FILM1001: Semester 2, 2025

Units FILM1001 Semester 2 2025 [Normal day]

Unit outline_

FILM1001: Hollywood: Art, Industry, Entertainment

Semester 2, 2025 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Since the early 20th century, Hollywood has dominated film screens around the world. This unit considers America's 'dream factory' as profit-oriented industry, mass entertainment, and cinematic art form. It covers key historical developments including the star system, Production Code censorship, New Hollywood, and the franchise film.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Film Studies
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	ARHT1003
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Bruce Isaacs, bruce.isaacs@sydney.edu.au

Assessment

The census date for this unit availability is 1 September 2025

Details
Criteria

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length	Use of AI
Written exam ?	Exam -	30%	Formal exam period	2 hours	AI prohibited
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	In Tutorial Presentation -	30%	Multiple weeks	-	AI allowed
Outcomes assessed:
Out-of-class quiz	Early Feedback Task #earlyfeedbacktask	5%	Week 03 Due date: 21 Aug 2025 at 23:59	-	AI allowed
Outcomes assessed:
Experimental design	Film Analysis Proposal -	35%	Week 10 Due date: 15 Oct 2025 at 23:59	-	AI allowed
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ? = early feedback task ?

Early feedback task

This unit includes an early feedback task, designed to give you feedback prior to the census date for this unit. Details are provided in the Canvas site and your result will be recorded in your Marks page. It is important that you actively engage with this task so that the University can support you to be successful in this unit.

Assessment summary

More information can be found in Canvas

Assessment criteria

More information can be found in Canvas

For more information see guide to grades.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI)

You can use generative AI tools for open assessments. Restrictions on AI use apply to secure, supervised assessments used to confirm if students have met specific learning outcomes.

Refer to the assessment table above to see if AI is allowed, for assessments in this unit and check Canvas for full instructions on assessment tasks and AI use.

If you use AI, you must always acknowledge it. Misusing AI may lead to a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy.

Visit the Current Students website for more information on AI in assessments, including details on how to acknowledge its use.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The University expects students to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

Our website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. This includes advice on how to avoid common breaches of academic integrity. Ensure that you have completed the Academic Honesty Education Module (AHEM) which is mandatory for all commencing coursework students

Penalties for serious breaches can significantly impact your studies and your career after graduation. It is important that you speak with your unit coordinator if you need help with completing assessments.

Visit the Current Students website for more information on AI in assessments, including details on how to acknowledge its use.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Support for students

The Support for Students Policy reflects the University’s commitment to supporting students in their academic journey and making the University safe for students. It is important that you read and understand this policy so that you are familiar with the range of support services available to you and understand how to engage with them.

The University uses email as its primary source of communication with students who need support under the Support for Students Policy. Make sure you check your University email regularly and respond to any communications received from the University.

Learning resources and detailed information about weekly assessment and learning activities can be accessed via Canvas. It is essential that you visit your unit of study Canvas site to ensure you are up to date with all of your tasks.

If you are having difficulties completing your studies, or are feeling unsure about your progress, we are here to help. You can access the support services offered by the University at any time:

Support and Services (including health and wellbeing services, financial support and learning support)
Course planning and administration
Meet with an Academic Adviser

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Welcome to Hollywood! Introduction to FILM1001	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	The Hollywood Machine: Art, Industry, Culture	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Hollywood: History, Myth, Reality	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 03	The Classical Studio System	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	The Player / Assessment Workshop: Tutorial Presentation	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 04	The Hollywood Style 1: Visual and Aural Form	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 04	Casablanca: The Hollywood Studio Fantasy	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 05	The Hollywood Style 2: The Cinema of Action	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Psycho: Film Sequence Analysis	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 06	The Dream Factory	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Aliens: The Hollywood (Anti-)Hero	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 07	The New Hollywood: American Film Renaissance	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	Mulholland Drive: Hollywood's Unconscious	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 08	The Hollywood Auteur: Sofia Coppola	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Taxi Driver: The Failure of the Studio System / Assessment Workshop: Film Analysis Proposal Development	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 09	The American Independent Cinema	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	The Virgin Suicides: Poetic Realism Hollywood-style	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	The Resistance to Hollywood	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 10	Do the Right Thing: Why Hollywood Matters to Culture	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 11	The Product and the Market	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	Nomadland: Rejecting Hollywood: Chloé Zhao's 'Anti-Aesthetic'	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 12	The Studio Franchise	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Barbie: 'Barbenheimer' as Cultural Phenomenon; The Politics of Identity in a Studio Production	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 13	The Hollywood Ending	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 13	Black Widow / Aftersun: New Studios, New Mediums: Marvel Versus A24	Tutorial (1 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

It is expected that you will attend all of your classes, including the weekly 2-hour lecture. However, if you cannot attend the lecture, it's essential that you listen to the recording prior to your weekly tutorial. If you cannot attend your tutorial, please inform your tutor, who can advise you on how to catch up with the week's discussion.

Please note: this unit includes material that may be upsetting for some people. We will be discussing topics that you may find challenging and/or provocative. For a full list of films and readings, please see Canvas. If you have any concerns about engaging with this material, please contact Bruce by email: bruce.isaacs@sydney.edu.au.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Information on film screenings and readings can be found in Canvas.

Note that while we offer a weekly film screening (which you are strongly encouraged to attend), the films are available widely for streaming through various platforms. Many of the films are also held in DVD form in the University Library.

Please note that it is formal requirement of this unit each week that you have viewed the weekly film and accessed the lecture prior to your tutorial.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Identify elements of Hollywood’s classical style and commercial aesthetic, and analyse their effects in terms of narrative and symbolic meaning, audience experience, and ideology;
LO2. Demonstrate an understanding of the history of Hollywood cinema across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and its most significant technological, industrial, and aesthetic transformations;
LO3. Critically reflect on Hollywood cinema as mass entertainment and cinematic art form;
LO4. Draw on the concepts and issues explored in the unit, as well as further independent research, to construct arguments and perspectives on Hollywood cinema.
LO5. Engage meaningfully with other students and tutors in structured, planned and impromptu class-room discussions

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Drawing on extensive student and tutor feedback across 2023 and 2024, this unit has been comprehensively redesigned for semester 2, 2025. This includes a more hand-on approach to developing assessment and stronger links between theory and film production practice.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Early feedback task

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links