The Film Experience

Front Matter
Cover Page
Bring your film experiences to life
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
About the Authors
Preface
Brief Contents
Contents
Halftitle Page
Part 1: Cultural Contexts: watching, studying, and making movies
Introduction: Studying Film: Culture and Experience
Why Film Studies Matters
Film Spectators and Film Cultures
Form in Action: Identification, Cognition, and Film Variety
The Film Experience
Concepts at Work
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
Form in Action: The Changing Art and Business of the Film Trailer
Viewing Cue: Suicide Squad (2016)
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)
Concepts at Work
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
Viewing Cue: Gilda (1946) and Rome, Open City (1945)
Cinematic Globalization (1975–2000)
New Hollywood in the Blockbuster Era
Film in Focus: Taxi Driver and New Hollywood (1976)
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
Viewing Cue: Beyond the Lights (2014)
Global Film Culture in the Age of Streaming
Film Preservation and Archives
Film in Focus: Rediscovering Within Our Gates (1920)
Orphan Films
Concepts at Work
Part 2: 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 Cinema’s 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
Viewing Cue: Life of Pi (2012)
Scenic Realism and Atmosphere
Props, Costumes, and Lights
Viewing Cue: Boyhood (2014)
Performance: Actors and Stars
Film in Focus: Mise-en-Scène in Do the Right Thing (1989)
Space and Design
Making Sense of Mise-en-Scène
Form in Action: Mise-en-Scène in Hugo (2011)
Defining Our Place in a Film’s Material World
Interpretive Contexts for Mise-en-Scène
Film in Focus: Naturalistic Mise-en-Scène in Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Concepts at Work
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
Points of View
Four Attributes of the Shot
Viewing Cue: Touch of Evil (1958)
Form in Action: Color and Contrast in Film
Viewing Cue: Rear Window (1954)
Animation and Special Effects
Viewing Cue: The Battle of Algiers (1967)
History Close Up: Floyd Norman
Making Sense of the Film Image
Defining Our Relationship to the Cinematic Image
Interpretive Contexts for the Cinematic Image
Viewing Cue: Vertigo (1958)
Film in Focus: From Angles to Animation in Vertigo (1958)
Concepts at Work
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
Viewing Cue: Chinatown (1974)
The Cut and Other Transitions
Continuity Style
Viewing Cue: Tangerine (2015)
Editing and Temporality
Viewing Cue: The General (1927)
Form in Action: Editing and Rhythm in Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Making Sense of Film Editing
Film in Focus: Patterns of Editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Disjunctive Editing
Converging Editing Styles
Concepts at Work
Chapter 6: Film Sound: Listening to the Cinema
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
Viewing Cue: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Sound Production
Film in Focus: Sound and Image in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Voice in Film
Music in Film
Form in Action: Popular Music in Film
Sound Effects in Film
Viewing Cue: The Thin Red Line (1998)
Making Sense of Film Sound
Authenticity and Experience
Viewing Cue: Winter’s Bone (2010)
Sound Continuity and Sound Montage
Film in Focus: The Role of Sound and Sound Technology in The Conversation (1974)
Concepts at Work
Part 3: 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: Sound Technology, Dialogue, and Classical Hollywood Narrative
1950–1980: Art Cinema
1980s–Present: From Narrative Reflexivity to Games
History Close Up: Salt of the Earth
The Elements of Narrative Film
Stories and Plots
Characters
Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements
Narrative Patterns of Time
Form in Action: Nondiegetic Images and Narrative
Viewing Cue: Shutter Island (2010)
Narrative Space
Viewing Cue: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Narrative Perspectives
Film in Focus: Narration and Gender in Gone Girl (2014)
Making Sense of Film Narrative
Shaping Memory, Making History
Narrative Traditions
Viewing Cue: Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Film in Focus: Classical and Alternative Traditions in Mildred Pierce (1945) and Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Concepts at Work
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 Man of Aran (1934)
Viewing Cue: The Cove (2009)
Rhetorical Positions
Viewing Cue: He Named Me Malala (2015)
Making Sense of Documentary Films
Revealing New or Ignored Realities
Confronting Assumptions, Altering Opinions
Serving as a Social, Cultural, and Personal Lens
History Close Up: Indigenous Media
Form in Action: The Contemporary Documentary: What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Concepts at Work
Chapter 9: Experimental Film and New Media: Challenging Form
A Short History of Experimental Film and Media Practices
1910s–1920s: European Avant-Garde Movements
1930s–1940s: Sound and Vision
1950s–1960s: The Postwar Avant-Garde in America
Film in Focus: Avant-Garde Visions in Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
1968–1980: Politics and Experimental Cinema
1980s–Present: New Technologies and New Media
Formalist Strategies
Abstraction
Narrative Experimentation
Experimental Organizations: Associative, Structural, and Participatory
Film in Focus: Formal Play in Ballet mécanique (1924)
Making Sense of Experimental Media
Challenging and Expanding Perception
Experimental Film Styles and Approaches
Viewing Cue: Gently Down the Stream (1981)
Form in Action: Lyrical Style in Bridges-Go-Round (1958)
Viewing Cue: The Future (2011)
Concepts at Work
Chapter 10: Movie Genres: Conventions, Formulas, and Audience Expectations
A Short History of Film Genre
Historical Origins of Genres
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
Six Movie Genres
Comedies
Westerns
Melodramas
Musicals
Viewing Cue: La La Land (2016)
Horror Films
Crime Films
Viewing Cue: The Searchers (1956)
Making Sense of Film Genres
Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches
Film in Focus: Crime Film Conventions and Formulas: Chinatown (1974)
Classical and Revisionist Traditions
Viewing Cue: Unforgiven (1992)
History Close Up: John Waters and Midnight Movies
Form in Action: Melodrama and In the Mood for Love (2000)
Local and Global Genres
Concepts at Work
Part 4: Critical Perspectives: reading and writing about film
Chapter 11: Reading about Film: Critical Theories and Methods
The Evolution of Film Theory
Early and Classical Film Theory
Early Film Theory
Classical Film Theories: Formalism and Realism
Viewing Cue: M (1931)
Postwar Film Culture and Criticism
Film Journals
Auteur Theory
Genre Theory
Contemporary Film Theory
Structuralism and Semiotics
Viewing Cue: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Poststructuralism
Theories of Gender and Sexuality
Cultural Studies
Film and Philosophy
Film in Focus: Clueless about Contemporary Film Theory? (1995)
Postmodernism and New Media
Concepts at Work
Chapter 12: Writing a Film Essay: Observations, Arguments, Research, and Analysis
Writing an Analytical Film Essay
Personal Opinion and Objectivity
Viewing Cue: Birdman (2014)
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
Writer’s Checklist
Researching the Movies
Distinguishing Research Materials
Film in Focus: Interpretation, Argument, and Evidence in Rashomon (1950)
Using and Documenting Sources
Form in Action: Creating a Video Essay
Film in Focus: From Research to Writing about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Concepts at Work
Back Matter
Glossary
Index
The Next Level: Additional Sources
Inside Back Cover
Back Cover