FV2S54 - Theory 3: New Hollywood Filmmakers 01 Sep 2020 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 1
Associated Module Information
| Module Code: | FV2S54 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Module Title: | Theory 3: New Hollywood Filmmakers | ||
| Faculty: | Faculty of Business and Creative Industries | ||
| Faculty Group: | Film and TV | ||
| Faculty Sub Group: | Film and TV | ||
| Module Leader: | Lesley Harbidge, Joseph Sudlow | ||
| Module Team: | Gwyneth Moore | ||
| First Intended Intake: | SEP 2020 | Final Year of Intake: | 2025 |
| Date Closed: | |||
| Credit Value: | 20 | Credit Level: | 5 |
| Language: | English | ||
| Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: | 0 | ||
| Equivalent Module: | |||
| HECOS codes: | 100058 - film studies | ||
| HECOS Code Weighting: | 100 | ||
Document Version Information
| Version | 1 |
|---|---|
| Valid From | 01 Sep 2020 |
| Valid To | 31 Aug 2026 |
Module Aims
• Enable students to interrogate the industrial, historical and social contexts that inform filmmaking in Hollywood from the late 1950s.
• Enable students to debate the emergence of ‘The Film School Generation’ as part of a broader modernist project in art and culture.
• Enable students to develop key skills in research and writing, and the ability to assess and construct academic arguments.
Content Summary
An examination of some of the key figures of The Film School Generation and their influence upon contemporary Hollywood filmmaking, this module debates the pertinent industrial, cultural and social contexts that have informed Hollywood filmmaking since the late 1950s.
The module begins by introducing students to the dual industrial and aesthetic concerns of New Hollywood via analysis of Bowser's important documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Cassavetes' Shadows, a crucial text in signalling the influence of European filmmaking on the Hollywood aesthetic (particularly La Nouvelle Vague and German Expressionism), as well as an increasing recognition of the director as the 'author' of the text.
The module then goes on to examine both 'the Cassavetes effect' and the modernist hero through recourse to the personal filmmaking of Scorsese in Mean Streets. It also turns to the significance of the New Hollywood screenwriter, not least Paul Schrader, in shaping the cinematic landscape at this time.
The module then draws upon Altman's The Long Goodbye to illustrate the New Hollywood drive to reconfigure genre as well as to (re)consider the argument that New Hollywood filmmaking represents a return to the modernist project. Finally, the module examines the influence of New Hollywood on contemporary filmmaking via the postmodernist tendencies of filmmakers such as Spike Lee and David Fincher.
Learning and Teaching Methods
| Activity Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 24 |
| Seminar | 12 |
| Independent Study | 100 |
| Directed Study | 64 |
| Total Hours Selected | 200 |
Learning Outcomes
| # | Learning Outcome |
|---|---|
| LO1 | Understand, appreciate and be able to write learnedly about the cultural, social, industrial and political contexts that have informed both New Hollywood filmmakers and the critical responses to their work. |
| LO2 | Compose an engaging intellectual argument around a specific feature of New Hollywood filmmaking. |
Module Requisites
N/A
Assessment Criteria
| Assessment Category | Assessment Type | Description | Duration | Word Count | Weight (%) | Best of? | Pass Mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Assignment (CW) | Research Plan/Proposal/Project/Log (CW) 1 | Produce a Research Portfolio of documents to support the writing of the Essay, including: a Pitch; a Literature Review; and an Essay introduction. | 0 | 1600 | 40 | No | 40 |
| Written Assignment (CW) | Essay (CW) 1 | Research and write a theoretically informed Essay within an agreed upon area of New Hollywood. | 0 | 3000 | 60 | No | 40 |
Assessment Matrix
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| LO1 | LO2 | ||
| Research Plan/Proposal/Project/Log (CW) 1 | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Essay (CW) 1 | ✔ | ✔ | |