Film A Critical Introduction

"This book is aimed at students of film studies and general readers interested in a comprehensive introduction to the field. It addresses techniques and terminology used in film production and film criticism, emphasizing thinking and writing critically and effectively about film. Organized in three parts, the text focuses on the fundamentals of film analysis before moving on to more complex topics." "Part III introduces readers to interpretive frameworks that treat cinema as a cultural institution. This section encourages readers to move beyond textual analysis and consider the relationship between film and culture. Readers learn to form sophisticated arguments about film in cultural, historical, and economic contexts."--BOOK JACKET.

Suitable for students of film studies, this book illustrates basic film concepts in context and in depth. It addresses techniques and terminology used in film production and criticism, emphasising thinking and writing critically.

Updated and expanded for a new edition, this title illustrates basic film concepts in context and addresses techniques and terminology used in film production and criticism. As well as emphasising writing critically and effectively on film, this text also focuses on the fundamentals of film analysis.

"Film: A Critical Introduction "provides a comprehensive framework for studying films, with an emphasis on writing as a means of exploring film's aesthetic and cultural significance. This text's consistent and comprehensive focus on writing allows students to master film vocabulary and concepts while learning to formulate rich interpretations. Part I introduces readers to the importance of film analysis, offering helpful strategies for discerning the way films produce meaning. Part II examines the fundamental elements of film, including narrative form, mise en scene, cinematography, editing, and sound, and shows how these concepts can be used to interpret films. Part III moves beyond textual analysis to explore film as a cultural institution and introduce students to essential areas of film studies research.

Updated and expanded, this new edition is the perfect starter text for students of film studies. The book illustrates basic film concepts in context and in depth. It addresses techniques and terminology used in film production and criticism, emphasizing thinking and writing critically and effectively. With reference to 460 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.

Fantasy Film proposes an innovative approach to the study of this most popular cinematic genre. Engaging with the diversity of tones, forms and styles that fantasy can take in the cinema, the book examines the value and significance of fantasy across a wide range of key films. This volume extends critical understanding beyond the often narrowly defined boundaries of what is seen as "fantasy". Fantasy Film uses key concepts in film studies - such as authorship, representation, history,genre, coherence and point of view - to interrogate the fantasy genre and establish its parameters. A wide range of films are held up to close scrutiny to illustrate the discussion. Moving from Alfred Hitchcock's dark thrillers to Vincente Minnelli's vibrant musicals, from George Méliès' 1904 Voyage à travers l'impossible to the X-Men series, the creative dexterity and excitement of film fantasy is evoked and explored. The book will be invaluable to students and fans of the fantasy genre.

World Cinema: A Critical Introduction is a comprehensive yet accessible guide to film industries across the globe. From the 1980s onwards, new technologies and increased globalization have radically altered the landscape in which films are distributed and exhibited. Films are made from the large-scale industries of India, Hollywood, and Asia, to the small productions in Bhutan and Morocco. They are seen in multiplexes, palatial art cinemas in Cannes, traveling theatres in rural India, and on millions of hand-held mobile screens. Authors Deshpande and Mazaj have developed a method of charting this new world cinema that makes room for divergent perspectives, traditions, and positions, while also revealing their interconnectedness and relationships of meaning. In doing so, they bring together a broad range of issues and examples—theoretical concepts, viewing and production practices, film festivals, large industries such as Nollywood and Bollywood, and smaller and emerging film cultures—into a systemic yet flexible map of world cinema. The multi-layered approach of this book aims to do justice to the depth, dynamism, and complexity of the phenomenon of world cinema. For students looking to films outside of their immediate context, this book offers a blueprint that will enable them to transform a casual encounter with a film into a systematic inquiry into world cinema.

What makes a film a teen film? And why, when it represents such powerful and enduring ideas about youth and adolescence, is teen film usually viewed as culturally insignificant? Teen film is usually discussed as a representation of the changing American teenager, highlighting the institutions of high school and the nuclear family, and experiments in sexual development and identity formation. But not every film featuring these components is a teen film and not every teen film is American. Arguing that teen film is always a story about becoming a citizen and a subject, Teen Film presents a new history of the genre, surveys the existing body of scholarship, and introduces key critical tools for discussing teen film. Surveying a wide range of films including The Wild One, Heathers, Akira and Donnie Darko, the book's central focus is on what kind of adolescence teen film represents, and on teen film's capacity to produce new and influential images of adolescence.