Faculty of Arts
MODULE/UNIT DESCRIPTOR
Title
Code
Level
Credit rating
Pre-requisites
Type of module/unit
Aims
American Cinema: Hollywood and Beyond
HD508
5
20
Completion of L4 History of Art and Design or equivalent
Option

to investigate contemporary understandings of the
history and development of American cinema through a
range of critical and cinematic texts

to develop skills in the analysis and interpretation of
classical and post classical Hollywood narratives

to develop and refine oral and visual presentation skills
Learning outcomes
During this module, you will be engaged in learning:
(1) [5i] About the historic and economic forces that came together
to form the Hollywood film industry, from the early 20th C until the
rise of the mavericks in the late 1970s and 1980s.
(2) [5ii] To use basic concepts to represent the structures of the
Hollywood industry, such as mature oligopoly, vertical integration,
Big 5 and Little 3 studios, the development of the b-movie, the star
system, auterism, classical Hollywood texts, classical and postclassical Hollywood.
(3) [5iii] an understanding of the impact and response of
Hollywood to technological innovation, such as the coming of
sound and innovations in the development of cameras and lenses.
(4) [5iv] how to apply historical, cultural and theoretical tools to
actual film texts and images in order to gain a deeper
understanding of the context of films, the ideologies and ideas
embedded within them, as well as an understanding of genre
types in contradistinction to cycles of films.
Content
The American Cinema has been the pre-eminent and predominant
film force in the world. The accommodation that Hollywood has
made between commerce and art and its development and
formation of systems of vertical integration, studio domination and
an oligopolistic business model (until 1948) are fascinating studies
in cultural production under a determined capitalist economic
system. In the early year Hollywood structured a Fordist
production line of filmmaking and its formulae and classical
Hollywood narratives were to ensure efficient production and
consistency of product – and maximum profits.
By the 1930s and 1940s, the so-called ‘Big 5’ studios: Warner
th
Bros, R.K.O. Pictures, Paramount, M.G.M and 20 Century Fox
and the ‘Little 3’: Universal. United Artists and Columbia plus
Monogram and Republic dominated almost all U. S. film
production. But as the decades progressed the ‘boom and bust’
vicissitudes of the film business became apparent, and just how
Hollywood has responded to the political and technological (not to
mention censorship) challenges thrown at it can be seen in many
of its productions.
Teaching and learning
strategies
Key Information Set data:
Allocation of study hours to
activities
The meanings embedded in a variety of films over various
decades from the 1930s to the 1980s will examined in the light of
some of these histories – the economic, the political, the social
and the ideological – and will be looked at from the point of view of
various genre and narrative types.
Introductory lectures, seminars, guided independent study,
screenings.
Activity
Study hours
SCHEDULED
Lectures, seminars, screenings, tutorials
36
Where 10 credits = 100 learning
hours
GUIDED INDEPENDENT STUDY
Independent study including wider reading and
viewing practice, seminar presentations,
completion of assessment tasks, etc.
Learning support
Indicative Bibliography:
164
Belton, J. American Cinema, American Culture (2008)
Biskind, P. Seeing is Believing (1980)
Bordwell, D., J. Steiger and K. Thompson, The Classical
Hollywood Cinema (1994)
Elsaesser, T. and W. Buckland, Studying Contemporary American
Film (2002)
Harris, M. Scenes From A Revolution: The Birth of the New
Hollywood (2004)
Maltby, R. Hollywood Cinema (2009)
Assessment tasks
Two 20-30 minute seminar presentations, each 25%,
demonstrating learning outcomes 2 and 4
One extended essay of 3,500- 5,000 words (50%) demonstrating
learning outcomes 1-4.
Key Information Set data:
Type of assessment tasks
Summative assessment tasks
which lead to the award of credit
or which are required for
progression (expressed as a
whole number)
Activity
WRITTEN
Written exam
COURSEWORK
Written assignment/ essay, report, dissertation,
portfolio, project output
PRACTICAL
Oral assessment and presentation, practical
skills assessment
OTHER
Set exercises assessing application of
knowledge, analytical, problem-solving or
evaluative skills
%
50%
50%
Brief description of module/unit
content and/or aims (maximum
80 words)
The American Cinema in the dominant form of Hollywood - and
the attempts at creating alternative production systems- has been
the basis of a worldwide cinematic dominance by the U.S. The
accommodation that Hollywood has made between commerce and
art and its development and formation of systems of vertical
integration, studio domination and an oligopolistic business model
are fascinating studies in cultural production under a determined
capitalist economic system. The rise and fall of Hollywood’s
fortunes and the emergence of ‘maverick’ cinema will be
investigated from various points of view.
Area examination board to
which module/unit relates
Module or unit team/
authors/coordinator
Semester offered, where
appropriate
Site where delivered
Date of first approval
Date of last revision
Date of approval of this version
Version number
Replacement for previous
module/unit
History of Art and Design
James Evans
Semester 1 or 2
Pavilion Parade
2010
2012
Field for which module/unit is
acceptable and status in that
field
Course(s) for which module/unit
is acceptable and status in that
course
School home
External examiner
Optional for all B.A. Programmes in History of Art and Design
Humanities
Nicholas Oddy (2011)
Patrizia DiBello (2012)
Caroline Pullee (2009)