Genre: Hollywood Then and Now
The Godfather. Thelma and Louise. Singin’ in the Rain.
Each of these popular films can be easily identified through film genre: Gangster, Road Movie, Musical.
In this five-week asynchronous online course, we will explore some of the most popular film genres that Hollywood has relied on to appeal to moviegoers over the last century. Genres we will likely encounter in the course include musicals, rom-coms, adventure, Westerns, detective dramas, and sci-fi, as well as “subgenres” like the road movie and stoner comedy.
Through readings and short instructional videos, students will gain an understanding of core concepts and methods in the study of film genre; and will also learn about key aspects of Hollywood history, such as the Production Code, which began in the 1930s and eventually morphed into the rating system we have today, and existential threats from television in the 1950s. One of the central questions animating the course is what makes a Hollywood film genre popular in its historical moment?
Students will take weekly quizzes and complete two major assignments: 1) an analysis of a movie poster that utilizes film genre concepts and 2) a detailed pitch for a Hollywood genre “flick” grounded in research of earlier film examples.
See you at the movies!