Required reading -
Preston Sturges and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek"
Suggested reading -
Screwball Comedy
"ToBe Or Not To Be" - The Play is the Thing
Billy Wilder
"My Man Godfrey:
Friday, January 26, 2018
Suggersted Readings - Week 3
Required reading -
Preston Sturges and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek"
Suggested reading -
Screwball Comedy
"ToBe Or Not To Be" - The Play is the Thing
Billy Wilder
"My Man Godfrey:
Suggested Home Viewing - Weeks 3 & 4
20th Century
The Apartment
Arsenic and Old Lace
Ball of Fire
Bringing Up Baby
Duck Soup
His Girl Friday
The Lady Eve
Midnight
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
A Night at the Opera
Nothing Sacred
The Palm Beach Story
The Philadelphia Story
Some Like It Hot
Sullivan's Travels
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Suggested Home Viewing - Weeks 1 & 2
Here are some suggested films to watch during the first two weeks of class. They are all from the Silent Era of American Cinema. When we have a quiz, you can let me know then what you have seen. These are not required, but will serve as source material for the articles you will eventually post to this website. I will put a listing like this up every two weeks, reflecting our current areas of study.
Big Business
Birth of a Nation
The Crowd
The General
The Gold Rush
Greed
Intolerance
Modern Times
The Navigator
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Safety Last
Sunrise
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Two Tars
West of Zanzibar (1928)
Wings
Thursday, January 4, 2018
American Cinema - Syllabus - Spring 2018
AMERICAN CINEMA – COM 260 - SYLLABUS
University
of Tampa
Spring
Semester - 2018
Tom Hammond
- Instructor
Objectives:
This class is a
survey of the history, origins and influences of American Film. We will consider the American Cinema as an
art form, an industry, and a system of representation and communication. We
will explore the process by which an American identity is both formed and
reflected through movies, and how films work technically, aesthetically, and
culturally to reinforce and challenge our national self-image.
The course is
designed to build an integrated understanding of U. S. society, politics, and
culture. The interconnectedness of these domains is reflected in the films we
will study.
Instructor's
Contact Information – phone:
813-900-4759, email addresses: thammond@ut.edu, thammond1946@yahoo.com.
Individual meetings can be arranged before or after class.
Required
Text and Viewings:
There is no textbook for this class. Rather,
you will be given weekly readings on the class blog. These will be links to
articles from websites, film journals and review sites. Regular quizzes will be
given to show compliance with this requirement.
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube and Filmstruck
– Every week a list of recommended films for viewing outside of class will be posted
on the blog. You can watch and write on these at your discretion. These
websites offer a variety of viewing and subscription plans. Whatever your
preference, films listed will be available on one or more of these platforms.
Whether you subscribe or pay one-time rental fees, there will always be a
multitude of choices. Most of the titles are available in the school or public
library. These films will be the basis for your required articles or reviews to
be posted on the blog.
Course
Requirements and Grading:
·
Attendance &
Participation 20% of
grade
·
Quizzes (10) 40% of grade
·
Blog Postings (4) 40% of grade
Grading
Ranges:
A 94-100
A/B 87-93
B 80-86
B/C 75-79
C 70-74
D 60-69
F Below
60
Attendance
& Participation – Every
class covers a component of film history, theory and criticism vital to your
overall understanding of the subject. If
you must miss a class, let me know in advance, if possible. Chronic lateness will be noted and will
adversely impact your final grade.
Quizzes – You are responsible for the information
presented in class and the content of the assigned readings. The quizzes will be a measurement of this and
will also serve as an attendance marker. No make-ups will be given.
Blog Postings – You will be
invited to participate on the class blog.
This is where you will post your articles and reviews. A minimum of four
is required during the semester. More can be done for extra credit. A rubric, detailing
the possible formats you can use for this requirement, is given later in this
syllabus. Also, blog comments on the work of your fellow students are noted and
work in your favor when calculating your grade.
Academic
Integrity – If you quote
material from another source, please mention it in the text or CITE IT at
the end. Otherwise it is a violation of University standards.
Assignment
Schedule:
·
Links to all
readings will be posted on the blog at least three days before the week in
which they are to be studied.
·
Suggested
Viewings are recommended films which supplement what we will be studying in the
upcoming week. This list will be posted on the blog, along with the required
reading links, three days prior to the week of study. Aside from deepening your
knowledge of our subject, these are the films you will use as the basis for
your four required articles and reviews.
·
Extra credit is
available in the form of additional articles to the blog. Each of these will
count as an added 5% of your grade.
·
The only DEADLINE is that all four of the regular articles must be
posted to the blog 30 days prior to the end of the semester. Extra credit
is given to additional postings any time after the first four have been
submitted.
·
It is expected
that your postings will be on a regular basis and not all at the last minute.
Here is a list of films we will watch
in class. Three of them are of a length that will require 2 class sessions.
This is the approximate order in which they will be shown. You may use these as
subjects for your blog writing as well as those from the recommended home
viewing lists.
American Cinema: In-Class Viewing List
Beginnings:
Edison, Porter, Griffith
Silent
Comedy: Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy
Seven
Chances
My
Man Godfrey (1936)
To
Be or Not To Be (1942)
The
Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
King
Kong (1933)
Bride
of Frankenstein
I
Walked With a Zombie
War
of the Worlds (1953)
Serials:
Flash Gordon, Adv. of Captain Marvel, Radar Men From the Moon
Cartoons:
Fleischer, Disney, Warner Bros.
The
Searchers (2 class sessions)
High
Noon
Citizen
Kane (2 class sessions)
The
Maltese Falcon
Touch
of Evil
Top
Hat
Singin’
in the Rain
Vertigo
(2 class sessions)
Sunset
Blvd.
Casablanca
Primary
Subjects and General Areas of Study/Reading
·
Early technology
and the beginnings of film
·
Development of
film form and grammar
·
The Silent Era
and rise of the Studio System
·
The introduction
of sound
·
Foreign
influences on the American Horror Film
·
American Film
Industry structure and practices
·
The Star System
·
Historical, social
and political influences on Film Noir
·
The end of the
Studio System
·
Major American
genres
·
Major American filmmakers
Rubric
for Blog Articles and Reviews
1. Articles must be 400-500 words in length.
2. They should either review a specific film,
discuss a genre in general, or the work of an individual filmmaker.
3. Since this class mainly covers the first 50
years of American Film, please consult with me if you wish to write about more
contemporary titles, styles, artists, genres or trends.
4. You should include several pictures (3 or
more) with your posting. Google search will turn up many choices.
5. You may include clips or trailers from YouTube
or any other source you favor.
7. My articles tend to run a bit longer (600-1000
words) than your requirements, but feel free to exceed the basic suggested
length.
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