AMU2449 · Film histories: From 1895 to the present

Overview

The unit introduces you to key moments in film history from the earliest days of cinema up to the present day. It covers aesthetic, technological and industrial developments, while also exploring the relationship between the cinema and the changing historical contexts of its production, distribution and exhibition. It also examines different types of cinema from across the world, covering a range of filmmaking nations, genres and styles. In discussing the main periods in film history, you will engage with issues of historiography as well as the critical approaches and debates that have shaped understandings of the cinema and its evolving relationships with culture and society.

Areas of study: Film, Television and Screen Studies

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. identify connections between the cinema’s aesthetic features and its technological, industrial and social contexts;
2. explain how critical perspectives have shaped developments in film historiography;
3. interpret film narratives through reference to the formal and stylistic features that have emerged in particular historical and national contexts;
4. convey ideas in written and oral formats in a persuasive and engaging manner;
5. collaborate effectively with peers;
6. apply practical filmmaking skills and knowledge of developments in film history to create a short film.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.