Film History Final

Adobe Flash (2002:2020)

A multimedia software platform used for production of animations and rich internet applications; its decline marked a shift from browser based plugins to open web standards like HTML5.

The Alienation Effect

A concept by Bertolt Brecht (Verfremdungseffekt) that uses stylistic techniques to distance the audience from the narrative, encouraging them to think critically rather than emotionally.

Robert Altman (1925:2006)

An American director known for naturalistic styles, large ensemble casts, and pioneering the use of multi track overlapping dialogue.

Art Cinema Storytelling

A narrative mode that prioritizes character psychology, ambiguity, and internal conflict over the clear cut, goal oriented plots of traditional Hollywood.

Art Cinema Modernism

A cinematic movement breaking from realism, focusing on formal innovation, subjectivity, fragmentation, and self-reflexivity

Auteurism

The belief that the director is the primary creative force or "author" of a film, expressing a consistent personal style and vision across their body of work. Auteurism: Strengths, It elevated cinema to the status of high art and provided a useful framework for historical analysis of a director's career. Auteurism: Weaknesses, It tends to overlook the collaborative nature of filmmaking (cinematographers, writers, actors) and the industrial constraints of the studio system.

André Bazin (1918:1958)

A highly influential French critic and co founder of Cahiers du cinéma who argued that the essence of cinema lay in its ability to capture reality. André Bazin’s Theory of Realistic Film Form, A preference for deep focus and the long take over intrusive editing, allowing the viewer to explore the cinematic space as they would real life.

Benshi / Katsuben

Live performers in Japan who provided narration, character voices, and cultural commentary during silent film screenings.

Betamax (1975:2016)

A home video recording format developed by Sony that eventually lost the format war to VHS, despite often being cited for superior image quality.

The Blacklist

The mid century practice of denying employment to screenwriters, directors, and actors in Hollywood due to their suspected affiliation with the Communist Party.

Bertolt Brecht (1898:1956)

A German playwright and theorist whose "Epic Theater" and Alienation Effect profoundly influenced political and modernist filmmaking.

Cahiers du cinéma (1950: )

The French film magazine where young critics formulated the Auteur Theory before launching the French New Wave.

John Cassavetes (1929:1989)

“father of american independent film”, known for pioneering raw, character-driven movies often using improvisation, exploring complex human relationships, and self-financing projects outside Hollywood, with key films like Shadows, Faces, and A Woman Under the Influence

Cinema Novo (1960:1972)

film movement that used low-budget, on-location shooting to portray the harsh realities, poverty, and social inequality in Brazil, challenging traditional cinema with a powerful, politically aware style

Complex TV

A term describing the contemporary era of television defined by intricate, serialized narratives that demand high viewer engagement (e.g., The Wire).

Convergence Culture

A media landscape where content flows across multiple platforms and consumers play an active role in tracking and shaping that content.

France in May:June 1968

A period of civil unrest and strikes that politicized French filmmakers and briefly shut down the Cannes Film Festival.

The French New Wave (1959:1972)

A movement of young directors (Truffaut, Godard, etc.) who rejected conventional studio filmmaking in favor of spontaneity and stylistic risk

French New Wave Stylistic Traits

Use of jump cuts, handheld cameras, location shooting, natural lighting, and direct address to the camera.

Gendai-geki

A genre of Japanese cinema that deals with contemporary life and modern settings

The Hollywood Ten

A specific group of screenwriters and directors who were cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted for refusing to answer HUAC's questions.

The House UnAmerican Activities Committee

A government body (HUAC) that investigated alleged disloyalty and subversive activities, leading to the Hollywood Blacklist.

Jaws (1975): Production and Exhibition Innovations

Ushered in the modern "summer blockbuster" era through wide release saturation and massive television marketing.

Jidai-geki

A genre of Japanese cinema consisting of period dramas, most often featuring samurai.

Henri Langlois (1914:1977)

The cofounder of the Cinémathèque Française who preserved thousands of films and provided a "classroom" for the French New Wave directors.

Jean Pierre Léaud (1944: )

The quintessential actor of the French New Wave, best known for playing Antoine Doinel in a series of films for François Truffaut.

Lev Manovich on Digital Cinema

A theorist who argues that digital cinema is no longer an index of reality but a subgenre of painting or animation, where every pixel is subject to change.

Method Acting

An internal approach to acting where performers draw on their own personal emotions and sensory memories to create psychological realism.

Mono no aware

A Japanese aesthetic concept regarding the "pathos of things" or the bittersweet awareness of the impermanence of life, central to the films of Yasujirō Ozu.

Ennio Morricone (1928:2020)

An Italian composer whose innovative and experimental scores defined the sound of the Spaghetti Western.

The “Movie Brats”

A generation of film school educated directors (Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg) who transformed Hollywood in the late 1960s and 70s.

Edward R. Murrow (1908:1965)

A pioneering broadcast journalist whose television exposés helped turn public opinion against Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Neorealism

An Italian movement (1940s:50s) characterized by stories about the poor, location shooting, and the use of non professional actors to achieve a "raw" truth.

The New American Cinema (1960:1975)

An era of experimental and socially conscious filmmaking that challenged the Production Code and studio conventions.

The New Hollywood (1975:2007)

The period following the "Movie Brats," characterized by the rise of high concept blockbusters and corporate owned studios.

New Hollywood A Class Film

High budget studio films that maintain artistic integrity and critical prestige while aiming for a wide audience.

New Hollywood Blockbuster

Large scale, commercial films designed for mass appeal, heavy merchandising, and record breaking opening weekend box office numbers.

New Hollywood Independent Feature

A film produced outside the major studio system during the New Hollywood era that often pushed narrative and stylistic boundaries (e.g., Sex, Lies, and Videotape).

A Newer Hollywood? (2007:present)

The contemporary era of cinema defined by global streaming platforms, massive intellectual property franchises (MCU), and the decline of mid budget theatrical releases.

The Hollywood Guild System

The network of labor unions (SAG AFTRA, DGA, WGA) that negotiates contracts and establishes working standards for creative professionals in the film industry.

Office of War Information

A U.S. government agency during WWII that coordinated the release of war news and worked with Hollywood to produce propaganda and "informational" films.

The Red Scare / McCarthyism

A period of intense anti Communist suspicion in the U.S. led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, which resulted in the Hollywood Blacklist and government investigations.

Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945)

A foundational film of Italian Neorealism, shot on location with limited resources, depicting the Nazi occupation of Rome.

Harold Russell (1914:2002)

A WWII veteran and non-professional actor who won two Oscars for The Best Years of Our Lives, symbolizing the raw, authentic representation of disabled veterans

Konstantin Stanislavski (1863:1938)

A Russian actor and director whose "system" focused on internal psychological motivation, eventually evolving into "Method Acting" in America.

The “Sunsetting” of the Paramount Decrees

The recent legal termination of the 1948 anti trust rules, potentially allowing modern studios (and streamers) to own their own theater chains again.

Third Cinema

A revolutionary film movement from developing nations (principally Latin America) that rejects both Hollywood commercialism and European auteurism in favor of social liberation.

Transmedia

A storytelling method where a narrative is spread across multiple platforms (games, films, books), with each medium making a unique contribution to the story world.

The Up Project (Michael Apted, 1964:?)

A landmark documentary series that follows the lives of 14 British children every seven years, exploring how social class shapes human development.

Agnès Varda (1928:2019)

The "Grandmother of the French New Wave," a director known for her experimental, feminist, and documentary-style approach to narrative film

The War Department

The U.S. executive department responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Army; they collaborated with Hollywood directors to create training and morale boosting films.

The Wave Pattern

A cyclical historical framework used to analyze film history, where a new movement (wave) rises to challenge the established norms of the previous generation.

The World War II Combat Film: Tropes and Tendencies

A genre defined by its emphasis on the "ethnically diverse platoon," internal group friction, and the ultimate sacrifice for the "Good War."

United Service Organizations (USOs)

A nonprofit organization that provides live entertainment (celebrity tours) and programs to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.

United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (“Paramount Decrees,” 1948)

The landmark Supreme Court antitrust case that forced major studios to sell their theater chains, ending vertical integration in Hollywood.