ART 199: Motion Picture Appreciation

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2025
Credits: 3
Total Contact Hours: 54
Lecture Hours : 54
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 108
Total Student Learning Hours: 162
Strongly Recommended: ENGL C1000.
District General Education: C1. Arts
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter

Catalog Course Description

An introductory course in which the student will learn how to analyze films on technical, aesthetic, and thematic levels. Historically significant and diverse films will be used as source material. 54 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Analyze and explicate motion picture forms and techniques.
  • Recognize and knowledgeably discuss historically significant film periods.
  • Integrate an understanding of film technique and historical film development to an appreciation and interpretation of film themes and genre.
  • Knowledgeably discuss issues surrounding gender, race, sexuality and film.

Major Course Content

  1. Film History and Styles
    1. Early Cinema (Global)
      1. Thomas Edison and Black Maria and Lumiere Brothers and the Cinematographe
      2. Guy-Blaché's Cabbage Fairy 
      3. George Méliès
      4. German Expressionism
      5. Soviet Russia
      6. American Film (Weber, Griffith, etc.)
    2. Rise of Hollywood and the Golden Age of Hollywood
      1. Development of the Studios
      2. Talkies
      3. Paramount Decision
      4. Hays Code
    3. Developments outside Hollywood 
      1. Neorealism
      2. New Wave
      3. Regional film industries
    4. New Hollywood, Big Media and Global Entertainment
  2. Film Industry
    1. Film Production
      1. Mechanics of the movies
      2. Modes of production
    2. Production
    3. Distribution
    4. Film Criticism
  3. Film and Society
    1. Representation Theory
    2. Explore gender, race and LGBTQ+ issues throughout film history
  4. Film Form 
    1. The Significance of Film Form
      1. Film Form Concepts
      2. Principles of Film Form
    2. Narrative Form
      1. Principles of Narrative Form
      2. Narration and story flow
  5. Types of Films
    1. Film Genres
    2. Documentary, Experimental and Animated Films
  6. Film Style
    1. Mise-en-Scene
      1. Aspects of mise-en-scene
      2. Narrative functions of Mise-en-Scene
    2. Cinematography
      1. The Photographic Image
      2. Framing
      3. Duration
    3. Editing
      1. Dimensions of Film Editing
      2. Continuity Editing
      3. Alternatives to Continuity Editing
    4. Sound
      1. Fundamentals of Sound
      2. Dimensions of Sound
      3. Functions of Sound
    5. Style as a Formal System
      1. Concepts of Style
      2. Analyzing Style 

Suggested Reading Other Than Required Textbook

Materials distributed by instructor or linked through the learning management system.

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

Analyze a film of your choice using the 5 principles of film form as a guideline.
Compare and contrast two films of your choice using concepts from this class.
How does Citizen Kane adhere to and deviate from the principles of classical Hollywood narrative technique?

Examples of Outside Assignments

Watch "Citizen Kane." Write a short paper in which you argue whether it should be on a list of the top 10 list of the greatest films of all time. Be sure to reference concepts and evaluation schema from this class.
Watch "North by Northwest." Write a brief paper in which you describe the shift of narration from restricted to unrestricted.

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture

IGETC Area 3: Arts and Humanities

3A. Fine Arts