Film: A Critical Introduction

Description

Updated and expanded for a new edition, this is the perfect starter text for students of film studies. Packed full of visual examples from all periods of film history up to the present, Film:A Critical Introduction illustrates film concepts in context and in depth, addressing techniques and terminology used in film production and criticism, and emphasising thinking and writing critically and effectively. With reference to 450 new and existing images, the authors discuss contemporary films and film studies scholarship, as well as recent developments in film production and exhibition, such as digital technologies and new modes of screen media. New features in the fourth edition: Expanded discussion of changing cultural and political contexts for film and media industries, including #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #OscarsSoWhite Updated examples drawing from both contemporary and classic films in every chapter highlight that film studies is a vibrant and growing field New closing chapter expands the book's theoretical framework, linking foundational concepts in cinema studies to innovative new scholarship in media and screen studies Thoroughly revised and updated discussions of auteur theory, the long-take aesthetic, ideology in the superhero film and more Cover Contents Preface Part One: Introduction to Film Analysis Chapter One: Introduction Cinema: A Confluence of Artistry, Industry, and Technology The Cinema is Dead!Long Live the Cinema! Chapter Review Chapter Two: An Approachto Film Analysis Understanding Audience Expectations Expectations and Modes of Organization Expectations of Genres, Stars, and Directors The Orchestration of Detail Motifs Parallels Details and Structure Parallels and Structure Turning Points Repetition and Non-chronological Structure Creating Meaning Through the World Beyond the Film Historical Events and Cultural Attitudes Stars and Public Figures as References Intertextual References Meaningful References with Objects Film Style Classical, Realist, and Formalist Aesthetics Analyzing Film Style The Goal of Film Analysis: Articulating Meaning Descriptive Claims Interpretive Claims Evaluative Claims The Importance of Developing Interpretive Claims Chapter Review Film Analysis: Reading Significant Details The Orchestration of Detail in Pan’s Labyrinth Chapter Three: Writing About Film Getting Started Keeping a Film Journal Formulating a Thesis Managing Verb Tense Academic Approaches to Writing About Film The Scene Analysis Paper The Film Analysis The Research Paper Conducting Archival Research Journalistic Writing: The Popular Review “Moonlight Review” By Dan Jolin, February 13, 2017 Chapter Review Part Two: Film Analysis Chapter Four: Narrative Form Defining Narrative Framing the Fictional World: Diegetic and Non-diegetic Elements Within the Diegesis: Selecting and Organizing Events Narrative Structure Alternatives to Conventional Narrative Structure Variations on Narrative Conventions: Beyond Structure Perspective and Meaning Techniques in Practice: Narrative Structure in Stagecoach Character Subjectivity Techniques in Practice: Noticing Shifts in Narration Chapter Review Film Analysis: Analyzing Narrative Structure The Horror of Silence in Get Out Chapter Five: Mise en Scène Setting Describing Setting: Visual and Spatial Attributes The Functions of Setting The Human Figure Casting Techniques in Practice: Same Film, Different Settings / Same Setting, Different Films Acting Style Acting Brechtian: Distancing the Audience Actors’ Bodies: Figure Placement Actors’ Bodies: Costumes and Props Techniques in Practice: Figure Placement in Citizen Kane Actors’ Bodies: Makeup Lighting Hollywood’s Lighting Schemes Composition Balance and Symmetry Lines and Diagonals Foreground and Background Light and Dark Color Two Approaches to Mise en Scène The Frame in Two Dimensions: Mise en Scène in German Expressionism Combining Mise en Scène and Camerawork: The Frame in Three Dimensions in French Poetic Realism Chapter Review Film Analysis: The Functions of Space Spatial Oppositions in Thelma & Louise Chapter Six: Cinematography The Camera in Time and Space Creating Meaning in Time: The Shot Altering Time: Slow and Fast Motion The Camera and Space: Height, Angle, and Shot Distance Camera Movement: Exploring Space Lenses and Filters: The Frame in Depth The Visual Characteristics of Lenses: Depth of Field and Focal Length Combining Camera Movement and Lens Movement Techniques in Practice: Patterns of Camera Placement and Movement Through the Lens: Filters and Diffusers Techniques in Practice: Lenses and the Creation of Space Film Stock Characteristics of Film Stock Light and Exposure Film Stock and Color Wide Film and Widescreen Formats Stereoscopic 3D: Then and Now Processing Film Stock Film, Video, and Digital Technologies: A Comparison Special Visual Effects Manipulating the Image on the Set Creating Scene Transitions, Titles, and Credits: The Optical Printer Optical and Digital Compositing: Assembling the Elements of the Shot Performance Capture Computer-generated Imagery Digital Cinema: Post-production Digital Cinematography and Film Style Chapter Review Film Analysis: Cinematography as a Storytelling Device Entrapment and Escape in Ratcatcher Chapter Seven: Editing The Attributes of Editing: Creating Meaning Through Collage, Tempo, and Timing Joining Images: A Collage of Graphic Qualities Tempo Adjusting the Timing of Shot Transitions Techniques in Practice: Using Contrasting Imagery and Timing to Romanticize the Outlaws in Bonnie and Clyde Story-Centered Editing and the Construction of Meaning Editing and Time Editing and Space Beyond Narrative: Creating Meaning Outside the Story Continuity Editing: Conventional Patterns and “Bending the Rules” “Breaking the Rules”: The French New Wave and its Influence Associational Editing: Editing and Metaphor Techniques in Practice: Soviet Montage Aesthetics in The Godfather Chapter Review Film Analysis: Classical Editing Editing in Notorious Chapter Eight: Sound Film Sound: A Brief History Critical Debates over Film Sound Freeing Sound from Image The Relationship Between Sound and Image Emphasizing the Contrast between Onscreen and Offscreen Space Emphasizing the Difference between Objective Images and Subjective Sounds Emphasizing the Difference between Diegetic and Non-diegetic Sound Emphasizing the Difference between Image Time and Sound Time Emphasizing Differences between Image Mood and Sound Mood Components of Film Sound: Dialogue Text and Subtext Volume and Pitch Speech Characteristics Acoustic Qualities Addressing the Audience: The Voice-over Techniques in Practice: The Human Voice as Aural Object Components of Film Sound: Sound Effects Functions of Sound Effects Characteristics of Sound Effects Techniques in Practice: Sound Effects and the Construction of Class in Days of Heaven Components of Film Sound: Music Functions of Film Music Five Characteristics of Film Music Techniques in Practice: Bernard Herrmann’s Score and Travis Bickle’s Troubled Masculinity in Taxi Driver Chapter Review Film Analysis: The Human Voice and Sound Effects Sound in No Country for Old Men: A Tradition of Violence Chapter Nine: Alternatives to Narrative Fiction Film: Documentary and Avant-garde Films Three Modes of Filmmaking: A Comparison Documentary Film: “The Creative Treatment of Actuality” Documentary Form Voice of Authority Talking Heads and the Director–Participant Direct Cinema and Cinéma Vérité Self-reflexive Documentary Avant-doc The Mockumentary Two Theoretical Questions Documentary Spectatorship Ethics and Ethnography Avant-garde Film Surrealist Cinema Abstract Film Techniques in Practice: Interpreting Abstract Films The City Symphony Structuralist Film The Compilation Film Conducting Research on Documentary and Avant-garde Films: Locating Sources Chapter Review Film Analysis: Interpreting Avant-garde Films Analyzing Meshes of the Afternoon Part Three: Cinema and Culture Chapter Ten: Film and Ideology Ideology and Film Analysis The Institutional Enforcement of Ideology: The Production Code and the Anti-Communist Witch Hunts Anti-Communist Witch Hunts and Hollywood Cinema Ideology and Film Spectatorship Topics in Ideological Criticism Racial Ideology and American Cinema Gender and Cinema Sexuality and Cinema Disability and Cinema Chapter Review Chapter Eleven: Social Context and Film Style: National, International, and Transnational Cinema Hollywood’s Industrial Context: The Studio System as Dream Factory Classical Style Economic Practice and Hollywood Convention American Values and Hollywood Style Hollywood Conquers the World? International Art Cinema The Industry and Ideology of “Art” Italian Neorealism Third Cinema Fourth Cinema National and Transnational Cinemas Problematizing the National Cinema Model Defining Transnational Cinema Chapter Review Chapter Twelve: Film Stardom as a Cultural Phenomenon Stars and the Movie Industry The Dynamics of Performance The Star Persona Films Promotion and Publicity Criticism and Commentary Stardom and Ideology Stars and Subcultures Fan Culture Chapter Review Chapter Thirteen: Genre What Makes a Genre? Expressive Variation in the Midst of Formula Thematic Conventions Major American Genres The Western Film Noir and the Hard-boiled Detective Film The Action Film The Science Fiction Film The Musical Using Genre to Interpret Films Genres and Aesthetic Appeal: Cliché or Strategic Repetition? Genre and the Status Quo Genres as Culturally Responsive Artifacts Genre and Film Authorship Chapter Review Chapter Fourteen: Film Authorship The Idea of the Auteur: From Cahiers du Cinéma to the Sarris–Kael Debate Auteur as Marketing Strategy: Old and New Hollywood Studio-era Auteurs: Welles and Hitchcock Blockbuster Auteurs: Spielberg and Lucas Using the Auteur Approach to Interpret and Evaluate Films The Auteur and the Consistency Thesis The Life and Work of an Auteur: Studying Biographical Influence Auteurs and Ancestors: The Question of Influence Chapter Review Chapter Fifteen: Studying Screen Media Participatory Culture and the Democratization of the Moving Image Media Conglomeration Internet Culture: New Grassroots Aesthetic or New Model of Corporate Control? New Screens, New Labor Stardom Authorship Access to the Digital Workplace Analyzing Labor in the Online Community: The Case of Bokeh New and Familiar Visual Aesthetics Visual Storytelling Non-narrative Texts Out with the Old, In with the New? Chapter Review Glossary Bibliography Index Picture credits