Course Information

Course

Code:	21L.011
Subject:	Film
Views:	35,651

Educator

Name:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Type:	University

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The Film Experience with David Thorburn

Video Lectures

Displaying all 30 video lectures.

Lecture 1 Play Video	Introduction (2007) Introducing film as a cultural form, an institution and an art. Beginning as a novelty without conventions, film developed a unique language and grew into an embedded social norm. Examples: Fred Ott's Sneeze, Great Train Robbery.
Lecture 2 Play Video	Keaton (2007) Continues the discussion of the evolution of early film, centering on D.W. Griffith and Buster Keaton, whose 1927 masterpiece The General is seen as a culmination of the Silent Era.
Lecture 3 Play Video	Chaplin, Part I (2007) Explore the emergence of Charlie Chaplin during the early years of Hollywood. Examples: Keystone Kops, The Tramp.
Lecture 4 Play Video	Chaplin, Part II (2007) Continue discussion of Charlie Chaplin, comparing his films to those of Buster Keaton. Examples: Keaton's Cops, Chaplin's The Gold Rush, City Lights, and particularly Modern Times.
Lecture 5 Play Video	Film as Global & Cultural Form; Montage, Mise en Scène Film emerges as a global cultural form. Compare American vs. European cinemas, Hollywood vs. "high art", and montage vs. mise en scène styles. End with viewing and discussing the "Odessa Steps" montage in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.
Lecture 6 Play Video	German Film, Murnau Continue discussing film as a global cultural form through early German cinema. Establish key themes of German Expressionism, with paintings as a backdrop. View & discuss clips: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, Nosferatu. Preview The Last Laugh.
Lecture 7 Play Video	The Studio Era Emergence of Hollywood system of stars and genres, producing populist "aesthetics of connection" with the mass moviegoing audience. Three strains of comedy: anarchic, worldly, & screwball. View & discuss two screwball clips: The Lady Eve & Ball of Fire.
Lecture 8 Play Video	The Work of Movies; Capra & Hawks Continue discussion of the Hollywood "Studio Era" of 1930s-1940s. Explore cultural implications of film as entertainment and as consensus narrative. Survey careers of Capra and Hawks, and preview their films It Happened One Night and His Girl Friday.
Lecture 9 Play Video	Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock's style dovetails with the Hollywood system's imposed constraints. Survey his career (Silent Era through the 1960s), method as a fastidious technician. Key themes, such as confinement and authority, demonstrated in Strangers on a Train clip.
Lecture 10 Play Video	Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window Shadow of a Doubt and Rear Window show how Hitchcock films can be considered a genre all their own. Main themes: divided self (good/evil, masculine/feminine), attractiveness of evil, nature of cinema entertainment, double plots (story & meta-story).
Lecture 11 Play Video	The Musical Define what makes a film a "musical." Key themes: creating community and putting on the show, high vs popular culture, social class vs merit, restraint vs spontaneity. Films discussed: Love Me Tonight, 42nd Street, Top Hat.
Lecture 12 Play Video	The Musical (continued) Compare and contrast the dance styles of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, and their contributions to the musical genre. Discuss in detail the films Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Cabaret (1972). The course theme of multiplicity in art and film returns.
Lecture 13 Play Video	The Western The Western as a genre form, exemplifying Hollywood cinema's emergence as a central form of storytelling ("consensus narrative") for the founding myths of the United States. Films discussed: McCabe and Mrs. Miller.
Lecture 14 Play Video	The Western (continued) Conclude discussion of the Western as genre form. The Western's role in movie house culture and Saturday matinees. Surveys key films and themes by decade, from silent films to today; overview of John Ford's career and preview of The Searchers.
Lecture 15 Play Video	American Film in the 1970s, Part I (2007) Dramatic changes in American film of the late 60s & early 70s linked with the period's turbulent social history, and with TV supplanting film as the medium for consensus narrative. Discuss Jack Nicholson/Five Easy Pieces; Altman's The Long Goodbye, MASH.
Lecture 16 Play Video	American Film in the 1970s, Part II (2007) Continue the discussion of transformation and subversion in 1970s films, specifically as embodied in the work of director Robert Altman. Detailed preview of McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and consider High Noon as a baseline Western reference.
Lecture 17 Play Video	Jean Renoir and Poetic Realism Parallels between French and American cinema, and French contribution to developing film theory and criticism. Survey Renoir's career and some key associates (Vigo, Bazin). Analyze short clips from Grand Illusion and Boudu Saved From Drowning.
Lecture 18 Play Video	Renoir's Grand Illusion (1937) "Rules of the Game" demonstrates Renoir's camera technique. Discuss key actors (Von Stroheim, Gabin) and key themes including prison camp as microcosm, transcending barriers, effects of social class, Europe in transition.
Lecture 19 Play Video	Italian Neorealism, Part I (2007) Origins and historical context of Italian neorealism, with brief accounts of the major figures and artistic principles of the movement. Discuss the quality of “multiplicity,” a key attribute of all good films. Examples: Bicycle Thieves; Rome, Open City.
Lecture 20 Play Video	Italian Neorealism, Part II (2007) A general account of De Sica’s career as an actor and director, and a close reading of his most famous film Bicycle Thieves.
Lecture 21 Play Video	Truffaut, the Nouvelle Vague, The 400 Blows Introduce the French New Wave style, with comparisons to Italian neorealism and Hollywood, and use of improvisation, jump cuts, elliptical editing, and self-reflexiveness. Focus on Truffaut and his key films, especially The 400 Blows.
Lecture 22 Play Video	Kurosawa and Rashomon Kurosawa's Rashomon demonstrates film's emergence as an international medium and fully-recognized art form. The lecture highlights connections to modernism and Japanese theater traditions, and summarizes the film's key stylistic and structural features.
Lecture 23 Play Video	Summary Perspectives: Film as Art and Artifact A review and summary of the key themes of this course, such as consensus narrative, organic form, and the multiplicity principle.
Lecture 24 Play Video	Meet the Educator In this video, David Thorburn shares his role at MIT and the story behind what inspired him to become a film scholar.
Lecture 25 Play Video	Why Study Film? In this video, David Thorburn discusses how the study of film and literature enriches students' lives. He also shares that his course offers students an opportunity to appreciate the kind of artistic genius that is distinct from that of entrepreneurs.
Lecture 26 Play Video	Approach to Lecturing In this video, David Thorburn discusses the value of lecture courses for undergraduate student and shares teaching strategies he's borrowed from other inspiring lecturers.
Lecture 27 Play Video	The Film Experience: A Course in Transition In this video, David Thorburn discusses how technological advancementes over the past three decades have transformed and continue to transform students' experience in the course.
Lecture 28 Play Video	The Video Lecture Conundrum In this video, David Thorburn discusses factors he considers when thinking about how video lectures might be integrated into the teaching of the course.
Lecture 29 Play Video	Beyond Film: Television & Literature In this video, David Thorburn shares how "The Film Experience" differs from traditional film courses taught in cinema studies sequences in that he uses frameworks from television and literature to help students explore the genre.
Lecture 30 Play Video	Thematic Spines of the Course In this video, David Thorburn discusses themes that organize the course, including the power of movies, the work of genre, organic form, and artistic qualities, such as the multiplicity principle.