HUM 210 American Cinema and Society (5 credits)
Distribution Area Fulfilled Humanities; General Transfer Elective
Formerly HUMAN 210
Course Description
This course explores the relationship between the themes, major genres, and production of Hollywood cinema, and American social, political, and economic history from the early 1900s to the present.
Course Content
A. Cultural Studies approach to reading and interpreting film
B. Elements of narrative film: character, plot, dialogue, setting, mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound
C. Hollywood genres: Film Noir, Western, musicals, comedy, war film, social drama, horror, science-fiction
D. The origins of Hollywood filmmaking
E. The Hollywood studio system
F. The 1950s: Cold War, Cinemascope, teenagers, and the end of the studio system
G. The 1960s and 1970s: Equal rights, social protest, the rise of countercultural cinema
H. The 1970s: Cinema, Television, and the Film School Generation
I. The 1980s: Reaganism, home video technology, the return of the blockbuster
J. 1990s and early 21st Century: Rise of independent cinema, changing distribution platforms (e.g. Netflix) and technologies (e.g. digital camera, CGI), diversity on film
Student Outcomes
1. Define the key elements and significance of a Cultural Studies approach to film analysis.
2. Examine how classic Hollywood narrative choices (character-centered cinema, meden agan, time and space manipulation), and camerawork (mise-en-scene, cinematography, seamless editing, sound) impact American cinema and its capacities for storytelling.
3. Analyze the relationship between themes and production of Hollywood cinema, and American social, political, and economic history.
4. Trace the evolutions of narrative cinema and the early history of Hollywood.
5. Analyze the rise of the Hollywood studio system and the social, political, and economic changes in the 1950s that led to its end.
6. Demonstrate the ability to recognize the features of the major Hollywood genres (such as Film Noir, Western, musicals, comedy, war film, social drama, horror, science-fiction) and describe how social, political, and economic changes in America are reflected in the changing content and popularity of these genres.
7. Describe the social, political, and economic changes of the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on issues of equal rights and social change, and the rise of countercultural cinema.
8. Analyze the events that led to the rise of the director as auteur in the late 1960s and 1970s, and describe the influence of film schools and television on Hollywood film content and production.
9. Describe the impact of social, political, and economic changes from the 1980s to the present, and of new technologies—cable, satellite dishes, video recorders, DVD, camcorders—on the content and production of Hollywood cinema.
10. Compare the history, production, and content of American independent cinema and 21st Century cinemas to earlier styles and eras, particularly with regard to diversity on film.
Degree Outcomes
Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking: Graduates will evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and generate ideas; construct informed, meaningful, and justifiable conclusions; and process feelings, beliefs, biases, strengths, and weaknesses as they relate to their thinking, decisions, and creations.
Humanities: Graduates acquire critical skills to interpret, analyze, and evaluate forms of human expression, which can include creation and performance as an expression of human experience.
Lecture Contact Hours 50
Lab Contact Hours 0
Clinical Contact Hours 0
Total Contact Hours 50
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