Course Highlights
21L.011 The Film Experience
Fall 2007

Fred Ott in mid-sneeze. This still comes from the 1894 motion picture Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze: the first copyrighted film in history and the primitive origin from which all of modern film began. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Course Description
This course is an introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. The primary focus is on American cinema, but secondary attention is paid to works drawn from other great national traditions, such as France, Italy, and Japan. The syllabus includes such directors as Griffith, Keaton, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, Altman, De Sica, and Fellini.
Special Features
Technical Requirements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
This course content is a redistribution of MIT Open Courses. Access to the course materials is free to all users.
This course content is a redistribution of MIT Open Courses. Access to the course materials is free to all users.