How to View and Appreciate Great Movies

How to View and Appreciate Great Movies is a remarkable series on Amazon Prime, part of The Great Courses Signature Collection released in 2018. This series serves as an educational venture for movie buffs and anyone with an appetite for storytelling. Professor Eric R. Williams, of the Savannah College of Art and Design, hosts the series, imbuing each episode with his deep passion for cinema and exhaustive knowledge of the craft of filmmaking.

The entire series comprises 24 episodes, each about 30 minutes long, and is artfully organized to progressively guide viewers through the complex landscape of film history, production, criticism, and appreciation. Although the series is academically rigorous, Professor Williams's engaging style of communicating complex filmmaking concepts helps viewers easily grasp the subject matter while keeping them pleasantly entertained.

The series opens by distinguishing the film medium from other art forms, setting the stage for deeper exploration. Following this, each episode delves into the multifaceted world of movies, examining many integral elements involved in making a great film. It covers subjects such as storytelling techniques, characters and actors, direction, production design, cinematography, editing, music, and sound design.

In How to View and Appreciate Great Movies, the episodes don’t merely consist of theoretical lectures. They use practical examples excerpted from some of the most iconic films in world cinema to illustrate the concepts. With scenes from films like The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Gone with the Wind, Amadeus, and hundreds more, Professor Williams unfolds the magic behind these masterpieces, showing us the ingenious techniques employed by filmmakers to influence our emotions and perceptions.

Movie genres are also comprehensively covered in this series. From action, adventure, comedy, and drama to horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and westerns, each genre is dissected to reveal its characteristics, conventions, evolution, and impact on cinema as a whole. This analysis assists viewers in identifying and appreciating the unique components that give each genre its identity.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of the series is the exploration of international cinema. From Bollywood to French New Wave, Italian Neorealism to Japanese Anime, How to View and Appreciate Great Movies shakes up the Hollywood-centric view of filmmaking, cultivating a more global perspective of cinema. By throwing light on the cultural and artistic significance of these foreign film movements, it broadens viewers' understanding and appreciation of world cinema.

The series also provides tools to critically examine and review films. It dissects the elements and approaches used in film critique, enabling viewers to develop their film reviewing skills. This is an invaluable addition for those who wish to delve deeper into their understanding of movies or potentially pursue a career in film criticism.

In his delivery, Professor Williams presents an ideal balance between the academic and the relatable. His sense of humor and casual teaching style are engaging, making even complex subjects accessible to viewers without formal film study backgrounds. The course material is steeply grounded in academic theories of film study but is delivered in a digestible, interesting, and beautifully visual manner.

Rather than just being a passive absorbing of other people's opinions about films, the primary aim of the series is to empower viewers to form their own informed opinions about movies. This series perfectly caters to beginners who want to start their journey of understanding films, as well as seasoned viewers who aim to enhance their knowledge.

Production value is an aspect where How to View and Appreciate Great Movies does not disappoint. Each episode is visually engaging, with high definition movie excerpts, crisp visuals, clever animations, and apt background music.

In conclusion, How to View and Appreciate Great Movies is far more than an ordinary series about movies. It is a robust film study course that offers a profound understanding of filmmaking and film appreciation. Lovers of cinema, regardless of their prior knowledge or understanding of filmmaking, will find this series immensely enlightening, intriguing, and enjoyable. The fount of knowledge it provides, coupled with the engaging teaching style of Professor Williams, truly makes it an essential watch for all movie enthusiasts.