U.S. Film History

Catalog description

This course covers major formal, industrial and cultural issues in the history of cinema in the United States from 1895 to the present Course topics include the formal distinctiveness of the early period, the emergence of continuity editing and the classical Hollywood style, post-classical cinema. Monopolistic industry practices, exhibition venues, the studio system, synchronized sound. Contemporary independent production, and the relationship between film and commodity culture. Case studies on censorship, the representation of race and black radical politics, and female spectatorship integrate formal, industrial and cultural analysis.