Film: A Critical Introduction

Updated and expanded for a new edition, this is the perfect starter textfor students of film studies. This book illustrates basic film concepts incontext and in depth. It addresses techniques and terminology used in filmproduction and criticism, emphasizing thinking and writing critically andeffectively. Organized in three parts, the text focuses on the fundamentalsof film analysis before moving on to more complex topics. Parts I and IIteach students to recognize how the components of filmnarrative, mise enscene, cinematography, editing and soundwork together to produce meaningwithin an individual film text. Part III introduces readers to interpretiveframeworks that treat cinema as a cultural institution. This sectionencourages readers to move beyond textual analysis and consider therelationship between film and culture. Readers learn to form sophisticatedarguments about film in cultural, historical and economic contexts. 'Thistext is extremely well-organized and the examples cited are dead-on andup-to-date. This text makes both contemporary and classical references,certain to make its point clear to those students who are beginners and whohave not seen many classical films' - Walton Jones, University ofCalifornia, San Diego.