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Table of Contents

Part One: Cultural Contexts: Watching, Studying, and Making Movies

Chapter 1: Encountering Film: From Preproduction to Exhibition

      Production: How Films Are Made

      Preproduction

      Production

      Postproduction

Distribution: What We Can See

      Distributors

      Ancillary Markets

      Distribution Timing

Marketing and Promotion: What We Want to See

      Generating Interest

Film in Focus: Distributing Killer of Sheep (1977)

      Advertising

Technology in Action: The Changing Technologies of Film Promotion

      Word of Mouth and Fan Engagement

Movie Exhibition: The Where, When, and How of Movie Experiences

      The Changing Contexts and Practices of Film Exhibition

      Technologies and Cultures of Exhibition

      The Timing of Exhibition

Film in Focus: Exhibiting Citizen Kane (1941)

Chapter 1 Review

Chapter 2: History and Historiography: Hollywood and Beyond

Silent Cinema

      Silent Features in Hollywood

      German Expressionist Cinema

      Soviet Silent Films

      French Cinema

History Close Up: Oscar Micheaux

Classical Cinema in Hollywood and Beyond

      European Cinema in the 1930s and 1940s

      Golden Age Mexican Cinema

Postwar Cinemas (1945-1975)

      Postwar Hollywood

      International Art Cinema

Film in Focus: Mother India and Postwar History (1957)

Cinematic Globalization (1975-2000)

      New Hollywood in the Blockbuster Era

      The Commercial Auteur

      American Independent Cinema

      From National to Transnational Cinema in Europe

      African Cinema

      Chinese Cinema

Iranian Cinema

Cinema in the Digital Era (2000-present)

      Global Hollywood

      Diversifying Screens

      Culture in the Twenty-First Century

Technology in Action: Film Preservation and Archives

Film in Focus: Rediscovering Within Our Gates (1920)

Chapter 2 Review

Part Two: Formal Compositions: Film Scenes, Shots, Cuts, and Sounds

Chapter 3: Mise-en-Scène: Exploring a Material World

A Short History of Mise-en-Scène

      Theatrical Mise-en-Scène and the Prehistory of Cinema

      1900-1912: Early Cinemas Theatrical Influences

      1915-1928: Silent Cinema and the Star System

      1930s-1960s: Studio-Era Production

      1940-1970: New Cinematic Realism

      1975-Present: Mise-en-Scène and the Blockbuster

The Elements of Mise-en-Scène

      Settings and Sets

      Scenic Realism and Atmosphere

      Props, Costumes, and Lights

      Performance: Actors and Stars

Film in Focus: Mise-en-Scène in Do the Right Thing (1989)

Technology in Action: Scenic Lighting

Thinking about Mise-en-Scène

      Mise-en-Scène as an External Condition or a Measure of Character

      Primary Traditions for Mise-en-Scène

Film in Focus: Naturalistic Mise-en-Scène in Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Chapter 3 Review

Chapter 4: Cinematography: Framing What We See

A Short History of the Cinematic Image

      1820s-1880s: The Invention of Photography and the Prehistory of Cinema

      1890s–1920s: The Emergence and Refinement of Cinematography

      1930s–1940s: Developments in Color, Wide-Angle, and Small-Gauge Cinematography

      1950s–1960s: Widescreen, 3-D, and New Color Processes

      1970s–1980s: Cinematography and Exhibition in the Age of the Blockbuster

      1990s to the Present: The Digital Era

The Elements of Cinematography

      Point of View

      Four Attributes of the Shot

Technology in Action: Color in Film

      From Special Effects to Visual Effects

Thinking about Cinematography

      The Image as Presentation and Representation

      Traditions of Images

Film in Focus: Recreating History in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Chapter 4 Review

Chapter 5: Editing: Relating Images

A Short History of Film Editing

      1895–1918: Early Cinema and the Emergence of Editing

      1919–1929: Soviet Montage

History Close Up: Women in the Editing Room

      1930–1959: Continuity Editing in the Hollywood Studio Era

      1960–1989: Modern Editing Styles

      1990s–Present: Editing in the Digital Age

The Elements of Editing

      The Cut and Other Transitions

      Continuity Style

      Art Cinema Editing

      Editing and Temporality

Technology in Action: Editing, Traditional and Digital

Thinking about Film Editing

Film in Focus: Patterns of Editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

      Editing as a Subjective Experience or as an Objective Perspective

      Primary Traditions in Editing Practices: Continuity, Disjunctions, and Convergences

      Converging Editing Styles

Chapter 5 Review

Chapter 6: Film Sound: Listening to the Camera

A Short History of Film Sound

      Prehistories of Film Sound

      1895–1920s: The Sounds of Silent Cinema

      1927–1930: Transition to Synchronized Sound

      1930s–1940s: Challenges and Innovations in Cinema Sound

      1950s–1980s: From Stereophonic to Dolby Sound

      1990s–Present: Sound in the Digital Era

The Elements of Film Sound

      Sound and Image

Technology in Action: Sound and Image

Film in Focus: Sound and Image in Singin in the Rain (1952)

      Sound Production

      Voice in Film

      Music in Film

      Sound Effects in Film

Thinking about Film Sound

      Sound Continuity and Sound Montage

      Authenticity and Attention

Film in Focus: The Sound of Silence in A Quiet Place (2018)

Chapter 6 Review

Part Three: Organizational Structures: From Stories to Genres

Chapter 7: Narrative Films: Telling Stories

A Short History of Narrative Film

      1900–1920s: Adaptations, Scriptwriters, and Screenplays

      1927–1950: The Coming of Sound and Classical Hollywood Narrative

      1950–1980: Art Cinema

      1980s–Present: Franchises, Narrative Reflexivity, and Games

History Close Up: Salt of the Earth (1954)

The Elements of Narrative Film

      Stories and Plots

      Characters

      Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements

      Narrative Patterns of Time

      Narrative Space

      Narrative Perspectives

Technology in Action: Immersive Film Narrative

Film in Focus: Narration and Gender in Gone Girl (2014)

Thinking about Film Narrative

      Shaping Memory, Making History

      Narrative Traditions

Film in Focus: Classical and Alternative Traditions in Mildred Pierce (1945) and Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Chapter 7 Review

Chapter 8: Documentary Films: Representing the Real

A Short History of Documentary Cinema

A Prehistory of Documentaries

      1895–1905: Early Actualities, Scenics, and Topicals

      The 1920s: Robert Flaherty and the Soviet Documentaries

      1930–1945: The Politics and Propaganda of Documentary

      1950s–1970s: New Technologies and the Arrival of Television

      1980s–Present: Digital Cinema, Cable, and Reality TV

The Elements of Documentary Films

      Nonfiction and Non-Narrative

      Expositions: Organizations That Show or Describe

Film in Focus: Nonfiction and Non-Narrative in Stories We Tell (2013)

      Rhetorical Positions

Thinking about Documentary Films

      Confronting Assumptions

      Altering Opinions

      Interpretive Contexts and Traditions

History Close Up: Indigenous Media

Technology in Action: Documentary Sound

Chapter 8 Review

Chapter 9: Animation and Experimental Media: Challenging Form

A Short History of Animation and Experimental Media

      1910s-1920s: Early Avant-Garde Movements

      1930s-1940s: Sound and Vision

Film in Focus: Avant-Garde Visions in Meshes in the Afternoon (1943)

      1950s-1960s: International Animation and the Postwar American Avant-Garde

History Close Up: Floyd Norman

      1968-1980: Beyond North America

      1989-Present: New Technologies and New Media

Principles of Experimental Media and Animation

      Abstraction and Figuratio
n

      Experimental Organizations: Associative, Structural, and Participatory

      Animation Modes: 2D, 3D, Stop-Motion

Technology in Action: Animation through the Decades

Thinking about Experimental Media and Animation

      Expanding Perception

      Experimental Film Styles and Approaches

Film in Focus: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Chapter 9 Review

Chapter 10: Movie Genres: Conventions, Formulas, and Audience Expectations

A Short History of Film Genre

      Historical Origins of Genres

      1890s-1910s: Early Film Genres

      1920s-1940s: Genre and the Studio System

      1948-1970s: Postwar Film Genres

      1970s-Present: New Hollywood, Sequels, and Global Genres

The Elements of Film Genre

      Conventions

      Formulas and Myths

      Audience Expectations

Technology in Action: Special Effects and Iconography in Science Fiction

Six Movie Genres

      Comedies

      Westerns

      Melodramas

      Musicals

      Horror Films

Film in Focus: Genre and Gender in Jennifers Body (2009)

      Crime Films

Thinking about Film Genre

      Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches

      Classical and Revisionist Traditions

History Close Up: John Waters and Midnight Movies

      Local and Global Genres

Chapter 10 Review

Part Four: Critical Perspectives: Reading and Writing about Film

Chapter 11: Reading about Film: Critical Theories and Methods

The Evolution of Film Theory

Early Film Theory

      Classical Film Theories: Formalism and Realism

Postwar Film Culture and Criticism

      Film Journals

      Auteur Theory

      Genre Theory

Contemporary Film Theory

      Structuralism and Semiotics

      Poststructuralism

      Theories of Gender and Sexuality

      Cultural Studies

Film in Focus: Clueless about Contemporary Film Theory? (1995)

      Film and Philosophy

      Postmodernism

      Film Theory and Digital Culture

Chapter 11 Review

Chapter 12: Writing a Film Essay: Observations, Arguments, Research, and Analysis

Writing an Analytical Essay

      Personal Opinion and Objectivity

      Identifying Your Readers

      Elements of the Analytical Film Essay

Preparing to Write about a Film

      Asking Questions

      Taking Notes

      Selecting a Topic

Film in Focus: Analysis, Audience, and Minority Report (2002)

Elements of a Film Essay

      Thesis Statement

      Outline and Topic Sentences

      Revising, Formatting, and Proofreading

      Writers Checklist

Researching the Movies

      Distinguishing Research Materials

      Primary Research

      Secondary Research

Film in Focus: Interpretation, Argument, and Evidence in Rashomon (1950)

      Using and Documenting Sources

Technology in Action: Creating a Video Essay

Film in Focus: From Research to Writing about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Chapter 12 Review

Glossary

Index

The Next Level: Additional Sources

Authors

Timothy Corrigan

Timothy Corrigan is a professor emeritus of cinema and media studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His other books include New German Film: The Displaced Image (Indiana UP); The Films of Werner Herzog: Between Mirage and History (Routledge); Writing about Film (Longman/Pearson); A Cinema without Walls: Movies and Culture after Vietnam (Routledge/Rutgers UP); Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader (Routledge); Critical Visions in Film Theory: Classical and Contemporary Readings (Bedford/St. Martin’s), with Patricia White and Meta Mazaj; American Cinema of the 2000s (Rutgers UP); Essays on the Essay Film (Columbia UP), with Nora M. Alter; and The Essay Film: From Montaigne, After Marker (Oxford UP), winner of the 2012 Katherine Singer Kovács Award for the outstanding book in film and media studies. He has published essays in Film Quarterly, Discourse, and Cinema Journal, among other collections, and is also an editor of the journal Adaptation and a former editorial board member of Cinema Journal. In 2014, he received the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Award for Outstanding Pedagogical Achievement.

Patricia White

Patricia White is Professor and Chair of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College. She is the author of Women’s Cinema/World Cinema: Projecting Twenty-first Century Feminisms (Duke UP) and Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana UP). Her essays have appeared in journals including Camera Obscura, Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly, and Screen, and in books including A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema, Out in Culture, and The Routledge Companion to Cinema and Gender. She is coeditor with Timothy Corrigan and Meta Mazaj of Critical Visions in Film Theory: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Bedford/St. Martin’s). She is a member of the editorial collective of the feminist film journal Camera Obscura. She serves on the board of the feminist distributor and media organization Women Make Movies and the editorial board of Film Quarterly.

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