Cinema
15 courses · Palomar College · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Fall 2026 · Spring 2027
CINE 100 Art of the Cinema
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
How do visual storytelling techniques impact the way we perceive truth and reality? Why do we feel deeply connected to characters we've only known for two hours? How does the film business impact the kind of films that are made? This course considers these questions, among others, through considering cinema as an expressive art form, industry, technology, and sociocultural practice. Students analyze the aesthetics and meaning of screenwriting, mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, sound, narrative, documentary, and genre in a motion picture. Screenings include a diversity of films from the past and present, which we analyze within the economic, social, and cultural contexts of their making. As reflections of society, the course identifies how cinema has contributed to, and challenged, social inequities through representations of race, gender, class, and nation.
CINE 102 History of Film to 1945
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
What social or technological conditions made the invention of cinema possible in the late 1800s? How did early filmmakers experiment with editing, framing, and special effects before formal rules of storytelling were established? How did Hollywood become the center of American filmmaking? This course asks these questions, among others, through investigating the origins, and major trends, in world cinema since its invention through 1945. Topics include cinema’s invention, silent film actors and directors, the rise of the Hollywood studio system, German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, French Poetic Realism, and major national film cultures in Asia, Britain, and Latin America. Students learn how the film industry, government regulations, and sociocultural contexts impacted motion picture aesthetics. Through screenings, readings, and discussions, students develop critical tools for analyzing cinematic form, style, and meaning within historical contexts, and the implications for reproducing and/or challenging race, gender and class inequalities.
CINE 103 History of Film 1945 - Present
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
How do local film movements become global influences? How have representations of women and people of color changed over recent decades? How have digital technologies transformed the narrative and aesthetic possibilities in film? This course explores these questions, among others, in considering major trends in world cinema since 1945. We survey national and regional cinemas within their economic, social, and cultural contexts, and the transnational influences that major aesthetic movements and directors have had on cinematic expression. Topics include Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, Asian Cinemas, New Hollywood, Third Cinema, Bollywood, Latin American Cinema, Black Cinema, and trends in digital cinema. Through screenings, readings, and discussions, students will develop critical tools for analyzing cinematic form, style, and meaning within historical contexts, with attention to contestations over race, gender, and class inequities.
CINE 105 Film Subjects
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course offers different subjects in cinema that expand upon those that are offered regularly in the cinema program. These subjects might include those focused on a significant director, genre, national cinema, women in film, Chicano Cinema, experimental film, or other topics. The course allows faculty to explore new courses to potentially add to our roster of regularly scheduled courses.
CINE 106 Horror Film
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
With legions of fans and detractors alike, the horror film is one of the most popular, varied, and complex film genres. What makes them so revolting and dreadful yet keeps us coming back and unable to look away? This course asks this question, and others pertaining to horror's aesthetic, cultural and historical significance, in a survey of horror films past and present, in the US and internationally. As a study of a single film genre, this course too assesses the significance of genre to how the film industry works, how viewers engage with generic conventions, and how film genres and culture change over time. Also, horror films often tap into sublimated cultural anxieties that expose social tensions and contestations over gender, race and class inequities.
CINE 110 Documentary Film
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
A study of the complete spectrum of documentary film including actualities, travel records, political propaganda, newsreels, historical, ethnographic, and archival films and those that make a personal poetic statement. The contributions of important filmmakers including Ken Burns, Robert Flaherty, John Grierson, Barbara Kopple, Ricky Leacock, Albert and David Maysles, Michael Moore, D.A. Pennebaker, and Frederick Wiseman will be discussed. Significant films from the beginning of film to the present will be screened.
CINE 115 Creative Writing for Television and Cinema
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU
Basic introductory course in narrative script writing for film and episodic television. Emphasis on basic screenplay structure, characters, conflict, theme and technical script formatting in the development of a short screenplay.
CINE 120 Film Criticism
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
What makes film a unique art form? How does film influence and shape our culture? Why is representation important for diverse communities? How do fans impact the ways films get made and understood? These are some of the central questions of Film Criticism, which refers to the serious and detailed analysis of film. This class will introduce students to diverse critical approaches, including a focus on auteurs, genre, realism, structuralism, feminism, and fan reception. Unlike popular reviews in newspapers and blogs, these approaches are often less concerned with value judgment, encouraging us to understand cinema and its meaning in the context of the social and cultural environment of the time. This course recognizes the emotional and psychological impact that films can have on their audiences as well as the collaborative nature and the community-building potential of the medium.
CINE 122 Identity in American Film
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
How do American films reflect and influence our ideas about race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious identity, ability and culture? How can cinema both support and challenge the values we see in everyday life? This inclusive course highlights diverse voices and perspectives. Discover how movies help shape the way we see ourselves - and each other.
CINE 123 Queer Cinema
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 3.00 hours lecture
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
A study of how historical and cultural conditions have shaped media / popular representations of people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, and how these "queer" subjects and communities have responded through viewing practices and alternative film and video production.
CINE 125 Beginning Single Camera Film and Video Production
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 1.50 hours lecture, 4.50 hours lab
- Advisory
- CINE 100
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course provides an introduction to the theory, terminology, and operation of single camera film and video production as it applies to narrative storytelling for film and television. Areas of study include basic elements of screenwriting and production design, cinematography including camera operation, digital video and audio recording and basic editing techniques. It focuses on the aesthetics and fundamentals of scripting, producing, directing on location, postproduction and exhibition/distribution. Students may shoot on Super 8mm, 16mm film or digital video.
CINE 170 Introduction to Video Editing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 1.50 hours lecture, 4.50 hours lab
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
How does editing impact the responses that our audiences have to our videos? This course provides a hands-on introduction to the basic techniques, theories, and practices associated with post-production video, audio, and animation work. The course introduces students to a diverse range of editing tools and approaches while serving as an introduction to Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects.
CINE 225 Intermediate Single Camera Film and Video Production
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 1.50 hours lecture, 4.50 hours lab
- Prerequisite
- CINE 125
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course provides an introduction to the basic theory, terminology, and practice of motion picture production as applied in feature films, and films made for television, documentary film, and internet through developed skill sets, and teamwork in pre-production, production, and post-production processes. Topics include basic cinematography including the operation, function and creative uses of production and post-production equipment, scriptwriting, camera operation, shot composition, lighting, sound recording and mixing, and editing.
CINE 270 Advanced Video Editing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 1.50 hours lecture, 4.50 hours lab
- Prerequisite
- DBA 170 or GCMW 165
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course provides students advanced hands-on instruction in the principles and techniques of non-linear video editing, animation and compositing for broadcast television and film. The course builds upon students' knowledge of Adobe Premiere and After-Effects to empower students’ creativity through a project-driven environment.
CINE 275 Avid Editing for Television and Film
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 1.50 hours lecture, 4.50 hours lab
- Transfers to
- CSU
Principles and techniques of editing video and film projects using Avid technology. Digitizing source material, storyboarding, timeline, audio editing, importing and exporting graphics, outputting, and media management.