Film Studies: The Basics


Book Description

Film Studies: The Basics is a compelling guide to the study of cinema in all its forms. This second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to take account of recent scholarship, the latest developments in the industry and the explosive impact of new technologies. Core topics covered include: The history, technology and art of cinema Theories of stardom, genre and film-making The movie industry from Hollywood to Bollywood Who does what on a film set Complete with film stills, end-of-chapter summaries and a substantial glossary, Film Studies: The Basics is the ideal introduction to those new to the study of cinema.




Inventing Film Studies


Book Description

Inventing Film Studies offers original and provocative insights into the institutional and intellectual foundations of cinema studies. Many scholars have linked the origins of the discipline to late-1960s developments in the academy such as structuralist theory and student protest. Yet this collection reveals the broader material and institutional forces—both inside and outside of the university—that have long shaped the field. Beginning with the first investigations of cinema in the early twentieth century, this volume provides detailed examinations of the varied social, political, and intellectual milieus in which knowledge of cinema has been generated. The contributors explain how multiple instantiations of film study have had a tremendous influence on the methodologies, curricula, modes of publication, and professional organizations that now constitute the university-based discipline. Extending the historical insights into the present, contributors also consider the directions film study might take in changing technological and cultural environments. Inventing Film Studies shows how the study of cinema has developed in relation to a constellation of institutions, technologies, practices, individuals, films, books, government agencies, pedagogies, and theories. Contributors illuminate the connections between early cinema and the social sciences, between film programs and nation-building efforts, and between universities and U.S. avant-garde filmmakers. They analyze the evolution of film studies in relation to the Museum of Modern Art, the American Film Council movement of the 1940s and 1950s, the British Film Institute, influential journals, cinephilia, and technological innovations past and present. Taken together, the essays in this collection reveal the rich history and contemporary vitality of film studies. Contributors: Charles R. Acland, Mark Lynn Anderson, Mark Betz, Zoë Druick, Lee Grieveson, Stephen Groening, Haden Guest, Amelie Hastie, Lynne Joyrich, Laura Mulvey, Dana Polan, D. N. Rodowick, Philip Rosen, Alison Trope, Haidee Wasson, Patricia White, Sharon Willis, Peter Wollen, Michael Zryd




Film Studies


Book Description

American film scholar Ed Sikov discusses all aspects of narrative films, describing mise-en-scéne, the significance of montages, editing, lighting, the use of color and sound, and related topics; and providing practical advice, suggested assignments, and other resources.




AS Film Studies


Book Description

AS Film Studies: The Essential Introduction gives students the confidence to tackle every part of the WJEC AS level Film Studies course. The authors, who have wide ranging experience as teachers, examiners and authors, introduce students step by step, to the skills involved in the study of film. The second edition follows the new WJEC syllabus for 2008 teaching onwards and has a companion website with additional resources for students and teachers. Specifically designed to be user friendly, the second edition of AS Film Studies: The Essential Introduction has a new text design to make the book easy to follow, includes more than 100 colour photographs and is jam packed with features such as: Case studies relevant to the 2008 specification Activities on films including Little Miss Sunshine, Pirates of the Caribbean & The Descent Key terms Example exam questions Suggestions for further reading and website resources




Doing Film Studies


Book Description

This title examines what it really means to study film, encouraging the reader to question the dominant theories as well as understanding the key approaches to cinema. The book provides an overview of the construction of film studies and examines the application of theories to film texts.




Cinema Is a Cat


Book Description

Watching movies every night at home with his cats, film scholar and cat lover Daisuke Miyao noticed how frequently cats turned up on screen. They made brief appearances (think of Mafia boss Marlon Brando gently stroking a cat in a scene from The Godfather); their looks provided inspiration to film creators (Avatar); they even held major roles (The Lion King). In Cinema Is a Cat, Miyao uses the fascinating relationship between cats and cinema to offer a uniquely appealing introduction to film studies. Cats are representational subjects in the nine films explored in this book, and each chapter juxtaposes a feline characteristic—their love of dark places, their “star” quality—with discussion of the theories and histories of cinema. The opening chapters explore three basic elements of the language of cinema: framing, lighting, and editing. Subsequent chapters examine the contexts in which films are made, exhibited, and viewed. Miyao covers the major theoretical and methodological concepts of film studies—auteurism, realism, genre, feminist film theory, stardom, national cinema, and modernity theory—exploring fundamental questions. Who is the author of a film? How does a film connect to reality? What connections does one film have to other films? Who is represented in a film and how? How is a film viewed differently by people of different cultural and social backgrounds? How is a film located in history? His focus on the innate qualities of cats—acting like prima donnas, born of mixed blood, devoted to the chase—offers a memorable and appealing approach to the study of film. How to read audio-visual materials aesthetically and culturally is of limitless value in a world where we are constantly surrounded by moving images—television, video, YouTube, streaming, GPS, and virtual reality. Cinema Is a Cat offers an accessible, user-friendly approach that will deepen viewers’ appreciation of movies, from Hollywood classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and To Catch a Thief, to Japanese period dramas like Samurai Cat. The book will be attractive to a wide audience of students and scholars, movie devotees, and cat lovers.




Introduction to Film Studies


Book Description

Introduction to Film Studies is a comprehensive textbook for students of cinema. This completely revised and updated fifth edition guides students through the key issues and concepts in film studies, traces the historical development of film and introduces some of the worlds key national cinemas. A range of theories and theorists are presented from Formalism to Feminism, from Eisenstein to Deleuze. Each chapter is written by a subject specialist, including two new authors for the fifth edition. A wide range of films are analysed and discussed. It is lavishly illustrated with 150 film stills and production shots, in full colour throughout. Reviewed widely by teachers in the field and with a foreword by Bill Nichols, it will be essential reading for any introductory student of film and media studies or the visual arts worldwide. Key features of the fifth edition are: updated coverage of a wide range of concepts, theories and issues in film studies in-depth discussion of the contemporary film industry and technological changes new chapters on Film and Technology and Latin American Cinema new case studies on films such as District 9, Grizzly Man, Amores Perros, Avatar, Made in Dagenham and many others marginal key terms, notes, cross-referencing suggestions for further reading, further viewing and a comprehensive glossary and bibliography a new, improved companion website including popular case studies and chapters from previous editions (including chapters on German Cinema and The French New Wave), links to supporting sites, clips, questions and useful resources. Individual chapters include: The Industrial Contexts of Film Production · Film and Technology · Getting to the Bigger · Picture Film Form and Narrative · Spectator, Audience and Response · Cinematic authorship and the film auteur · Stardom and Hollywood Cinema · Genre, Theory and Hollywood Cinema The Documentary Form · The Language of Animation · Gender and Film · Lesbian and Gay Cinema · Spectacle, Stereotypes and Films of the African Diaspora · British Cinema · Indian Cinema · Latin American Cinema · Soviet Montage Cinema of the 1920s Contributors: Linda Craig, Lalitha Gopalan, Terri Francis, Chris Jones, Mark Joyce, Searle Kochberg, Lawrence Napper, Jill Nelmes, Patrick Phillips, Suzanne Speidel, Paul Ward, Paul Watson, Paul Wells and William Wittington




Engaging Cinema


Book Description

In what ways do films influence and interact with society? What social forces determine the kinds of movies that get made? How do movies reinforce—and sometimes overturn—social norms? As societies evolve, do the films that were once considered ‘great’ slip into obscurity? Which ones? Why? These questions, and many others like them, represent the mainstream of scholarly film studies today. In Engaging Cinema, Bill Nichols offers the first book for introductory film students that tackles these topics head-on. Published in a handy 'trade paperback' format, Engaging Cinema is inexpensive and utterly unique in the field—a perfect complement to or replacement for standard film texts.




A Level Film Studies


Book Description

This essential book covers the key areas for A Level Film Studies students, building confidence through a careful, step-by-step approach. The first part of the book establishes a basic understanding of the grounding of film analysis in the various elements of film construction, mise en scène, cinematography, editing, sound and performance, developing the knowledge students have of movies whilst challenging them to consider new films and ideas. Key theoretical approaches around narrative, genre, representation, spectatorship and authorship are introduced in Part II, before we consider specific national cinemas from around the world in parts III and IV. In Part V, the book assesses a range of slightly different film experiences, looking at silent cinema, experimental films and documentaries; before, finally, Part VI shifts to evaluating creative approaches to students’ own filmmaking. Specifically designed to be user-friendly, the book has an easy-to-follow design, includes more than 60 colour images and is packed with features such as: case studies on a range of films and filmmakers; activities on such films as Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (Murnau, 1927, USA), Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958, USA), Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989, USA), We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ramsay, 2011, UK) and Stories We Tell (Polley, 2012, Canada); definitions of key terms; and suggestions for further reading and website resources. Matched to the current exam specification, A Level Film Studies: The Essential Introduction covers everything students need to study as part of the course. The book is supported by a companion website at www.alevelfilmstudies.co.uk, offering further advice and activities.




Feminist Film Studies


Book Description

An introduction to feminist film theory as a discourse from the early seventies to the present. McCabe traces the broad ranging theories produced by feminist film scholarship, from formalist readings and psychoanalytical approaches to debates initiated by cultural studies, race and queer theory.