FAVh064 Cinema, colour and widescreen formats

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/2. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Michal Večeřa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Michal Večeřa, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
There are none.
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
The course has 2 main objectives:
First of all, to introduce students to the historical development of colour and widescreen formats in the history of the audiovisual industry in Czech and world cinema.
using examples from the history of widescreen formats, to introduce theoretical and methodological concepts that enable us to view the history of cinematographic technology from different perspectives.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
identify the main developments in the changing use of colour and widescreen techniques in audiovisual
identify changes in creative practice associated with innovation
perceive technological changes in a socio-cultural context
ask their own research questions in the history of technology
Syllabus
  • The following topics will be discussed
  • 1) Introduction and methodological frameworks for the study of technological history
  • 2) the pre-cinematic and early cinematic era, colouring, issues of non-existent standards and the search for the inherent specificity of the film medium
  • 3) colour systems of the 1910s and 1920s - two-colour film and its uses
  • 4) changes associated with the advent of sound cinema, attempts to develop widescreen film
  • 5) the 1930s in colour - Technicolor, Agfacolor, their use and the specifics of the films made
  • 6) the emergence of colour films in Czechoslovakia - 1930s-50s
  • 7) the advent of widescreen formats in the 1950s
  • 8) 70mm film in the world
  • 9) widescreen film in Czechoslovakia - specifics of small national cinema
  • 10) special technical formats - Expo 58 in Brussels and Laterna magica
  • 11) television - from black and white to colour
  • 12) IMAX
Literature
  • SALT, Barry. Moving into pictures : more on film history, style, and analysis. London: Starword, 2006, 444 s. ISBN 9780950906645. info
  • SALT, Barry. Film style and technology : history and analysis. 2nd. expand. ed. London: Starword, 1992, 351 s. ISBN 095090662X. info
  • BELTON, John. Widescreen cinema. Cabridge, Massachusett: Harvard University Press, 1992, viii, 300. ISBN 0-674-95260-X. info
Teaching methods
- lecture
- projection
- home preparation (additional reading and films)
Assessment methods
Written text, 60 % to pass
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: every week.
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/FAVh064