Film History Teacher Resources

The seventh episode in the a film history playlist takes a close look at the rise and fall of German cinema of the post-World War I period. The narrator uses The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and its expressionistic use of mise-en-scene to...

What is a talkie? I bet most of your class doesn't even know that movies used to come in two colors, black and white. Help them explore the wonders of film history through a group research project. Each small group will research a...

The second episode in a playlist on the history of film focuses on the role the Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope played in film history. The video also includes information about the contributions of scientists, Vaudeville performers, and...

Some of the boldest films in history have been documentaries or experimental films. Explore non-narrative cinema and its avant-garde techniques with a short video about a creative faction in film history. Additionally, the video...

New ventures and new technologies require new ways of referring to things. In stepped Edwin S. Porter, whose films Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery used parallel action and cross-cutting to develop his narratives....

Light up your film history instruction with an examination of the contributions of the Lumière brothers. Their cinématograph, as well as the devices of other inventors, are the focus of the third episode from a playlist on film history.

A film history video examines how Thomas Edison, George Eastman, and the major film companies formed the Motion Picture Patents company (MPPC) and created a monopoly that controlled the production, distribution, exhibition of films. In...

An episode of a film history playlist looks at camera technology and the roles of the various operators. The narrator presents an overview of different types of film camera lenses, apertures, shutter speed, frame rates, ISO, and codex....

Persistence of Vision? The Phi Phenomenon? Zoetropes? Camera Obscura? Kinetograph? What part do these concepts and inventions play in the history of movies? Find out with a short video that launches an informative playlist on film history.

Hollywood is the place to go if you want to make movies—right? Not necessarily. A fascinating video about the history of 20th century Asian cinema discusses the reflections of Japanese culture in the works of directors Yasujiro Ozu,...

The formulaic films that once thrilled audiences in the early part of the 20th century now seemed stale after the stark reality of World War II. Foreign films and American independent cinema answered the call for authenticity, leading to...

Did movies save America during the Great Depression? Or did the Great Depression save movies? Learn more about the Golden Age of Hollywood with a video that covers the five major film studios, the colorization of big budget movies, and...

Explore the rich history of African, Middle Eastern, and South American cinema with a video summary of the most prominent filmmakers from these regions in the 20th and 21st centuries. It discusses Egyptian filmmakers Asmaa El-Bakry and...

The 2014 film Selma is the focus of a film criticism video.  The narrator examines how director Ava DuVernay brought to the screen the story of the voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and how she uses the tools of...

Why are film montages in movies so compelling? Learn about the origins and effectiveness of the Soviet montage, as well as discontinuity editing and other filmmaking techniques—and political statements—that arose from the 1917 Bolshevik...

Will the advancement of technology doom interpersonal relationships? Like the score for Jaws, the music for the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001- A Space Odyssey stirs the imagination of viewers. Cinema lovers and film newbies...

Music has been used with many different art forms, but none more obvious than film. Explore the history, cultural influences, and music found in Indian Film. Text in this presentation is bulleted, making it great for taking notes. Tip:...

The focus of a playlist on the history of film shifts from the development of early film technology to techniques used by filmmakers like Georges Melies. Melies, a former magician, used dazzling illusions and tricky editing to create...

The job of the editor is surely one of the most demanding in film production. Viewers of an episode from a film production playlist are introduced to the editor's many responsibilities, the history of editing, and the various types of...

Home movies have come a long way from projecting 8mm film onto a wrinkled sheet on the living room wall. Learn about the ways home movie technology has evolved alongside the film industry with a video that covers techniques such as the...

Young filmmakers watch a short overview of the major studios, players, and political events of the period between 1894 and 1929. In addition, the video narrator briefly outlines the Hollywood scandals that lead to the development of the...

Some jobs in film production are more obvious than others. The director directs, the cinematographer films, and the special effects people create those tricky effects. But who designs the mise-en-scene, who structures the set, and who...

Conservatory approach or liberal arts film approach? Or self-taught? That is the question prospective filmmakers must decide when considering a film school. A helpful video ponders whether it's better to study a single craft within the...

The biggest blockbuster of the year, the funniest romantic comedy, and the most emotional independent film all started in the same way: on the page. Young filmmakers learn about the role of the screenplay, as well as important parts of...