Understanding Movies: The Art and History of Film

Why does the cinema have the power to move the heart, stimulate the mind, and dazzle the imagination? How did the art of film develop from its origins to the present day? This course covers the history and aesthetics of the movies. It traces the experiments and innovations that gave rise to the modern cinema, developing a vocabulary that helps explain the variety of choices filmmakers make when they construct shots and edit them together. In each lecture, Professor Raphael Shargel introduces a period of film history, talks about its importance, covers aspects of cinematic technique, and illustrates his points by analyzing specific movies from the era under discussion. The course thus has both breadth and depth, covering the major movements in film history while at the same time focusing on key pictures worthy of study and enjoyment.

Course Syllabus

• Lecture 1 The Origins of Cinema and the Grammar of Film
• Lecture 2 Film Imagery and the Theory of Montage
• Lecture 3 Storytelling in the 1930s and Stagecoach
• Lecture 4 Citizen Kane: An American Masterpiece
• Lecture 5 World War II and the Cinema of Community: Casablanca; Now, Voyager; and It’s a Wonderful Life
• Lecture 6 Noir and Neorealism: Bicycle Thieves and On the Waterfront
• Lecture 7 Love and the Mirror of Death: Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo
• Lecture 8 Widescreen: The World Writ Large and Intimate: The Apartment
• Lecture 9 The New Wave in France: The 400 Blows and Week-end
• Lecture 10 The American New Wave I: Politics and Family: The Godfather
• Lecture 11 The American New Wave II: The Social Canvas: Nashville
• Lecture 12 The Rule of the Blockbuster: Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Lecture 13 Gender, Race, and the Varieties of Cinematic Experience: Vagabond, Do the Right Thing, and Lone Star
• Lecture 14 The Contemporary Maverick: Goodfellas, Million Dollar Baby, Persepolis

7 hours and 9 mins | ISBN: 1436141664 | MP3 | 205 MB