Read: List of Lessons

1. First Light

• Director: Lumiere Brothers/Edison
• Films: Early Lumiere and Edison films, short documentary on early films
• Topic: Introduction to Filmmaking
• Assignment: Film a single action

2. A Magical Story

• Director: George Melies
• Films: Early Melies films, A Trip to the Moon (1902)
• Topic: Creating a simple story
• Assignment: Film a basic story

3. Editing Action

• Director: Edwin S. Porter
• Films: The Great Train Robbery (1903)
• Topic: Continuity editing
• Assignment: Film/Edit story using basic continuity principles

4. The Camera Speaks

• Director: D.W. Griffith
• Films: The New York Hat (1912), Adventures of Dollie (1908)
• Topic: Multi-Shot narrative
• Assignment: Film/Edit 2-3 minute film using elements discussed

5. Parallel Editing and More

• Director: D.W. Griffith
• Films: Corner in Wheat (1908), The Lonedale Operator (1911), The Unchanging Sea (1910)
• Topic: Parallel Action, Associative Montage, Rhythm
• Assignment: Film/Edit 2-3 minute film using elements discussed

6. Mise-en-scene: Framing, Depth & Setting

• Director: D.W. Griffith
• Films: The Mended Lute (1909), The Muskateers of Pig Alley (1912)
• Topic: Framing, Depth of Field, and Setting
• Assignment: Film/Edit 2-3 minute film using elements discussed

7. The First Epics – Introduction to Feature Films

• Director: Giovanni Pastrone
• Films: Cabiria (1914)
• Topic: Structure
• Addl reading: Selections from Aristotle’s Poetics
  Assignment: Write an outline and treatment for a feature film

8. Feature Films – Genre, Stylization & Auteur Theory

• Director: Maurice Tourneur
• Films: Last of the Mohicans
• Topic: Genre, Styles, Auteur Theory
• Assignment: Film a 2-3 minute film with specific stylization

9. Laughing Out Loud

• Director: Charlie Chaplin
• Films: The Immigrant, A Dog’s Life, The Gold Rush
• Topic: Nature of Comedy
• Assignment: Write and film a comedic scene

10. Big Sets and Sequence Shots

• Director: Buster Keaton
• Films: Cops, The General, Selections from The Cameraman
• Topic: Sequence Shots and Setup
• Assignment: Film a funny stunt scene with slapstick humor

11. Documenting Life

• Director: Robert Flaherty
• Film: Nanook of the North, Others
• Topic: Understanding documentary filmmaking
• Assignment: Film a short documentary

12. Realism and the Classical Cinema

• Director, Producer: John Ford, Douglas Fairbanks
• Films: The Iron Horse, The Black Pirate
• Topic: Classical Cinema Conventions
• Assignment: Work on story, elements of main project

13. Formalism and Montage

• Director: Sergei Eisenstein
• Film: Battleship Potemkin
• Topic: Associative Montage
• Assignment: Continue working on your main project