Module description
This module will survey the history of Hollywood cinema from its origins in the 1910s to the present day. We will pay roughly equal attention to the Hollywood film industry (production, distribution, exhibition) and to the content, form, and meanings of Hollywood films (subjects and themes, narrative, setting, visual style, sound, and performance). Key concepts dealt with will include 'Hollywood', the 'studio system', 'classical realism', 'genre', 'stardom', the 'auteur', 'independent' production, and the 'blockbuster'. We will explore Hollywood cinema's representation of class, race, and gender, and the different audience groups to which it has sought to appeal. Throughout we will take account of the fact that Hollywood cinema has always been global in its reach while also relating it to its social and historical context within the United States and within Southern California.
Assessment details
- 1500 word essay (40%)
- 2000 word essay (60%)
Educational aims & objectives
In the mid 1950s, Andre Bazin identified Hollywood's achievements, not with the talents of individual filmmakers, but with the 'genius of the system'. This course examines the commercial, industrial, and cultural dimensions of this system from the studio era to the present day. Case studies of specific studios and collaborative relationships between personnel will be used to illuminate the variety of interests that battle it out to determine what a Hollywood film ends up looking like, who sees it, and whether it is remembered. Scholarship on Hollywood cinema covers a wide range of historical and theoretical approaches, from studies of how economic and social considerations have shaped, and continue to shape, Hollywood filmmaking, to speculation about its diverse pleasures and attractions for audiences. Having long ago set the global standard in production values, Hollywood cinema is recognised throughout the world for its technical brilliance and extravagance. The appeal of Hollywood cinema can't be explained by high production values alone, however, and this course introduces students to a variety of ways of investigating Hollywood's enduring popularity. Topics covered may include: the impact of the Motion Picture Production Code (1930) on Hollywood filmmaking; the historical development of key genres and cycles; the star system; the relation between film style and new technologies; and the circumstances of the emergence of the New Hollywood cinema of the 1970s.
Learning outcomes
By they end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practical skills appropriate to a level 5 modules and in particular will be able to:
- demonstrate a thorough introduction to the industrial, institutional, and social factors governing the production and reception of Hollywood cinema since 1930;
- demonstrate a detailed understanding of the historical development of key genres, and the studios and/ or personnel involved in the production of particularly influential films and cycles.
Teaching pattern
Ten lectures, ten three-hour screenings and ten one-hour seminars.