American Film History and Theory - Detailseite

This course is an advanced survey class on a) aspects of American movie history, b) filmic techniques, and c) some seminal texts in film theory. We will look at some of the major steps in the development of American cinema and discuss some seminal movies; we will discuss influential film theories by Walter Benjamin, Jean-Louis Baudry, Laura Mulvey, and Linda Williams as well as some chapters from an introduction into film theory by Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener; and we will have a look at basic filmic techniques such as image and shot, perspective, camera movement, lighting, color and sound, editing, film narratology and semiotics.

The Moodle Key will be announced through Agnes // Please register in Agnes.

Readings:

• Texts (classical theory & interpretations) will be uploaded onto the Moodle platform.
• Apart from the theoretical texts we will be working with Richard Barsam, Looking at Movies, 4^th edition. Norton, 2013 and Michael Ryan, An Introduction to Film Analysis. 2^nd edition. Bloomsbury, 2020. Short excerpts from the books will also be uploaded onto Moodle.
• Thomas Elsaesser, Malte Hagener, Film Theory. An Introduction Through the Senses. London: Routledge, 2010 is a great invitation to film theory. Short Excerpts will also be uploaded on Moodle.

Film Viewing:

Films are available at the Mediathek of the Fakultät (Bibliothek Dorotheenstraße 65). In some cases, we will discuss a way to watch the movies together within a legal frame.

There will be no presentations in this class. In-class requirements are two 5 minute responses to two of the movies on the syllabus. Module Exam: preparation of a multi-media presentation in the context of the seminar within the module – not in this class.

Registration through Agnes!