FILM 215 History of Avant-Garde Film

This course is an interdisciplinary study of the history of avant-garde film. Works include documentary, experimental, and autobiographical film, travelogues, archival newsreels, animation, and other forms of nonfiction cinema. Students will study the traditions, aesthetics, influences, and historical content of these films as a viable form of creative cinema.

Credits

3

Hours Weekly

3 hours weekly

Course Objectives

1. 1. Develop a general knowledge avant-garde film from the 1920s to the present.
2. 2. Discuss the influence of the avant-garde on cinematography, visual effects and editing.
3. 3. Analyze the commercialization of the form as it has filtered into music video, television
   advertising, and title design.
4. 4. Distinguish different cinematic styles and genres of avant-garde cinema by decade.
5. 5. Discuss the styles of the most important and influential avant-garde directors (such as
   Kathryn Bigelow, Curtis Harrington, Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, Jean Cocteau,
   Isaac Julien, Sally Potter, David Lynch, Gus Van Sant and Luis Buñuel, etc.)
6. 6. Compare and contrast mainstream films made by avant-garde filmmakers.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Develop a general knowledge avant-garde film from the 1920s to the present.
2. 2. Discuss the influence of the avant-garde on cinematography, visual effects and editing.
3. 3. Analyze the commercialization of the form as it has filtered into music video, television
   advertising, and title design.
4. 4. Distinguish different cinematic styles and genres of avant-garde cinema by decade.
5. 5. Discuss the styles of the most important and influential avant-garde directors (such as
   Kathryn Bigelow, Curtis Harrington, Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, Jean Cocteau,
   Isaac Julien, Sally Potter, David Lynch, Gus Van Sant and Luis Buñuel, etc.)
6. 6. Compare and contrast mainstream films made by avant-garde filmmakers.