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Join a professional filmmaker, author, and award-winning professor as he walks you through 250 different titles (some well-known, others less so) that reveal how every step of a movie is a choice that has a significant impact on consciously and subconsciously influencing the audience.

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Episodes

1. The Art of the Silver Screen

34m

Professor Williams introduces his passion for film by explaining exactly what makes movies magic for him. He provides a brief history of movies and foreshadows elements of the course that he will be digging deeper into including music, framing, and the three-act structure, tying the whole thing together by familiarizing you with what he considers one of the most important movie elements: tension.

2. We All Need Another Hero: Universal Stories

31m

Professor Williams introduces you to the story of a young hero whisked off on a journey through new lands full of strange and colorful characters, and introduced to a dangerous foe. The hero rises to various challenges, finds friends, and defeats the bad guy in a happy ending. Uncover the foundation of Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" and explore how it shows up in unrelated films and genres.

3. Movie Genre: It's Not What You Think

32m

Professor Williams spends this lecture introducing you to the definitive list of genres based on what happens in the film and how it makes you feel. Diving deeply into the meanings and examples of movie genres can help you better define what you look for and love. As for the actual number of film genres Professor Williams has established? You'll have to watch the lecture to find out the answer.

4. Genre Layers and Audience Expectations

33m

Become familiar with three simple variations of film genre (super genre, macrogenres, and microgenres) and their three important variables. Discern the difference between a heist film and an escape film, learn how characters often define the genre you are viewing, and discover how one movie can encapsulate multiple macro- and microgenres, with each additional label changing your expectations.

5. Popcorn Can Wait: Story Shape and Tension

33m

Professor Williams introduces the relationship between story shape and story rhythm. By examining the shape for several genres, start to see the rhythm of a story. To keep us coming back, sometimes filmmakers break the rhythm, while at other times they present the same pattern out of order. Characters, dialogue, and plot all play a part. Ultimately, building tension is what keeps us in our seats.

6. Themes on Screen

32m

Examine the concept of theme through approaches from traditional filmmakers to non-traditional filmmakers. Professor Williams then layers on the method of storytelling chosen to present the movie theme - active vs. didactic vs. both - creating a matrix upon which he plots several movies to help illustrate what the theme is and to determine when and how the theme will make its way into the film.

7. Paradigm Shift: Citizen Kane and Casablanca

32m

Professor Williams looks at the lasting influence two films have made on every component of movie making over the last 75 years. As Professor Williams breaks down Casablanca, you'll better understand the three factors that made this movie an instant classic, suitable for repeat viewing. With Citizen Kane, he'll introduce you to seven groundbreaking film techniques that changed movies forever.

8. The Language of Visual Storytelling

32m

Learn how to look at a film as a painting. Professor Williams explains how visual literacy is based upon at least four factors. He then delves into the distinct camera moves and how each brings you a different impression of what you're seeing. Using beautifully shot movies such as Blow Up and Jaws, you'll examine framing and filming constructs such as the "rule of thirds" and point of interest.

9. Building Screen Space: Blocking and Framing

32m

On a basic level, blocking is the way that characters interact in a space. Framing is the way in which the blocking is captured by a camera. Professor Williams explains how both can be broken down into elements of lines and shape and scale. Using a plethora of examples including The Wizard of Oz and Good Will Hunting, you'll explore what sorts of messages good blocking and framing can send.

10. The Cutting Room Floor: Powerful Editing

33m

Professor Williams illuminates how an editor removes, inserts, and organizes hours and hours of footage into a comprehensive, visually literate film that resonates with the audience. Looking at movies including Roshomon, and Reservoir Dogs, you'll explore examples of how editing can visually manipulate us, while setting the tone, pace, and thematic intention of the movie.

Extended Details

SeriesHow to View and Appreciate Great Movies

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

The Great CoursesDirector

The Great CoursesProducer

Eric R. WilliamsActor

How to View and Appreciate Great Movies

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