The History of the Motion Picture
Instructor: Gerhard Bauer, Stem Cell Program, School of Medicine
Description: The subject matter addresses the history of the motion pictures, “the” novel and unique art form of the 20th century. We will explore the start of moving images in the 19th century, the first highly acclaimed artistic silent films of the early teens in 20th century, the introduction of color and sound in the 1920s, new aspect ratios and film formats in the 1950s and finally the “digital revolution”, digital sound and digital projection in the 1990s up to the present day. Film preservation and restoration will also be discussed, since many of our film treasures have been lost through film base decay and color fading. All this will be achieved through informal lectures, presentation of actual historic film footage, readings of original articles, and discussion.
Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week for ten weeks. The time will be divided between informal lecture presentations, presentation of actual historic film documents and sound recordings, discussion of the presented topics, and student presentations. Reading material and links to appropriate websites will be provided. There is no text for the course.Students will be required to prepare a short paper (4 pages) on a topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor. Students will also be assigned to present a summary of an article in oral form in front of the class. It should be 5-7 minutes long. Grading: The course grade will be based on the quality of their written (50%) and oral (25%) presentations and on the frequency and quality of their participation in class discussion (25%).
About the Instructor: Professor Gerhard Bauer is a member of the faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine. Although his professional research focuses on translational research in the field of cellular therapy, tissue repair and HIV gene therapy, he has been for the last 30 years a collector and expert in historic movies. He owns an extensive collection of rare movies from the 1920s to the 1950s, among them a mint 35mm print of the first feature length Technicolor movie ever made. He also took it on himself to restore a long lost public domain 35mm SciFi feature film print from 1936 that he accidentally discovered in New Jersey. He has been consulted many times to give his expert opinion on film restoration and preservation, locating rare movie prints, and to hold film festivals. Currently, a feature article in the Sacramento Bee is being written about him, his film collection and the monthly rare movie shows in the private movie theater he built in his home.