Hollywood Cinema
Overview
This unit introduces students to the distinctive film-making practices of the Hollywood Cinema. The unit will examine a number of representative texts from an aesthetic and historical perspective. Students will be encouraged to evaluate seminal texts drawn from the classical Hollywood cinema as well as texts produced independently outside the studio system. Narrative strategies, stylistic norms and audience expectations will be examined in detail. Students will acquire an insight into production techniques, distribution and marketing strategies and the development of dominant and marginal stylistic approaches.
Requisites
01-June-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Evaluate the functions of concepts such as text, context, subtext, narrative, medium and image in Hollywood cinema
- Contrast narrative strategies and stylistic elements in a range of texts
- Interrogate the production, distribution and reception processes that define Hollywood films
- Distinguish different aesthetic approaches between Hollywood and independent American film genre
- Appraise the historical development of dominant and marginal Hollywood cinema
- Compose essays that develop clear arguments through research and analysis of selected texts and critical screening
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Class | 3.00 | 12 weeks | 36 |
| On-campus Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Specified Activities Various | 3.67 | 12 weeks | 44 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 8.29 | 7 weeks | 58 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Individual | 40% | 1,5,6 |
| Oral Assessment | Individual | 10% | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Research Essay | Individual | 50% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
Content
- Hollywood and the Studio System
- Classical narrative structure
- Pre-Code Hollywood and the Problem of Glamour
- Cold-War Hollywood – HUAC
- The Film School Generation and New Hollywood
- Blaxploitation and Black Cinema
- Blockbuster and High Concept Cinema
- Hard Body Cinema and the Cinema of Attractions
- Independent Cinema
- Hollywood Today
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.