The purpose of the course is to examine the history of cinema from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century up to the present, focusing on important film movements, genres, cinematic trends and schools from different periods and countries. Filmic developments will be considered in the context of economic, social and political changes. The course will explore the interaction of the films with the artistic and cultural movements, and also, the impact of technological innovations and industrial shifts on film production.
Vertical Tabs
Course Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcomes | Program Learning Outcomes | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| 1) Develop a deeper understanding of origins of cinema and its evolution as an industrial commodity, an art form, a technology and a mass media tool. | 1, 4, 7, 9 | 1, 2 | A |
| 2) Be able to identify major film movements, traditions, genres and aesthetic trends in the history of cinema and to understand the relationship between film forms, culture and artistic movements. | 1, 3, 4, 7, 9 | 1, 2 | A |
| 3) Discuss films in terms of their relation with their cultural, industrial and historical contexts from which they emerged. | 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 | 1, 2 | A |
| 4) Investigate the way films reflect social and political changes over time and also, how films play a role in the history, having an impact on cultures and historical events. | 1, 5, 6, 7, 9 | 1, 2 | A |
| 5) Be able to establish connections between films through their common stylistic, narrative and formal properties and to consider them within the framework of the theoretical and critical approaches to the medium as well as to its popular aspect. | 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 | 1, 2 | A |
Course Flow
| COURSE CONTENT | ||
| Week | Topics | Study Materials |
| 1 | Introduction. Discussion on the relation between history and cinema. A survey of the origins of cinema. | |
| 2 | Early Cinema 1: The emergence of film technology and the birth of cinema in Europe and in America. Early filmmaking and exhibition. Edison, Lumière, Méliès and other pioneers. Film d’art. The struggle for the expanding American Film Industry (MPPC –Motion Pictures Patents Company- vs Independents) |
Selection from films chronotographiques (1890-1904), Etienne Jules-Marey & George Demenÿ
Selection from Edison Kinetoscope Films (1894-1896) Selection from Lumières Brothers’ first films (1895-1897) Selection from Brighton School movies (1896-1905) The Magic Lantern (La Lanterne Magique - 1903) & A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune- 1902), G. Méliès |
| 3 | Early Cinema 2: Narrative integration in early cinema and the development of narrative continuity. Edwin S.Porter, David W.Griffith. |
The Life of an American Fireman (1903), E. S Porter
The Great Train Robbery (1903), E. S Porter The Loneday Operator (1911) (excerpt), D.W.Griffith The Birth of a Nation (1915) (excerpt), D.W.Griffith |
| 4 | The Late Silent Era: The Classical Hollywood System in 20s. The expansion of the American film industry (vertical integration, picture palaces, studio filmmaking…) Studio system, stars and genres. Silent comedy films (Slapstick comedy). |
Excerpts from Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton’s movies |
| 5 | Alternatives to narrative fiction: documentary & avant-garde cinema. Modernist Film Movements between the World Wars 1: Avant-garde trends of the 1920s in France: Impressionism, Dada and Surrealist Movements |
Nanouk of the North (1922) (excerpt), Robert Flaherty
Excerpts from 20’s avant-garde films in Europe An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou- 1929), Luis Buňuel (excerpt) Entr’acte (1929), Eric Satie & René Clair (excerpt) Excerpts from Abel Gance, Jean Epstein, Marcel L’Herbier, Germaine Dulac’s movies from ‘20s |
| 6 | Modernist Film Movements between the World Wars 2: Weimar Cinematic Modernism and German Expressionism |
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari-1920), Robert Wiene (excerpt)
Nosferatu (1922), F.W. Murnau (excerpt) Metropolis (1927), Fritz Lang (excerpt) Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock (Shower scene) |
| 7 | Modernist Film Movements between the World Wars 3: Soviet Montage Cinema, The Formalist Tradition and The Influence of Futurist Aesthetic and Constructivism. |
Man with a movie camera (Chelovek s kino-apparatom -1929), Dziga Vertov (excerpt)
Strike ( Stachka -1925), S. Eisenstein (excerpt) Battleship Potemkine (Bronenosets Potyomkin -1925), S. Eisenstein (Odessa steps sequence) |
| 8 | MID-TERM EXAM | |
| 9 | The Beginning of the Sound Era: The Great Depression. New structure of the American film industry. Censorship and Hayes Production Code. Genre innovations and transformations: musical, screwball comedy, gangster movies, animation…. |
The Jazz Singer (1927), Alan Crosland (excerpts)
Singing in the Rain (1952), Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen (excerpts) Excerpts from Busby Berkeley musicals in 30s Steamboat Willie (1928), Walt Disney Animation Studios (excerpts) |
| 10 | Propaganda Films Before and During the WWII: A Comparison of propaganda films: Nazi cinema during the Third Reich, The Soviet cinema under Stalin, The Italian Cinema under Mussolini and white telephone films, Hollywood propaganda in American Cinema. |
World War I Newsreel Excerpts
Why we Fight : Prelude to War (1942), Frank Capra (excerpt) Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens -1935), Leni Riefenstahl (excerpts) Olympia (1936), Leni Riefenstahl (excerpts) The Ducktators (1942), Warner Bros propaganda cartoon |
| 11 | Italian Neo-Realist Movement: Post-war realism and film production in Italy. Political and moral charge of the movement. |
Mister max (Il Signor Max -1937), Mario Camerini (excerpt)
Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta-1945), R. Rossellini (excerpt) Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette -1948), Vittorio de Sica (excerpt) Germany Year Zero (Germanio Anno Zero – 1948) R. Rosselini (excerpt) |
| 12 | European New Waves in Cinema. French new wave cinema. Post-war French Cinephilia, Auteurism, and New Criticism. |
Breathless (A Bout de Souffle -1960), Jean-Luc Godard (excerpt)
400 Blows (400 Coups – 1958), F. Truffaut (excerpt) Hiroshima mon amour (1959), Alain Resnais |
| 13 | Political Filmmaking and Third Cinema: Cinema Novo. Cuban Revolutionary Cinema, Third cinema Manifestos and Post-colonial narratives. Cinema beyond the national boundaries. |
The Hour of the Furnaces (La Hora de los Hornos – 1968), Fernando Solanas, Octavio Getino (excerpt)
Black God, White Devil (Dios y Diablo en la tierra del sol – 1964), Glauber Rocha (excerpt) |
| 14 | The Post-Classical American Cinema : New Hollywood. Blockbusters. American Independent Cinema (before and after 80s). |
Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Arthur Penn (excerpt)
Easy Rider (1969), Dennis Hopper (excerpts) Foxy Brown (1974), Jack Hill (excerpt) |
| 15 | New Global Cinema: The impact of globalization on film cultures. New technologies. Transnational flow of cultures and images. | Excerpts from selected films from contemporary global cinema |
| 16 | FINAL EXAM | |
Recommended Sources
| RECOMMENDED SOURCES | |
| Textbook |
Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin, Film History: An Introduction, New York: McGraw Hill Press, 3th edition, 2009
Teksoy Rekin, Dünya Sinema Tarihi, Oğlak Yayınları, 2005 |
| Additional Resources | Film excerpts (www.youtube.com, www.dailymotion.com) + Profesor’s slides |
Material Sharing
| MATERIAL SHARING | |
| Documents | yulearn.yeditepe.edu.tr |
| Assignments | |
| Exams | |
Assessment
| ASSESSMENT | ||
| IN-TERM STUDIES | NUMBER | PERCENTAGE |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 100 |
| Quizzes | ||
| Assignment | ||
| Total | 100 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE | 60 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE | 40 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Course’s Contribution to Program
| COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM | ||||||
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | Defines basic concepts, theories, methods, and domains of study specific to radio, television and cinema by associating them with the findings and theories of humanities and social sciences. | X | ||||
| 2 | Demonstrates the responsibilities, effective participation, coordination, and planning skills essential for harmonious and efficient teamwork in the production processes relative to the radio, television and cinema fields. | X | ||||
| 3 | Generates media products in accordance with professional standards in various narrative forms and genres specific to the field by synthesizing up-to-date knowledge and skills for expertise acquired through applied and theoretical courses. | X | ||||
| 4 | Manifests professional knowledge and such skills as copywriting, image management, editing, sound design, producing and directing, media management in different fields of radio, television and cinema locally and globally. | X | ||||
| 5 | Holds responsibility in broadcasting by integrating national and international rules of law that media professionals should pursue with professional ethical principles. | X | ||||
| 6 | Comprehends the knowledge and skills related to institutional operation and management in the production and broadcasting processes of radio, television and cinema for the common interest. | X | ||||
| 7 | Evaluates radio, television and cinema fields analytically and critically from their institutional structuring to products regarding a wide range of cultural, artistic, economic, and social relations. | X | ||||
| 8 | Has the ability to collect visual, audio and written data, conduct research, evaluate, report and offer creative solutions in the fields of radio, television and cinema. | X | ||||
| 9 | Develops original projects for radio, television and cinema by following new technologies, developments, and ideas in the fields of art, culture, and media at the national and global planes. | X | ||||
ECTS
| ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION | |||
| Activities | Quantity |
Duration (Hour) |
Total Workload (Hour) |
| Course Duration | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Reading | 14 | 4 | 56 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Final examination | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Total Work Load | 146 | ||
| Total Work Load / 25 (h) | 5,84 | ||
| ECTS Credit of the Course | 6 | ||