Kris “Pepper” Hambrick

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” But what does that mean when it comes to what may be the most prolific fictional character on screen? What is the truth of Sherlock Holmes? In this [three/four] week course we’ll get an overview of Holmes on film, delve into the relative merits of each adaptation, and discuss the biggest question of all: Why is Holmes such an enduring character?

Horror, as a genre, has often been dismissed as low brow, inexpensive, or sensationalist fare. But in spite, or perhaps because of, this dismissal, the history of horror is also a history of what we, as a society, fear. In this class we’ll take a look at how our concerns have been mirrored by movies over time and what horror says about those fears. Starting with its origins in Gothic fiction, we’ll trace modern horror from the silent era through the monster films of the 30s, the atomic era and the Red Scare of the 50s, and onward with madmen-next-door, environmental threats, technological innovations run amok, religious extremism, immigration, and other fears. And we’ll look at how vampires, zombies, ghosts, haunted houses, and all the other trappings of the genre have become flexible containers for what really scares us about The Other… and ourselves.

From the beginning of film, producers and directors have sought the works of the past to inspire their own. At first glance that might seem obvious–a story is a story, and we’ve always had our favorites. But in this class we’ll look at the different ways books have made their way to the screen, both the reasons (popularity, financial incentives, established credibility, creative and interpretive opportunities) and the concerns (medium, time constraints, fidelity, audience interpretation, visual complexity). What makes a “good” adaptation? Why are certain works adapted over and over? How do you translate words into image, sound, and movement? What’s the place of “fidelity” in moving a story from page to screen? And what are some of the most successful–and infamous–film adaptations of the written word?