First Aired: April 13rd, 2017
Status: Ended
Genre: Documentary
Network: YouTube
Summary: Beginning April 13th, join Craig Benzine (the internet's WheezyWaiter) for 16 weeks of Film History right here on Crash Course. He'll look at the history of one of our most powerful mediums. Film has the ability to communicate with images, entertain, move us, frighten us, and so much more. From A Trip to the Moon to Captain America: Civil War, the history of film is really a history of humanity and Craig will do his best to lead us all through it. Additional segments of the Film course will be Production, hosted by Lily Gladstone; and Criticism, hosted by Michael Aranda.
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Episode Statistics:
# of Episodes: 16
# of Episodes I watched: 0
# of Episodes I haven't watched: 16
Last Episode I watched: -
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Season 1
Episode 1: Movies are Magic
Air Date: April 13rd, 2017
Summary: Well, they're not really "magic." Maybe "illusion" is a better way to say it. As we begin this journey of the history of cinema, we need to understand how movies trick our brains into even understanding that a movie is a movie. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig takes us down the road of the very first inventors of motion pictures.
Episode 2: The First Movie Camera
Air Date: April 20th, 2017
Summary: After serial photography became a thing, it wasn't long before motion pictures started to develop. And, at the front of that development was Thomas Edison, who you may know as an inventor and business person. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig talks to us about Edison, his assistant W.K.L. Dickson, and their inventions that pioneered motion pictures.
Episode 3: The Lumiere Brothers
Air Date: April 27th, 2017
Summary: As cinema started to take off, things like "single viewer" devices weren't going to cut it as the medium advanced. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig talks to us about the Lumiere brothers, their invention of the Cinematographe, and the idea of projecting a movie to an audience.
Episode 4: Georges Melies - Master of Illusion
Air Date: May 4th, 2017
Summary: After the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison got the ball rolling with Vaudeville acts and Actualites, the time was coming for movie magic and fiction to make an appearance. The time was coming of filmmakers like Georges Melies and Alice Guy-Blache.
Episode 6: The Birth of the Feature Film
Air Date: May 18th, 2017
Summary: Movies didn't always look like they do now. There was a period (kind of a problematic one) where movies transitioned from short novelties to big, epic, feature films. That's our focus this week as Craig talks to us about the birth of the feature film and the work of D.W. Griffith.
Episode 7: German Expressionism
Air Date: May 25th, 2017
Summary: We've spent a lot of time focusing on France and the U.S. as that's where a significant amount of both infrastructure and business models were initially set up for film. But there were other countries adding their own stories to the annals of film history. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, we're going to focus on Germany and how they got a bit expressive with film.
Episode 8: Soviet Montage
Air Date: June 1st, 2017
Summary: Russia went and had a revolution in 1917 and cinema was a big part of its aftermath. Even though film stock was hard to come by, we saw the first film school started, and the study of film became hugely important. Russian filmmakers started trying to understand the power of the cut itself, thus developing a theory of filmmaking based solely around the juxtaposition of images: Soviet Montage. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig talks us through some of the filmic things going on in post-revolution era Russia.
Episode 9: The Silent Era
Air Date: June 8th, 2017
Summary: The Silent Era of Hollywood set a lot of things into motion in terms of how movies were made and sold. Big stars were one of the main ways studios tried to make their movies stand apart from one another and get the public to make choices at the cinema. But, this also gave a lot of power to those stars to command a lot of money. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, we take a look at the Silent Era of Hollywood and people like Charlie Chaplin.
Episode 10: Breaking the Silence
Air Date: June 15th, 2017
Summary: Nothing changed movies like the arrival of synchronous sound. NOTHING! Acting, directing, cinematography, and presentation all had to be rethought. Some studios were more quick to take on the challenge while others waited until the last moment. Some actors made graceful transitions while others struggled with the new format. But this was the big turning point and a major completion point to what movies would ultimately become.
Episode 11: The Golden Age of Hollywood
Air Date: June 30th, 2017
Summary: It's time for the glitz and the glamour of big motion pictures that helped keep American spirits up during and after the Great Depression. Sound was a huge change to motion pictures, but there were still a few technological innovations to come, like color and aspect ration. Today, Craig walks us through the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Episode 12: Independent Cinema
Air Date: July 6th, 2017
Summary: Hollywood was riding high until their formula got to be stale. In places like Italy and France (as well as other places in the world we'll talk about soon) filmmakers were starting to break out of the mold and make daring films that challenged the idea of what movies were and what audiences wanted. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig takes us through the beginnings of independent cinema.
Episode 13: Home Video
Air Date: July 13rd, 2017
Summary: As the New Hollywood gained steam in the late 70s and early 80s, another revenue stream opened its doors; Home Video. From Betamax to Laserdisc to Bluray to streaming services, home video revolutionized how we ingest movies. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig gives us an overview of it all.
Episode 14: World Cinema - Part 1
Air Date: July 20th, 2017
Summary: The world is a big place and cinema isn't limited to just the U.S. and Europe. There are a lot of vibrant and influential film movements and cultures from all over the world. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig talks to us a little about some of the big moments in Asian cinema; from Japan, to China, to India.
Episode 15: World Cinema - Part 2
Air Date: July 27th, 2017
Summary: Africa, the Middle East, and South America have their own vibrant film communities and filmmakers. From social and political commentary to experimental films, these regions have made some very important pieces of cinema over the last century. In this episode of Crash Course Film History, Craig talks us through some of these movies and movie makers.
Episode 16: Experimental and Documentary Films
Air Date: August 3rd, 2017
Summary: It's Craig's last episode of Film and in it he's going to talk about weird stuff... and real stuff. Experimental and Documentary films could each take up their own Crash Course series. The different styles and intents of different filmmakers make each film unique. So let's settle in and have a look at how Experimental and Documentary films have evolved.
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