History 120

History 120 DE

History of the Movies - On-Line

Unit 2

The Greatest Movie Ever Made
Early Cinema 1893-1914

Dr. Bruce Haulman

Welcome to Unit 1 of the History of the Movies On-Line

The Greatest Movie Ever Made

To complete Unit 2 in this class you need to complete the following six things.

1. Read Chapter 1 "Early Cinema 1893-1914" in the Jon Lewis textbook American Film: A History.

2. Follow this link to the Annenberg Media Projects site "Cinema: How are Hollywood Films Made." Follow the links in the black box or scroll to the bottom and click on each link to the next page. This site will give you a good background in cinema terminology and techniques that will help as you watch and analyze Citizen Kane.

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/cinema/index.html

3. Read the following articles about the film Citizen Kane. As you read them, take notes to help you define the understand the elements of the Classic Hollywood Style and then use these notes when you watch the film Citizen Kane. You will use this to write your Film Paper # 1. You might want to look ahead to Unit 4 to see the assignment for your Film Paper # 1 and how you will use what you learn from watching Citizen Kane.

Roger Ebert - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980524/reviews08/401010334/1023

Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane

4. View the film Citizen Kane. While you are viewing the film, be sure to take notes. Identify the major elements of the Classic Style, look for key concepts about the Classic Style from examples used in the video, and look for comments about the Classic Style from the individuals interviewed in the video. You can use these notes to write your Film Paper # 1 and strengthen your arguments. Ask yourself why Citizen Kane is often considered the Greatest Film Ever Made!

5. Post a comment on the Message Board about which of the elements of the Classic Hollywood Style was best represented by Citizen Kane. Was it the Invisible Style, Equilibrium and Disruption, Characters, or the Narrative Pattern? Is Citizen Kane the greatest movie ever made?

Click on the Message Board in the Lessons Tab.

6. Complete Quiz # 2 - click on the link in the Lessons Tab to take Quiz # 2

These assignments conclude Unit 2 of this class.