Venture into the world of Festivus, the quirky holiday created by the brilliant minds behind the TV series Seinfeld. Celebrated annually on December 23rd, Festivus is the ultimate celebration “for the rest of us.” This unique holiday emerged as a humorous antidote to the commercialism and traditions of Christmas, and its symbol is a simple, yet symbolic, silver pole devoid of any decorations. In this hour-long lecture, you’ll explore the history of Festivus and discover how this unconventional (and arguably, Jewish-based) holiday was born.

Uncover the gritty plots, seedy characters, and dangerous cities that make up American film noir. Featuring major studio releases like The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity as well as B-movie fare like Detour, this 60-minute lecture gives participants a solid overview of film noir: its French origins, cultural influences, genre problems, character types, and aesthetics.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) follows the Griswold family as they attempt to create the perfect traditional Christmas celebration. However, as is usually the case with this fictional family, everything that can go wrong does. Amidst the onscreen chaos, have you ever wondered what happened off-camera during the making of this iconic holiday film? Do you know where the movie was shot? Have you noticed the film’s ties to Lethal Weapon, Betty Boop, and It’s a Wonderful Life? This hour-long lecture will answer these questions (and more!) as we go behind the scenes of Christmas Vacation and dive headfirst into the world of the Griswolds.

Chicago has produced many comedy legends, and this hour-long lecture considers two of them: the Marx Brothers (collectively) and Bob Newhart. We’ll start with a leisurely walk to the Marx Brothers’ Chicago home, which you’ll experience via HD video. There, you will learn about a subgenre of film called anarchic comedy. You’ll also take a ride down Route 66 and see where the Marx family once owned a chicken farm. (Yes, a chicken farm!) Then, we’ll shift comedic gears to Bob Newhart. Newhart was born in Chicago, and his sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78) was set there as well. In this section, you’ll visit 3 locations (again, via HD video) near and dear to the comedian and actor, all while learning about his significance to American comedy history.

Although set in Kansas and filmed in Hollywood, The Wizard of Oz (1939) has many Chicago (and Illinois) connections. This 60-minute lecture introduces you to several of them. First, you will stroll (via HD video) through a Chicago park that pays tribute to the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, and Toto. Then, you will follow Chicago’s yellow brick road to the spot where L. Frank Baum wrote his children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. There, you’ll also hear about the World’s Fair that inspired the author. Finally, we’ll meander briefly through Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington, IL, for more Oz stories.

Week 1 – How Hollywood Portrays Women. Encounter four ways Hollywood has traditionally represented women onscreen. Among the categories you’ll consider: mothers, damsels, femme fatales, and domestic or romantic agents. You’ll also get a primer on how movies have chosen to represent women’s bodies over the years, particularly when few clothes are involved.

Week 2 – How Hollywood Portrays Men. Encounter four ways Hollywood has traditionally represented men onscreen. Among the categories you’ll consider: macho men, comedy nerds, wounded warriors, and beasts. You’ll also learn why nude (or mostly nude) onscreen men often receive harsh punishment in the movie’s narrative.

Week 1 – Mise-en-Scene: How Are Movie Worlds Created? To tell you a story, a movie relies on settings, props, actors, blocking, costumes, makeup, and lighting—all of which exist independently of cinematography, editing, and sound design. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how these items, collectively called mise-en-scene (pronounced meez-on-sen), contribute to a film’s world and your perception of characters or particular moods, then join us! This hour-long lecture will also briefly trace mise-en-scene in film from 1900 to the present.

Week 2 – Cinematography: How Do Movies Guide Your Eyes? When you watch a movie, the images before you may seem like objective views of the world. But they are not. In fact, those images are purposefully constructed and then put onscreen—to guide your eyes where the director wants them to go. Sneaky, right? This hour-long lecture introduces you to the basics of cinematography, including speed of motion, perspective relationships, focal length, depth of field, and framing. Once you recognize how cinematography works, you can experience and understand movies on a new level.

Week 3 – Editing: How Do Movies Link All Those Images? If you hold up a piece of film stock, you’ll notice a series of images, one slightly different from the next. So how do those hundreds or thousands of separate images that comprise a movie ultimately make sense and then, hopefully, affect us emotionally as we watch? Learn the answer in this hour-long lecture on editing, where you’ll be introduced to the basics of editing, including the shot, shot transitions, types of relationships between shots, and two common editing styles.

Week 4 – Why Is Movie Sound So Powerful? A dinosaur’s roar, a dancer’s tap shoes, a lightsaber’s hum: each of these sounds conveys meaning in relationship to its accompanying image—respectively, terror, talent, and anticipation. If you’re interested in learning how such sounds are made, “sweetened,” and then rendered onscreen, then join us for this hour-long discussion on the relationship between sound and image. You’ll also explore several sound techniques; three types of sound (voice, music, sound effects); and the power of sound in cinema.

(Optional) Week 5 – A Brief History of Hollywood Film. Explore the evolution of Hollywood cinema in this hour-long lecture, tracing the industry’s journey from its humble beginnings to the 1980s. Specifically, you’ll dive into three eras of Hollywood’s history: (1) early cinema and the coming of sound, (2) classical Hollywood and the studio system, and (3) The New Hollywood.