Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
TF30720
Module Title
CONTEMPORARY HOLLYWOOD CINEMA
Academic Year
2009/2010
Co-ordinator
Dr Sarah K Thomas
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
Successful completion of Part 1 Film and Television Studies

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminars / Tutorials Seminars 1 x 1 hour per week every other week (Students will be informed of their group allocations)
Other Viewing sessions 10 x 2 hours-3 hours
Lecture 1 x 2 hour lecture per week
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Critical Essay 1 (1500 words)  40%
Semester Assessment Critical essay 2 (4000 words)  60%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Examine and critically evaluate a range of Hollywood films from the 1970s onwards, addressing the relations between their textual form and the ways in which they were produced, distributed and exhibited.

Have an understanding of the historical, industrial, political and artistic contexts which have shaped the modern Hollywood film.

Draw critically upon a range of research and debate concerning the Hollywood system since the 1970s and its role in contemporary culture.

Content

This module explores Hollywood cinema from the 1970s to the present era. It will investigate how modern Hollywood cinema has been constructed, consumed and critically analysed since the end of the Classical era. It will consider the Hollywood renaissance of the 1970s, the predominance of the Hollywood blockbuster, the rise of the independents within the Hollywood system, and recent filmmaking in the digital and post-9/11 age. The module will examine thematic, structural and aesthetic features of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking, paying particular attention to the role of the director, political / cultural influences and franchise filmmaking.

Aims

To provide students with an opportunity to examine Hollywood films and film culture since the 1970s, as the dominant mode of film production and cinematic textual formation.To introduce students to current bodies of theoretical and empirical investigation of the contribution of film to contemporary culture, in particular as they have been applied to 'contemporary' Hollywood.

Reading List

Recommended Background
Austin, Thomas & Martin Barker (eds.) (2003) Contemporary Hollywood Stardom London: Arnold Primo search Balio, Tino (1990) Hollywood in the Age of Television London: Unwin Hyman Primo search Cohan, Steven & Ina Rae Hark (1993) Screening the Male: Exploring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema London: Routledge Primo search Evans, Peter & Celestino Deleyto (eds.) (1998) Terms of Endearment: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1980s and 1990s Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP Primo search Hillier, Jim (1994) The New Hollywood NY: Continuum Primo search Neale, Steve & Murray Smith (eds.) (1998) Contemporary Hollywood Cinema London: Routledge Primo search Ryan, Michael & Douglas Kellner (1998) Camera Politics: the Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film Bloomington: Indiana UP Primo search Thompson, Kristin (1999) Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP Primo search Wasko, Janet (1994) Hollywood in the Information Age: Beyond the Silver Screen Oxford: Polity Press Primo search Wasser, Frederick (2001) Veni, Vidi, Video: the Hollywood Empire and the VCR Austin: University of Texas Press Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6