The Art of Filmmaking Premieres at the Town & Country Campus
Houston, TX (September 5, 2008) – Award-winning film critic Joe Leydon will take students through an exhilarating tour of cinema with the Art of Filmmaking course, DRAM 2367 CRN#69301, which begins Saturday, September 20 at the Houston Community College Town & Country Campus.
Leydon, an adjunct professor for Houston Community College and the University of Houston, will introduce the class to noteworthy U.S. and international films with particular emphasis on key directors and significant genres. Besides providing historical and aesthetic analysis, lectures will focus on the social, political, and cultural influences that shaped each film in its time.
The class will meet Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. beginning September 20 running through December 13. This course fulfills the visual/performing arts credit for the HCC core. Additionally, the community is invited to watch films individually for a nominal enrollment fee and earn Continuing Education credit.
Instructor Leydon brings to the class a wealth of knowledge from his work as a contributing writer for MovieMaker Magazine, critic and correspondent for Variety, and communications director for Cowboys & Indians: The Premier Magazine of the West. Also, Leydon is the author of Joe Leydon’s Guide to Essential Movies You Must See, and he is the founder and writer of MovingPictureBlog.blogspot.com.
The class schedule is as follows:
SEPTEMBER 27: Introduction to the Art of Cinema
Screening: “Metropolis” (1927) and TBA documentary
OCTOBER 4: Talking Pictures: The Great Depression
Screening: “42nd Street” (1933) and “Public Enemy” (1931)
OCTOBER 11: The Hollywood Studio System I
Screening: “Casablanca” (1942) and “Dark Victory” (1939)
OCTOBER 18: The Hollywood Studio System II
Screening: “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
OCTOBER 25: Song and Dance: Musicals
Screening: “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)
NOVEMBER 1: Americana
Screening: “All the President’s Men” (1976) and TBA documentary
NOVEMBER 8: Akira Kurosawa: East Meets West
Screening: “The Seven Samurai” (1954)
NOVEMBER 15: All This and World War II
Screening: Guadalcanal Diary (1943), WWII era cartoons and shorts
NOVEMBER 22: Francois Truffaut: Vive le Cinema!
Screening: “The 400 Blows” (1959) and “Day for Night” (1973)
DECEMBER 6: Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense
Screening: “One More Mile to Go” (1957) and “Psycho” (1960)
DECEMBER 13: Saving the Worst for Last: Edward D. Wood
Screening: “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959)
For more information about the class or to register for leisure or continuing education credit, please call 713-718-5620. To register as a visual/performing arts credit course, please visit hccs.edu and click on “Register for Classes.”
