Early Film Technologies: From Zoetrope to Film Sound

Catalog description

This course provides a technological, aesthetic, and cultural history of early cinema and examines the impact of technological experimentation on the art of film in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From early cinematic devices and early experimentations with color and sound to the technological advancements spurred by the Hollywood studio system, the first thirty years of cinema offers an important study of what film is or can be, and provides insight into how individuals, artists, and the growing film industry came to determine what it looks like today. This course situates early cinema technologies in terms of mechanics, artistry, and cultural impact up until the standardization of film sound in the late 1920s, and outlines the many intersections between art, innovation, and industry in early film history. Prerequisite(s): A ARH 260.