Information Package / Course Catalogue
History of Film
Course Code: RTS202
Course Type: Required
Couse Group: First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 3
Prt.: 0
Credit: 3
Lab: 0
ECTS: 5
Objectives of the Course

The aim of this course is to discuss the change starting from the first years of cinema with its cultural, aesthetic and social dimensions and to recognize the prominent directors and films in the history of cinema on the axis of world cinema.

Course Content

The conditions of the emergence of cinema and the impact of the first films are revealed. In parallel with the developments of national cinemas, the cult films of the history of cinema are examined and cinema movements are discussed within the conditions of development.

Name of Lecturer(s)
Prof. Pelin ERDAL AYTEKİN
Learning Outcomes
1.Knows the conditions of the emergence of cinema.
2.Expresses the important historical developments that contribute to the formation of cinema as an art and its unique language.
3.Knows the films and directors who have an important place in the birth and development of American, German, French, Italian and Soviet cinema and recognizes the cinema movements.
4.Explains the relationship between cinema and social structure, cultural dynamics and economy.
5.Explains the place of different country cinemas in the history of cinema.
Recommended or Required Reading
1.Abisel, Nilgün (2014). Sessiz Sinema. De Ki Yayınları.
2.Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (2003). Dünya Sinema Tarihi. Çev. Ahmet Fethi. İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınları.
3.Badley, L.; Palmer, B. R.; Schneider, S. J. (2016). Dünya Sinemasında Akımlar. Doruk Yayınları
4.Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin (2008). Film Sanatı. Çev. Ertan Yılmaz. Ankara: Deki Yayınları.
5.Monaco, James (2001). Bir Film Nasıl Okunur?. İstanbul: Oğlak Bilimsel Kitaplar.
6.Monaco, James (2006). Yeni Dalga. İstanbul: +1 Kitap Yayınları.
7.Abisel, Nilgün (2016). Popüler Sinema ve Film Türleri. Ankara: De Ki Yayınları.
8.Karadoğan, Ali (2016). Auteur Kuram ve Sanat Sineması Üzerine. Ankara: De Ki Yayınları.
9.Biryıldız, Esra; Erus, Zeynep Çetin (2007). Üçüncü Sinema ve Üçüncü Dünya Sineması. İstanbul: Es Yayınları
10.Wood, Robin (2004). Hitchcock Sineması. İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınları.
11.Parkinson, David (1997). History of Film. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997
12.Louis Giannetti. Understanding Movies. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 2002.
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical
The invention of the cinematograph: technical basics
Week 2 - Theoretical
First screenings, first films: Lumière Brothers “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”, George Méliés “Voyage to the Moon”
Week 3 - Theoretical
The Hollywood studio system and the development of dramatic structure: Edwin S. Porter “The Great Train Robbery”, David W. Griffith “Birth of a Nation”
Week 4 - Theoretical
The silent era in slapstick cinema: Charlie Chaplin “Modern Times”, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd
Week 5 - Theoretical
From German Cinema to German Expressionism: Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Fritz Lang, Metropolis; Paul Wegener, Street Films; George Wilhelm Pabst and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Week 6 - Theoretical
Introduction to art cinema and French avant-garde cinema: Luis Bunuel “Andalusian Dog”, Fernand Leger “Mechanical Ballet”
Week 7 - Theoretical
Soviet social realist cinema: Lev Kuleshov “Kuleshov Effect”, Vsevolog Pudovkin, Dziga Vertov “Man with a Camera”, Sergey Eisenstein “Battleship Potemkin”
Week 8 - Theoretical
The effect of montage in Soviet cinema + Midterm Exam
Week 9 - Theoretical
Developments in American cinema: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen “Singin in the Rain”, Orson Welles “Citizen Kane”, Alfred Hitchcock “Rear Window”
Week 10 - Theoretical
Movements in cinema: Introduction to “new” cinema and poetic realism
Week 11 - Theoretical
Italian neorealist cinema (Italian cinema before and after the war): Roberto Rossellini “Rome, Open City”, Vittorio De Sica “Bicycle Thieves”
Week 12 - Theoretical
French new wave cinema, sinematek and Cahiers du Cinema magazine: Jean-Luc Godard “Tramp Lovers”, François Truffaut “400 Blows”
Week 13 - Theoretical
The British documentary school and “free cinema”
Week 14 - Theoretical
The third world in cinema: Cinema in Latin America and “new cinema” (cinema novo)
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Midterm Examination1%40
Final Examination1%60
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory141356
Individual Work50210
Midterm Examination125126
Final Examination130131
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)123
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
PÇ-1
PÇ-2
PÇ-3
PÇ-4
PÇ-5
PÇ-6
PÇ-7
PÇ-8
PÇ-9
PÇ-10
PÇ-11
PÇ-12
PÇ-13
PÇ-14
PÇ-15
PÇ-16
OÇ-1
5
5
5
5
OÇ-2
5
5
5
5
OÇ-3
5
5
5
OÇ-4
5
5
5
5
5
OÇ-5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Adnan Menderes University - Information Package / Course Catalogue
2026