Exciting Cinema: From A Hollywood Blockbuster To A European Art Film

Hollywood dominates the cinema scene. On average, 80% of all films shown in cinemas across Europe are products of the Hollywood factory system. The reason for this is no secret. Throughout the years Hollywood has developed a detailed dramaturgical structure, which, by and large, is successful in its storytelling. And therein lies the difference. Where an American film may start with a man on run from the mafia, a European film may start with a single mother who has just been kicked out into the street because the father of her child is a man on the run from the mafia. In this short course we try to understand the evolution of these two directions in cinematic storytelling. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE SHORT COURSE:
• to provide participants with a thorough background in the interpretation and aesthetic appreciation of film. It does this by using a number of case studies of specific films as well as providing an overview of the broader analytical and economical debates that surround them
• to enrich knowledge of the principal developments in US and European contemporary cinema history
To gain the understanding of:
• what is European contemporary cinema
• what is Hollywood contemporary cinema
• how a Hollywood blockbuster differs from a European art-house film
• what makes a cinematic story (language of film)
• how culture influences perception of the film

Key topics:

Session 1 
Cinematic Storytelling 
• What is cinematic storytelling? 
• In what ways does cinema differ from other forms of art? 
• How does a story get told through the language of film?
• Are we being guided or manipulated in understanding what we see? 
• What about editing? Does it impact our sensorial experience at all? 
• Do emotions matter? 

Session 2 
Film Language
• “Film is structured emotions” – is this statement true?
• We shall analyze and learn about the language of film (mise-en-scène/ cinematography/editing) and artistic design in order to prove/disprove the above statement. 

Session 3 
Hollywood Blockbuster (High Concept) 
Cinema experience through the redemptive journey of a single hero’s character arc as per Aristotle’s Poetics (Hollywood’s take on Aristotle) vs Homer’s The Odyssey as a “multi-protagonists” and “multi-plots” story structure.

Session 4
Art or business? - Understanding European Cinema
• In what kind of state is the European film business?
• how Europe's film industries operate?
• private and public financing
• production financing and co-production

Session 5
How risky is the film business? - Understanding Hollywood Film Studios
• Is screenwriter William Goldman’s claim that “nobody knows anything” really true?
• Can a star and a big opening change a movie’s risks and return?
• Does a blockbuster guarantee financial success at the box office?
• Do studio executives really earn their huge paychecks?

Session 6
Exploring:
Pedro Almodóvar
Lars von Trier
Mike Leigh
Paolo Sorrentino 
Emir Kusturica
Claire Denis
Jean Pierre Jeunet

Session 7
Exploring:
Michael Bay
James Cameron
Christopher Nolan
Tim Burton
Kathryn Bigelow
Alfonso Cuaron
Ridley Scott

LECTURER:
Monika Maslowska

DATES:
30th November & 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 10th December

TIME:
18:00 - 20:00

VENUE:
Room 507, Faculty of Media & Knowledge Sciences

Max no. of students: 20
Min no. of students: 5

FEE:
€80

Apply here: www.um.edu.mt/maks/maksimise/registration