Guiding Principles

How do you approach “reading” a film and interpreting its themes?

How do particular performers/directors exhibit a specific style?

How does the evolution of a genre illustrate general development of film art as well as reflect audience tastes & American culture?

Who/what is the major creative force guiding a Hollywood film?

What are the pressures, both external & internal, on creative freedom within the Hollywood system?

How do the different collaborative roles of director, producer, studio and other forces contribute to the final product on the screen?

Film developed its own storytelling grammar during the silent era

This same grammar is still in use today with better technology

Genres evolve & innovate over time

Certain performers & directors can be very closely associated with a particular genre of Hollywood film

Some directors may fit the auteur description while others do not

Some directors’ style across different films can be identified & comparatively analyzed

The Blacklist Era provides a window into the way the existing social pecking order of Hollywood can be affected by political zeitgeist

The creative output has been highly politicized since, and thereby representative of the period in history in general

The producer oversees the entire making of a film

Each studio in the classic era cultivated a distinctive style of their own

Film is a collaborative medium, yet the director is key