The Rise of Cinema: History and Diversity Study + Internship in London: London South Bank University Program Fall 2021 Semester

The received opinion of film history is that out of an initial period of incredible diversity of purpose and form arose a 'dominant' mode of narrative film which we still see, more or less intact, today. This module will chart this journey in the film's development, from the late 19th Century to contemporary digital cinema, exposing the diversity and testing some of the central assumptions of text-book film history. The module looks at the historical development of cinema and the film industry from its outset through to the Post World War II era up until today?s digital cinema manifestations. The social and cultural significance of cinema is examined at key points, illustrating how a knowledge of history can deepen our understanding of film texts and contribute to a ?historiography? of the moving image.