Sound. In the beginning, movies only had sound in the form of musical accompaniment provided in the theater. Since then, recorded sound has become an indispensable part of movies. In this session, we will consider how music, speech, and sound effects can be used to add meaning to the images on the screen. Our examples will be drawn from Alien, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Passenger. After the lecture, we recommend watching Singing in the Rain.

Available to rent anytime.

While we often expect the action of films to unfold in chronological order, there are many other possibilities. In our final session, we will look at various components of film narrative and how they can be manipulated to create anticipation, tension, and resolution. Our examples will be drawn from Casablanca, Bonnie & Clyde, L'Avventura, and (500) Days of Summer. After the lecture, we recommend watching Vertigo.

Available to rent anytime.

Editing is the process by which individual shots are joined together. We will explore several different ways that this unique cinematic device can be used including “continuity editing,” “parallel editing,” “analytical editing,” and “montage.” Our examples will be drawn from Casablanca, The Battleship Potemkin, Psycho, and Manhattan. Following the lecture, we recommend watching Sliding Doors.

Available to rent anytime.

Presented with organ accompaniment from Andrew Rogers!

33 years before Director Cecil B. DeMille cast Charlton Heston for his 1956 religious epic that has aired on television every Easter Sunday for decades, he made made this silent version of the biblical tale starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, The Lawgiver, in a film that recreates the biblical story of the Exodus as well as tells a modern story concerning two brothers and their respective views of the Ten Commandments.

Lauded for its "immense and stupendous" scenes, use of Technicolor process 2, and parting of the Red Sea sequence, the expensive film proved to be a box-office hit upon release. It is the first in DeMille's biblical trilogy, followed by The King of Kings (1927) and The Sign of the Cross (1932).

The Ten Commandments is one of many works from 1923 that entered the public domain in the United States in 2019.

Available to rent anytime.

Mise-en-Scene refers to the arrangement of all the visual elements in front of the camera. This includes people, sets, props, lighting, color and the way these elements are viewed by the audience as the camera moves. We will look at various approaches to mise-en-scene including selections from The Bicycle Thieves, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Double Indemnity, Moulin Rouge, and more. Following the lecture, we recommend watching Casablanca.

Available to rent anytime.

An original film and score by musician and our Technical Director, Jared Van Eck! Read his film summary below:

All footage was shot on April 15, 2020, in a downtown nature preserve on a cold snowy day in Ann Arbor, MI – 24 days into our COVID-19 stay-at-home order. During this time in which our old normal continues to disappear and we must all embrace this current unknown, I hope this film brings its viewers a peaceful meditation space. By slowing down shots and blending in an original electronic score with nature’s natural sounds, my aim is to encourage the viewer to equally still them self, focus on deep breaths, and reflect on the simple beauty of falling snow.

Available to rent anytime.

Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood.

A decades-long feud between two sheep farming brothers comes to a head when disaster strikes their flocks.

A troubled but well-intentioned father who has recently separated from his wife runs off with his trans son into the Montana wilderness after his ex-wife's refusal to let their son live as his authentic self.

An intimate, insightful, and moving film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love. Ripe with all the drama and interpersonal conflicts of a Jane Austen novel, watching her negotiate the labyrinth of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her own burgeoning sentiment is both painful and beautiful – there are no easy choices to be made and the viewer travels back and forth with her as she struggles with her heart to take the best path. In Spanish with English subtitles

Glenn Tryon heads the cast of this American silent film comedy as Hiram Hastings, who drives a taxi at an eastern United States summer resort and wants to become an aviator. He takes a correspondence course in aviation and builds his own aircraft, hoping to enter a race from New York to Europe. Samuel Sloan (Burr McIntosh), a wealthy soap manufacturer, arrives with his daughter Mary (Patsy Ruth Miller), a trained nurse (Ruth Dwyer), and his confidential secretary (Lloyd Whitlock), the last two secretly plotting to get Sloan's holdings. Hiram, infatuated with Mary, crashes a banquet in honor of a visiting French aviator and takes it upon himself to be the speaker of the evening. Although he is ejected, Hiriam perseveres. Mary learns of the plot against her father and with the aid of Hiram and his aircraft sets out for New York, but Hiram pilots them across the ocean into Russia and there makes a forced landing. The success of the flight, however, saves the Sloan fortune.

Martha Cooper is an unexpected icon of the street art movement - a tiny, grey-haired figure running alongside crews of masked graffiti artists. Cooper is the first female staff photographer at In the 1970’s, as the boroughs of New York City burned, Cooper was both the first female staff photographer at the the New York Post and the first to seek images of creativity and play where others saw crime and poverty. As a result, she captured some of the first images of New York graffiti, at a time when the city had declared war on this new culture. 20 years later Martha is now a legend of the graffiti world - a culture that has exploded into a global movement.

Her Name is Chef brings to light the conversation about the changing culture in the restaurant industry through the stories of six amazingly talented, inspiring, females of the kitchen - Elizabeth Falkner, Fatima Ali, Hillary Sterling, Esther Choi, Juliet Masters, and Caroline Schiff. Each of these incredibly hard workers share their triumphs in cutting through the clichés of the restaurant industry, and explore how they broke down the doors to ‘earn’ the title of Chef. At the core of the film is a conversation about the changing culture in the restaurant industry. 19% of Chefs are female, and only 7% are head Chefs. While at the Culinary Institute of America, 51% of students enrolled are female and they make up 47% of the total US workforce. Chef Leia Gaccione travels to learn about their struggles in having to prove themselves in an industry that has become ‘bro-a-fied’. These six courageous ‘sheroes’ of the kitchen open up their hearts to the world, leaving no stone unturned.