The Language of Film: A History

Wednesdays, April 13 - June 1, 2005
Instructor: Lance Rhoades
8 Sessions - 7:00-10:00pm
Tuition: $275.00

The Language of Film (A History) is part film history and part analysis. We will concentrate on the elements of film language that make films such a unique medium--editing, cinematography, composition, color and sound. Along the way we'll examine the very first films ever made, and we'll view and analyze important works in film history: Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin," German expressionist work such as "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," and films by directors ranging from Orson Welles to Jean-Luc Godard. At the core of The Language of Film (A History) is the fundamental concentration on both the individual film and the underlying structure of film and filmmaking.

Alternatives to Hollywood:
American Independent Cinema

A: Wednesdays, July 13 - August 31, 2005
Instructor: Lance Rhoades
8 Sessions - 7:00-10:00pm
Tuition: $275.00

"Hollywood" is a place, but more importantly it is way of thinking about moving-picture stories that has become the dominant one in the world. Yet from the outset major films have been made outside that system. American Independent Cinema looks at some early independent films, as well as the works of key outsiders such as John Cassavettes, Steven Soderbergh, and other filmmakers in the U.S. and abroad who turned away from Hollywood's arguably conservative style of telling stories. Along the way we will look at independent cinema in France, England, Italy and Japan, with a focus on the 1950s, seeing how American filmmakers, and indeed Hollywood itself, absorbed, digested and entered into an ongoing conversation with these alternative views.

Directors and Genres

A: Wednesdays, October 19 - December 14, 2004 (no class 11/23)
Instructor: Lance Rhoades
8 Sessions - 7:00-10:00pm
Tuition: $275.00

We think of great directors as having singular and original visions, yet American films became a potent force in the world thanks to genres such as the Western, the Screwball Comedy, film noir, the Thriller, the Epic, and the Musical -films that got made as a set of agreements between filmmakers and audiences. Originality would seem to be beside the point in these films, yet many of our greatest filmmakers such as Howard Hawks, John Ford, Frank Capra, Orson Welles, and Alfred Hitchcock worked brilliantly in different genres and managed to stamp them with their signatures. This class will look at some of the great examples of genre that these towering figures brought to the screen in spite of, or perhaps because of, the constrictions of the form.

Shedding Light on Film Noir

A: Wednesdays, January 11 - March 1, 2006
Instructor: Lance Rhoades
8 Sessions - 7:00-10:00pm
Tuition: $275.00

Characterized by shadowy scenes in mysterious and corrupt urban underworlds where unwitting tough guys fall for devious femme fatales, Film Noir is one of the great American film styles. This course explores the rich history of Film Noir (and the closely related Gangster and Detective Film) from its heyday as B-movie entertainment in the 1940s through its critical acclaim in the 1950s and 60s, to its resurgence and revision over the last thirty years. We will discuss several classics, including “The Maltese Falcon” and “Double Indemnity”, and trace the Noir elements found in relatively recent films such as “Red Rock West” and “The Last Seduction”.