The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color

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Next Session:

Feb 4th 2013 (5 weeks long)

Workload: 4-6 hours/week

About the Course

This history course explores how fundamental changes in film technology affected popular Hollywood storytelling. We will consider the transition to sound, and the introduction of color. Each change in technology brought new opportunities and challenges, but the filmmaker's basic task remained the emotional engagement of the viewer through visual means. We will survey major directors and genres from the studio era and point forward to contemporary American cinema. Our aim is to illuminate popular cinema as the intersection of business, technology, and art. Through film history, we will learn about the craft of filmmaking and how tools shape art.

About the Instructor(s)

Scott Higgins is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Wesleyan University. He has published two books: Harnessing the Rainbow: Technicolor Aesthetics in the 1930s <http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/highar.html>
Arnheim for Film and Media Studies <http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415801089/>.He is working on a third book about film serials from the 1930s and 1940s. His areas of specialization include aesthetics, silent and classical cinema, narrative theory, genre, and technology. In 2011 he received Wesleyan University's "Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching." He hosts a blog here:  http://shiggins.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Course Syllabus

INTRODUCTION

Week One:  Form, Technology, and the Art of Cinema and The Power of Silence: Cinema as a Visual Art.  Films (to view on your own): Street Angel (1928), Docks of New York (1928)

SOUND

Week Two: Kicking and Screaming: Dragging Sound to the Cinema and Unbridled Talk: Vaudeville Anarchy in the Sound Film. Films (to view on your own): Applause (1929), Monkey Business (1931)

Week Three: Gunfire and the City: The Gangster’s World and Building an Atmosphere: Val Lewton’s Sound and Light. Films (to view on your own): Scarface (1932), The Ghost Ship (1943)

COLOR

Week Four: Harnessing the Rainbow: Introducing Technicolor and The Color of Adventure: Technicolor’s New Palette. Films (to view on your own):Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Week Five: Orange, Blue, Loss and Longing: Sirk’s Chromodrama and Palette Games: P.T. Anderson’s Color Design. Films (to view on your own): All that Heaven Allows (1958), Punch Drunk Love (2002)

Recommended Background

No background required. All are welcome. 

Suggested Readings

The lectures are designed to be self contained. However, the following books offer helpful background in Film History and Analysis.

Bordwell and Thompson, FILM ART: AN INTRODUCTION any edition. http://www.amazon.com/Film-Art-Introduction-David-Bordwell/dp/0073386162/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347...

Higgins, HARNESSING THE TECHNICOLOR RAINBOW: http://www.amazon.com/Harnessing-Technicolor-Rainbow-Color-Design/dp/0292716281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&i...

Neale, THE CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD READER http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Hollywood-Reader-Steve-Neale/dp/0415576741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF...

Course Format

This class will consist of video lectures of around 15 minutes in length. There are four such lectures each week. Students are required to see the films on their own, outside of class. They are readily available on DVD.

FAQ

Will I get a certificate after completing this class?

Yes. Students who successfully complete the class will receive a certificate signed by the instructor.

What resources will I need for this class?

For this course, you will need copies of the films discussed and the time to give them a proper, undistracted, viewing before each lecture. All are available on DVD, some may also be available as downloads or streaming from sites like Amazon and Netflix.