Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
History of Film
Other languages of instruction: Catalan, English
Introduction
The goal of this module is to provide the student with the necessary tools to learn about the history, the evolution and the main technical and artistic transformations that the world of cinema has suffered from its outset and up to this day. The syllabus is structured as a set of broad conceptual segments that draw a chronological and aesthetic itinerary through the main modes of representation, schools, periods and expressive trends of the History of cinema. In addition, the student will be asked to reflect on each one of these forms of expression, connecting and comparing authors and films, and to do so by means of collective debates in class, the analysis of fragments of films and the writing of an essay at the end of the term. This module's endeavour focuses on providing the student with a solid theoretical basis that may contribute to the development of their profession by incorporating valuable references and stimulating the formulation of new ideas.
Pre-course requirements
No.
Objectives
-Providing with a wide, well-documented vision of the main episodes of the History of cinema.
-Stimulating the student's interest in watching and examining films from previous times and encouraging critical thinking and analytical exercise so as to analyze different ways of understanding cinema.
-Strengthen the student's theoretical knowledge of cinema and of its connections with other areas of culture as well as other forms of artistic expression.
-Encouraging the practice of debating and analyzing films and fragments from different perspectives: cinematographic language, history, and artistic and technical expression.
-Contributing to the development of the student's reflective aptitudes as well as their capacity of abstraction, conceptualization and expression by means of the writing of an academic essay and their participation in class.
Learning outcomes of the subject
- To analyse audience behaviour and characteristics in the contemporary audiovisual environment.
- To contextualise major audiovisual works from their origins in order to understand their influence on the moral values of twentieth- and twenty-first-century societies.
- To explain the aesthetic evolution of audiovisual artistic works throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
- To recognise the dynamics and influences of a globalised world, as well as the impact of the Internet on society, to create audiovisual content that appeals to diverse audiences.
- To understand the economic dimension of the audiovisual sector and the management of audiovisual companies.
- To understand the legal and institutional framework within which professional practice in the audiovisual sector takes place.
- To identify the legal framework governing the production and distribution of information and audiovisual content, including intellectual property and image rights.
- To remain up to date with the contemporary broadcasting landscape and streaming platforms to understand how they adapt to changing audience demands.
- To identify the leading contemporary content creators and their target audiences to understand their influence on different generations.
- To understand the social impact of the diversification of television series available on streaming platforms and to analyse their influence on the values and subcultures of the twenty-first century.
- To develop aesthetic criteria for understanding, evaluating, and relating audiovisual works, while cultivating artistic judgement and sensitivity.
- To analyse contemporary and digital culture by identifying artistic avant-garde movements and their historical evolution, recognising emerging trends, and identifying the principal references and styles of audiovisual language to understand their impact on human communication.
Syllabus
Topic 1: Filmed representation types throughout history. The invention of the cinema and the work of the pioneers. From the Primitive cinema to the Narrative Cinema.
Topic 2: The Origins of the American and European narrative cinema.
Topic 3: The Birth of the Vanguards and German Expressionism.
Topic 4: The Soviet Cinema. The eye-cinema. The Serguei M. Eisenstein assembly of attractions.
Topic 5: The directors of the North American Classic Movies. The first generation of talkies.
Topic 6: Neorealism and the great Italian directors.
Topic 7: The Modern Cinema. The Nouvelle Vague.
Topic 8: American Modernity and the Hollywood New filmmakers.
Topic 11: The Cinema of the Postmodernism. Review of the concept of authorship, visual baroque and digital cinema.
Topic 12: Other film cultures: Asia, Africa, Latin America ...
Bibliography and resources
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ALLEN, Robert C. - GOMERY, Douglas. Teoría y práctica de la historia del cine. Barcelona: Paidós, 1995.
ARANDA, Daniel – ESQUIROL, Meritxell –SÁNCHEZ-NAVARRO, Jordi (eds.) Puntos de vista. Una mirada poliédrica a la historia del cine. Barcelona: UOC, 2009.
ALTMAN, Rick. Los géneros cinematográficos. Barcelona: Paidós, 2000.
ALTMAN, Rick. Film/Genre. Londres: BFI Publishing, 1999.
AUMONT, J. y Marie, M. Análisis del film. Barcelona: Paidós, 1990.
BAECQUE, Antoine de. (ed.) Avatares de una cinefilia. Barcelona: Paidós, 2005.
BALIO, Tino. (ed) The American Film Industry. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.
BENET, Vicente. Un siglo en sombras. Introducción a la historia y estética del cine. València: Ed. de la Mirada, 1999.
BISKIND, Peter. Moteros tranquilos, toros salvajes. La generación que cambió Hollywood. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1998.
BORDWELL, D.; THOMPSON, K. El arte cinematográfico: una introducción. Barcelona: Paidós, 1995.
BORDWELL, D. On the History of Films Style. Nueva York: Harvard University Press, 1997.
BRESSON, Robert. Notas sobre el cinematógrafo. Madrid: Ardora, 2007.
CASETTI, Francesco. Teorías del cine. Barcelona: Paidós, 2002.
CAVELL, Stanley. Más allá de las lágrimas. Madrid: Antonio Machado Libros, 2009.
COOK, David A. A History of Narrative Film. Nueva York: W. W. Norton & Co. Ltd., 1996.
DELEUZE, Gilles. La imagen-movimiento. Estudios sobre cine 1. Barcelona: Paidós, 1986.
DELEUZE, Gilles. La imagen-tiempo. Estudios sobre cine 1. Barcelona: Paidós, 1986.
FONT, Domènec. Paisajes de la Modernidad. Cine europeo, 1960-1980. Barcelona: Paidós, 2002.
KRAKAUER, Siegfried. De Caligari a Hitler. Una historia psicológica del cine alemán. Barcelona: Paidós, 1985.
RANCIÈRE, Jacques. La fábula cinematográfica. Reflexiones sobre la ficción en el cine. Barcelona: Paidós, 2005.
ROSENBAUM, Jonathan. Essential Cinema. On the Necessity of Film Canons . Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
ROSENBAUM, Jonathan. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia: Film Culture in Transition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
STAM, Robert. Teorías del cine. Una introducción. Barcelona: Paidós, 2000.