LOS ANGELES MISSION COLLEGE
ARTS/MEDIA/HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT
CINEMA 3: HISTORY OF THE MOTION PICTURE
Fall 2015 3 units #195
Classroom:
CMS 30
Meeting Time: 8:50 am – 1 pm
Office Hour: Mondays 1:15pm – CMS 30
Professor María Elena de las Carreras, Ph.D.
E-mail: mec@socal.rr.com
Class website: http://www.csun.edu/~med61203/
CINEMA 3 covers the history of the development of motion pictures from their beginnings to the present day. It will survey films, filmmakers and film movements that have been decisive in the consolidation of cinema as the art form of the 20 th
century. The emphasis is on American cinema. Class meets once a week. It is open to students in good standing; no prerequisites or prior knowledge are necessary.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME:
The students will analyze a variety of feature films in relation to the artistic, economic and technological history of the motion pictures.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
Wheeler Winston Dixon & Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, A Short History of Film (2013). 2 nd
edition.
REQUIREMENTS:
There are three in-class exams and one paper required. All three exams must be taken on time to pass the course. They count equally and are non-cumulative. They are comprised of multiple-choice, true or false and short answer questions. The exams will cover the lectures, the films, and the reading assignments from the textbook. There will be no make-up exams.
The paper is due at 8:50 am of the day indicated. A paper submitted after that time, but before the next scheduled meeting, will be lowered by two thirds of a grade. A paper submitted after the next meeting, will be reduced one full grade. Papers later than two weeks will not be accepted. There will be a separate handout on the paper.
1

In addition to the exams and paper the students will complete short weekly research assignments. They are due at the beginning of class, typed and properly presented. They will be turned in at the end of the semester, as part of the grade for attendance and participation. There will be a separate handout on these assignments.
All requirements must be completed satisfactorily to pass the class.
There are no make-up exams or repeat screenings.
ATTENDANCE & FILM VIEWING REQUIREMENT:
Attendance at lecture, discussion and screenings is a requirement of the course; the state of California requires that attendance be taken. Viewing films in class is also a requirement necessary for achieving a passing grade. Please do not come late to class; these films are shown one day only, and cannot be rescheduled.
Most of these films are available for viewing at the college library; they can also be rented through online services like Netflix, or checked out from public libraries.
They students will view the following seven films outside of class, which will be the subject of the exams 2 and 3:
Amores perros (2000, Mexico) dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Casablanca (1942) dir. Michael Curtiz
Central Station (1998, Brazil) dir. Walter Salles
The Godfather (1972) dir. Francis Coppola
Rear Window (1954) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Run, Lola, Run
Unforgiven
(1998, Germany) dir. Tom Tykwer
(1992) dir. Clint Eastwood
GRADING:
EXAM 1
EXAM 2
PAPER
EXAM 3
20%
20%
20%
20%
October 5, 2015
November 2, 2015
November 23, 2015
December 14, 2015
PARTICIPATION 20%
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism (from a Latin word for “kidnapper”) is more than simply taking the words of others and presenting them as your own; it is also taking the ideas of others and presenting them as your own. If you use another author’s words or ideas, you must cite them in a proper format. Plagiarism and dishonesty will not be tolerated in any form. All suspected cases will be automatically turned over to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.
CLASSROOM POLICY:
No cell phones, texting or IPod use in class. The student will be invited to leave the classroom if any of these situations occur.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Students with a verified disability who may need reasonable accommodations for this class should notify the instructor and contact Disabled Students Programs and Services as soon as possible – Instructional Building 1018, phone 818.833.3313. All information will remain confidential.
2

1.
DATE TOPICS FILMS CHAPTER
August 31
Introduction to the course
Early cinema
Pioneers and innovators
The Story of Film – An Odyssey (2012) –
Chapter 1: The world discovers a new art
form. 50’
Lumière Brothers’ First Films
(1996, France)
60’
A Trip to the Moon (1902, France) Georges
1
Méliès 15’
2.
September 7
Labor Day
No class today
3.
September 14
The grammar of film: D.W.
Griffith
Hollywood in the 1910s
The Great Train Robbery (1903) Edison/
Edwin S. Porter 15’
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (D.W.
Griffith, 1914) 29’
Doc: D.W. Griffith (1993) – Episode 1
2 & 3
4.
September 21
5.
September 28
Soviet montage editing
German Expressionism: camera
& lighting
Hollywood in the 1920s
Star system
EXAM 1: Chapters 1, 2, 3
Battleship Potemkin
Eisenstein 75’
(1925, USSR) Sergei
Man with the Movie Camera (1929, USSR)
Dziga Vertov 68’ – clip
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919,
Germany) Robert Wiene 69’ - clip
M (1931, Germany) Fritz Lang 100’
One Week (1920) Buster Keaton 19’
Girl Shy (1924) Harold Lloyd 80’ - clip
The Cure (Charlie Chaplin, 1917) 24
Steamboat Willie (
1928) Walt Disney 8’
Stagecoach (1939) John Ford 96’
3
2
6.
October 5
7.
October 12
Hollywood in the 1930s & 1940s
The coming of sound ---
Great Depression
The Jazz Singer
- clip
(1927) Alan Crosland 88’
The Shop around the Corner (1940) Ernst
Lubitsch 97’
4
3

8.
October 19
9.
October 26
10.
November 2
11.
November 9
12.
November 16
13 .
November 23
14.
November 30
15.
December 7
16.
December 14
World War II --- Censorship
Hollywood in the 1950s & end of the studio era
Italian Neorealism
EXAM 2: Chapters 4, 5, 6
Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Welles 119’
Bicycle Thieves (1947, Italy) Vittorio De
Sica 90’
On the Waterfront (1954) Elia Kazan 108’
French New Wave
International cinema in the
1950s: Akira Kurosawa, ,
Federico Fellini & Ingmar
Bergman
International authors of the
1950s and 1960s: Luis Buñuel &
Max Ophuls
PAPER DUE
The New Hollywood
Breathless
89’
(1959, France) Jean-Luc Godard
The Story of Film – An Odyssey (2012)
Chapter 6: 1953-1957. 50’
Rashomon (1950, Japan) Akira Kurosawa
88’
Los olvidados (1950, Mexico) Luis Buñuel
80’
La ronde (1950, France) Max Ophuls 97’
- clip
Cinema in the digital age
EXAM 3: Chapters 7, 8, 10
Annie Hall
(1977) Woody Allen 94’
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (2003) Kenneth
Bowser 119’- clip
Doc: Side by Side (2012) Christopher
Kenneally 99’
The Story of Film – An Odyssey (2012) –
Chapter 14: The 1990s. 50’
4
7
7
8
5 & 6
8 & 10
4