FAVK030 Contemporary Hollywood Cinema: Classical, or Post-Classical?

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Skopal, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Voráč, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Sat 9:10–10:45 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Are the changes in style, narration, production and reception of contemporary cinema so distinctive that we can speak of a radical break separating the classical (1917-1960) from the post-classical Hollywood? What are the differences between the classical Hollywood and the New Hollywood of the Sixties or the New New Hollywood (since 1970)? What are the arguments of those who prefer to speak of a distinctive break (Corrigan, Bukatman, Wyatt, Schatz...) and those who rather speak of continuity (Bordwell, Thompson, Buckland...)? The lecture will define the term "classicism" in the context of the Hollywood cinema. Consequently, it will reformulate the arguments important for defining the (dis)continuity between the classical and the postclassical Hollywood cinemas. The history of cinema will be understood not only in terms of style and narration, but also as a contextual institutional history. Main objectives can be summarized as follows: to understand the changes of Hollywood system of production and distribution; to understand history of cinema in relation to the economic conditions of the system of production and distribution; to learn the theoretical and methodological discussion on changes of narration, genre, style etc.; to analyse methodological background and results of the representative researches.
Syllabus
  • History of the post-war Hollywood - the main changes
  • the classical Hollywood - what "classical" means
  • post-classicism - the main arguments on the end of classicism
  • history of distribution and exhibition
Literature
  • Peter Krämer: The New Hollywood. From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars. Wallflower 2005
  • Steve Neale & Murray Smith (eds.): Contemporary Hollywood Cinema. London - New York 1998
  • David Bordwell: The way Hollywood tells it. Story and style in modern movies. University of California Press, 2006
  • David Bordwell & Janet Staiger & Kristin Thompson: The Classical Holywood Cinema. Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960. New York 1985
  • David A. Cook: Lost Illusions. American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam 1970-1979. New York 2000
  • Kristin Thompson: Storytelling in the New Hollywood. Understanding Classical Narrative Technique. Cambridge - London 1999
  • avid Bordwell: On the History of Film Style. Cambridge - London 1997
Assessment methods
Colloquium: written essay.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
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