The Dominance of the Studio System

Schatz, Part II

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, 61-93

(Blog assignment for next week is about Citizen Kane—must be completed before class on the 14th)

[Note: Students should see Citizen Kane on their own, and read “Raising Kane” (on reserve) ]

February 14 Citizen Kane (1941) and the Auteur Theory

February 21 The Cinematic Road to World War II

Schatz, Part III & IV

February 28 The Cinema and World War II

FILM: Casablanca (1942)

March 6 MIDTERM EXAM

March 13 SPRING VACATION

March 20 Cinema in the McCarthy Era

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, 95-153

FILM: The Front

March 27 Hollywood, Television, and the Disappearing Audience

Schatz, Part V

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, 154-193

FILM: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

April 3 Hollywood in the 1960s/the New Ratings System

Begin reading Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

April 10 Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese and the Film School Generation

Biskind, Easy Riders, (continue & complete)

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, 194-259

April 17 Modern Hollywood and the New Entertainment Conglomerates

Kael, “Why Are the Movies So Bad?”

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, 311-352

April 24 Independent Hollywood??

Merritt, Celluloid Mavericks, (complete)

Grades: Midterm [March 6] [1/3]

Final [during exam week] [1/3]

Blog Grade [(1/3]

Class Information:

Absence Penalty: For every three absences, 10 points will be deducted from your final grade total.

For every three late arrivals (after attendance is taken), 5 points will be deducted from your final grade.

No laptop or telephone use in class.

All students will be required to post in a Film History blog at Wordpress.

Blog instructions:

Rules and regs:

1. Decide a theme or focus for your blog.

2. Post your thoughts 2-3 times per week starting on January 31. (Please establish your blog before this date).  You may comment on class lectures, readings, or other articles you have read or seen. Try to think/read broadly. Use the internet to broaden the scope of your classroom experience. Let us know the links to any sites/articles you are discussing.

3. Since we are talking about film here, feel free to include media clips from youtube or elsewhere, and then offer your thoughts on the clip.

4. You will be part of a “comment” group of 5 students. You should bookmark your group’s blogs and use the commenting function to offer your thoughts and observations on the works of others.  You will want to “follow” their blog entries.  This is easy to do–see here.  Please follow my class blog as well–I will announce upcoming films, test reviews, and possible questions for your blogs at this site.

5. You will ultimately be graded on the originality, thoughtfulness, and creativity of your work at semester’s end. It will count 1/3 of your grade.

6.  WARNING:  Since this will be a conversation between you and your fellow students, it must proceed throughout the semester.  The 2-3 entries must occur weekly, not 45 in the last week or so.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download