Ithaca earned the moniker "The Biggest Little City" when, from 1914-1919, it was home to Wharton Studio Incorporated, a bustling movie production company that produced dozens of films and serials starring some of the best-known movie actors of the day. We will study the history of silent film production by exploring Ithaca’s dynamic natural and architectural landscape; visiting university special collections that hold related archival materials; watching and discussing silent films; and producing our own Ithaca-inspired short silent films. We will pay particular focus to the aesthetics of film production, including aspects such as costuming, set design, framing, editing, typeface and graphics.