After the successful completion of the course, students will:
- have acquired concise knowledge about the main stages in the course of cinema as an art, from its creation until today, so that they can connect it with other arts or fields
- be able to relate individual films and broader styles with their historical and theoretical context
- be able to recognize creative elements (technique, themes, etc.) within the content of films, in relation to the period they belong to
- develop a personal approach to aesthetic differences among various periods and styles
Course Content (Syllabus)
The course explores the development of contemporary cinema by visiting specific landmark periods in which technologies, historical circumstances and theories contributed to an understanding of moviemaking as we know it today. It aims at familiarizing students with important milestones in the history and theory of cinematography; these milestones are selected based on their overall impact to the lineage of cinema. After exploring the early origins of the cinematic medium, the course passes through pillar theories of the 20th century, reaching all the way to contemporary digital cinematography. Although some of the theories partially overlap with one another historically, the course material is arranged in chronological order so that those theories are contextualised within the era in which they were formed. This way, being more than a linear account of the cinematic medium, the course provides students with a comprehensive mural of the most important chapters in the history of cinematography, as well as the opportunity to visit them critically. During the course a number of thematically appropriate visual clips and other examples will be employed for a better consolidation of the material presented in the lectures.