Course Description
Alfred Hitchcock…His body of work is so singular that the term “Hitchcockian” continues to be widely used today as a signpost for A-calibre thrills, chills, and gallows humour, and yet (despite the abundance of commentary detailing his working method) few people have succeeded in replicating the Hitchcock touch. His precise visual style can seldom be found in the “shaky-cam” CGI blockbusters or television series of the modern era, and the content that Hitchcock introduced into the mainstream unwittingly opened the door to new levels of onscreen violence and misanthropy. Even when the influence of films like Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo or North by Northwest can be found in modern cinema, the question remains whether filmmakers have chosen the right lessons to draw from. Join instructor and filmmaker Joe Frankel for this provocative new lecture series, outlining Hitchcock’s work and influence. Gain a deeper understanding of his stylistic innovations and filmmaking practices. Examine and debate his willingness to prioritize giddy cinematic thrills over performance and narrative credibility. And finally, contemplate the effectiveness with which his films and subsequent imitators have generated meaningful discourse regarding the moral ambiguities that they propose.
Course Director
Joe Frankel
Joe Frankel is a Toronto-based filmmaker and the founder of Imaginary Courtyard Inc., a production company that specializes in movie advertising. He has worked as a Hollywood story editor for Universal Studios, The Mark Gordon Company and others and he served for six years as the Executive Producer of the Pre-Show and head of video content at Cineplex movie theatres. Joe’s screenwriting credits include a TV adaptation of “The Phantom” comics and the upcoming animated comedy series, “Steve Guttenberg: Frenchman.” When Joe isn’t writing, he produces “behind-the-scenes” documentaries for the movie studios and lectures on film at various universities and community centres across North America.
Joe Frankel
Term and Time
Winter 2027 – starting January 8
1:00 pm on Fridays
Room 204 in York Hall
Course Outline
Two weeks before the course starts, you can download a printable PDF giving the 10-week detailed course outline.
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Lecture Notes
Links to resources such as additional reading or play lists are provided here as the Course Director makes them available during the term. Like the course outline, lecture notes open in a new browser tab so that you can download and print them.
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