Film 307
The Language of Hollywood: Styles, Storytelling and Technology
Tuesday / Thursday 9:30 – 12:30
Goldsmith Family Cinema
Professor: Scott Higgins
Email: shiggins@wesleyan.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 1-3 PM
Office: 156 Center for Film Studies
Course Objectives
This history course explores how fundamental changes in film technology affected popular
Hollywood storytelling. We will consider the transition to sound, to color, to widescreen, and the
current "digital revolutions." Each change in technology brought new opportunities and challenges,
but the filmmaker's basic task remained the emotional engagement of the viewer through visual
means. We will survey major directors and genres from the studio era and point forward to
contemporary American cinema. Our aim is to illuminate popular cinema as the intersection of
business, technology, and art. Through film history, we will learn about the craft of filmmaking and
how tools shape art.
Required Reading
All readings are available as PDFs on the course moodle page. Please complete each week’s readings
BEFORE class meetings.
Screenings
Films will be shown in class. Do not talk, text, surf the web, or otherwise disturb others during
the screenings. Since you are responsible for keeping track of the detail of these films, note taking is
a necessity. Take general notes during the screening and fill in clarifying details as soon after the
screening as possible. If you must use a laptop to take screening notes, darken your screen and sit
in the back of the cinema! Some our films will be silent, and many will be in black-and-white. If you
have any doubts about your ability to maintain concentration and decorum during these films, you
should reconsider your enrollment in this course.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
(This schedule may be adjusted to meet the day-to-day needs of the class. Screenings and
readings may be subject to change)
PART ONE: SOUND
Tues. Sept. 4
Lecture: Form, Technology, and the Art of Cinema
Film: Street Angel (1928)
Thurs. Sept. 6
Lecture: The Power of Silence: Cinema as a Visual Art
Film: Docks of New York (1928)
Reading: Basinger, excerpt from “Introduction” to Silent
Stars, Card, excerpt from “Silent film in a State of Grace”
Tues. Sept. 11
Lecture: Kicking and Screaming: Dragging Sound to the Cinema
Film: The Bat Whispers (1929)
Reading: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound,”
Thurs. Sept. 13
Lecture: Unbridled Talk: Vaudeville Anarchy in the Sound Film
Film: Monkey Business (1931)
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Tues. Sept. 18
Lecture: Gunfire and the City: The Gangster’s World
Film: Scarface (1932)
Reading: Hanson and Neale, “Commanding the Sounds of the
Universe”
Thurs. Sept. 20
Lecture: Building an Atmosphere: Val Lewton’s Sound and Light
Film: The Ghost Ship (1943)
PART TWO: COLOR
Tues. Sept. 25
Lecture: Harnessing the Rainbow: Introducing Technicolor
Film: Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)
Reading: Higgins, “Order and Plentitude,”
Thurs. Sept. 27
Lecture: The Color of Adventure: Technicolor’s New Palette
Film: Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
JOURNAL ON SOUND DUE
Tues. Oct. 2
Lecture: The Music of Color and Light: Busby Berkeley’s Home front
Film: The Gang’s All Here (1943)
Thurs. Oct. 4
Lecture: Orange, Blue, Loss and Longing: Sirk’s Chromodrama
Film: All that Heaven Allows (1958)
Reading: Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers,
“Planning a Motion Picture in Color,”
Tues. Oct. 9
Lecture: Palette Games: P.T. Anderson’s Color Design
Film: Punch Drunk Love (2002)
Thurs. Oct. 11
TEST
FALL BREAK
PART THREE: WIDESCREEN
Thurs. Oct. 18
Lecture: Stretching and Filling: Early Widescreen Composition
Film: The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Reading: Belton, “Cinemascope, A Poor Man’s Cinerama”
David Bordwell, “Cinemascope, The Modern Miracle You See
without Glasses” [start reading]
JOURNAL ON COLOR DUE
HOMECOMING WEEKEND
Tues. Oct. 23
Lecture: The Future will be Wide: Upgrading Sci Fi for the 1950s
Film: Forbidden Planet (1956)
Reading: Bordwell, “Cinemascope, The Modern Miracle…”
[complete reading]
Thurs. Oct. 25
Lecture: Distant but not Cold: Preminger’s Form and Story
Film: Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
Tues. Oct. 30
NO FILM, DISCUSSION
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Thurs. Nov. 1
Lecture: Sight Gags in Scope: Edward’s Widescreen Slapstick
Film: A Shot in the Dark (1964)
Tues. Nov. 6
Lecture: Staged Realisms: Altman’s Sound and Image
Film: MASH (1970 116 min.)
Thurs. Nov. 8
TEST
PART FOUR: VISUAL EFFECTS
Tues. Nov. 13
Lecture: Special Effects and the Aesthetics of Astonishment
Film: King Kong (1933)
Reading: Harryhausen and Dalton, excerpt on King Kong from A
Century of Stop Motion
Thurs. Nov. 15
Lecture: How UFO’s Really Look: Spielberg and the FX Blockbuster
Film: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (132 minutes)
Reading: Turnock, “The ILM Version: Recent Digital Effects and the
Aesthetics of 1970s Cinematography”
JOURNAL ON WIDESCREEN DUE
Tues. Nov. 20
NO FILM - DISCUSSION
THANKSGIVING RECESS
Tues. Nov. 27
Lecture: Digital Monster: Cameron and Transitional VFX
Film: Terminator 2
Reading: McClean, “Trick of Treat: A Framework for the uses of
Visual Effects in Film”
Thurs. Nov. 29
Lecture: Flexible Reality: Crafting a Digital World
Film: The Matrix
Tues. Dec. 4
NO FILM –DISCUSSION
Thurs. Dec. 6
Lecture: Cinema as a Visual Effect
Film: Transformers
Reading: King, “Spectacle, Narrative and the Hollywood
Blockbuster”
JOURNAL ON VFX DUE
FINAL EXAM:
ASSESSMENT
Test/Takehome Essay
Test/Takehome Essay
Final Exam
Journals
TBA –
[The date and time are announced by the Registrar in the middle of the
semester. Our final will be scheduled for either December 14th or December
15th]
25%
25%
25%
25%
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COURSE POLICIES:
 Students with Disabilities: It is the policy of Wesleyan University to provide reasonable
accommodations to students with documented disabilities. Students, however, are responsible
for registering with Disabilities Services, in addition to making requests known to me in a timely
manner. If you require accommodations in this class, please make an appointment with me as
soon as possible [during the 2nd week of the semester], so that appropriate arrangements can be
made. I cannot accommodate requests for flexibility in due dates.
The procedures for registering with Disabilities Services can be found at
http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/disabilities/index.html.

Laptops: Feel free to use laptops throughout all class meetings except during screenings, where
the light from the screen can disrupt the viewing experience. If you must use your computer to
take notes during the films, do so from the back of the cinema. If you are on your laptop, you are
expected to engage with course materials, not free-range surfing the web, checking email,
Facebook, etc.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. It will be impossible to do well in this course if you miss
class. You are responsible for material covered in your absence.

Participation: You are expected to contribute thoughtful and relevant comments during class.
Do not talk, text, or surf the net during movies.

Papers and Assignments: I mark late papers down at the rate of one full grade per day. Late
papers will not receive written comments. Papers must be submitted via TURNITIN, and they
are due before lecture on the day indicated. You are required to keep an additional copy of
your paper on file.

Return of Assignments: I will retain your final test for my records. All other assignments will be
returned to you.

Test Dates: I cannot schedule makeup tests. If you cannot attend the test dates, reconsider your
enrollment in this course.

Extra Credit: There will be no extra credit in this course.

Completion of Course: Students must complete all assignments in order to pass this course.
COURSE WEBSITE
https://moodle.wesleyan.edu/course/view.php?id=5959
Film 304 has a moodle site that will be regularly updated with handouts, assignments and announcements.
It will also give you an opportunity to discuss course material with your classmates.
DEPARTMENT WEBSITE
http://www.wesleyan.edu/filmstudies/
For information regarding the film major and its requirements, please consult the Film Studies Department
Web Site. It can answer most, if not all, of your questions.
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Journals and Forums*
You will submit THREE journals for this course and contribute to THREE of the course moodle
forums. This will count for 25% of your grade.
Journals: Each journal should test and expand concepts from this course with reference to THREE
additional films. You can write about any feature film not shown as part of this class, but you must
see it in its entirety during this semester. Don’t use films shown this semester in FILM 310. I strongly
recommend attending the FILM SERIES. Limit your discussion to about 500 words per film.
I’m looking for smart and original writing that sheds new light on film form and storytelling. You
needn’t summarize the plots of your films. Rather, illuminate some aspect of the film using ideas from
this class. You might discuss a single scene or sequence, or a pattern that occurs across the film.
Complete THREE of the following options:
Journal on Sound
Journal on Color
Journal on Widescreen
Journal on VFX
Due: Thursday Sept. 27
Due: Thursday Oct. 18
Due: Thursday Nov. 15
Due: Thursday Dec. 6th
Write: “MAJOR,” “PREMAJOR,” OR “GENERAL” at the top of your journal. Journals are due through
TURNITIN by 9:30 AM on the dates indicated.
Forums: I will launch MOODLE FORUMS for each of our four units (Sound, Color, Widescreen, VFX).
You should contribute one posting to THREE of them. You can select an entry from your Journal, or
write something new. You must also offer thoughtful comments on at least THREE other postings for
each forum to which you contribute.
*I realize that the proper plural is fora, but the wizards behind Microsoft Word don’t recognize this.
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