Viz

CAMS 211: Film History II

Researching and Writing Film History: "To the Archives!"

Your task in this assignment is to research a development in the postwar Hollywood film industry, 1945- 1955, making use of an industry trade paper known as Film Daily (which includes Film Daily Yearbook), available on microfilm in the library.

• Step One: Start by reading the sections on postwar Hollywood cinema in our textbook, Cook's History of Narrative Film. What topics are included? Are there topics that seem underdeveloped?
• Step Two: Go to the library and skim an edition of Film Daily Yearbook for one year (between 1945-1955). Film Daily Yearbook provides overviews of major developments in the film industry during any particular year. The reviews vary by year but might include news highlights, television, color, labor, special purposes films, foreign film markets, court decisions and so on. You'll notice that there are far more potential storylines here than are addressed in Cook's textbook.
• Step Three: Now that you've skimmed a one-year edition of Film Daily Yearbook and have some sense of the major trends or developments, take a look at the headlines for that year in Film Daily. As a basic minimum, expect to scroll through at least six months of Film Daily. It doesn't take long to read the headlines and get a sense of what's up.
• Step Four: Having given yourself permission to just read and explore Film Daily Yearbook and Film Daily, not it's time to identify a topic or development in the industry for your research focus. Are you seeing a storyline that interests you?
• Step Five: The number of articles related to whatever trend, development or storyline you're investigating will vary, but you are expected to collect a minimum of 10. You may consult and make use of any number of relevant secondary sources to develop your history but the emphasis should be on writing your history using primary sources. Write your history!
• Step Six: You are expected to integrate relevant visual evidence or data into your paper as in- text pictures or charts (minimum: at least one image or chart, but more are encouraged). Include only those materials to which you directly refer in your discussion.
• Step Seven: Be sure to document all sources appropriately (Chicago Style). Examples for citing sources can be viewed on the library course guide, available online (see URL below).

Library Help and Microfilm Collections

The microfilm reels will be made placed in a wire basket next to the microfilm readers on the main floor (fourth floor) of the library. When you enter the library, walk straight ahead to the reference desk. The microfilm readers are nearby.

Library help: Matt Bailey, Media Librarian and Reference & Instruction Librarian for the Arts, mbailey@carleton.edu

Deadlines

Tues Oct 2: Hand in (in class) short paragraph description of your topic and how you're thinking to organize your paper. Report any challenges you're encountering in your research.

Tues Oct 9: Paper due (in class), 5 pages, double-spaced, with an engaging title, at least one visual image or data chart, and an additional page of documented sources.

Resources

CAMS 211 Library Course Guide (Includes introduction to microfilm as well as instructions for citing sources)
Media History Digital Library (Includes Film Daily Yearbook for 1945 in the Yearbook Collection, but that's all for this assignment)