Film Studies: A Global Introduction

Description

Film Studies: A Global Introduction reroutes film studies from its Euro-American focus and canon in order to introduce students to a medium that has always been global but has become differently and insistently so in the digital age. Glyn Davis, Kay Dickinson, Lisa Patti and Amy Villarejo’s approach encourages readers to think about film holistically by looking beyond the textual analysis of key films. In contrast, it engages with other vital areas, such as financing, labour, marketing, distribution, exhibition, preservation, and politics, reflecting contemporary aspects of cinema production and consumption worldwide. Key features of the book include: clear definitions of the key terms at the foundation of film studies coverage of the work of key thinkers, explained in their social and historical context a broad range of relevant case studies that reflect the book’s approach to global cinema, from Italian "white telephone" films to Mexican wrestling films innovative and flexible exercises to help readers enhance their understanding of the histories, theories, and examples introduced in each chapter an extensive Interlude introducing readers to formal analysis through the careful explication and application of key terms a detailed discussion of strategies for writing about cinema Films Studies: A Global Introduction will appeal to students studying film today and aspiring to work in the industry, as well as those eager to understand the world of images and screens in which we all live. Cover Title Copyright CONTENTS List of illustrations Section I: Why are movies made? Introduction Chapter 1: Cinema as entertainment Chapter 2: Cinema as self-expression Chapter 3: Cinema as informative Chapter 4: Film and politics Chapter 5: Film as a commodity Section II: How do movies get made? Introduction Chapter 6: Starting points Chapter 7: Film production practices Chapter 8: Film labor Interlude on film form Section III: Where do movies go? Introduction Chapter 9: Marketing Chapter 10: Distribution Chapter 11: Exhibition Chapter 12: Evaluative contexts Chapter 13: The longevity of films Section IV: How are movies experienced? Introduction Chapter 14: Pleasure and desire Chapter 15: Identification and identity Chapter 16: Transformation Writing about cinema Index