The Film Experience An Introduction

by Corrigan, Timothy; White, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9781457663543
• ISBN10: 1457663546
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-11-24
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

In our culture, watching movies is a universal experience – but understanding film may not be. The Film Experience reaches out to students, connecting their experiences watching movies with better understanding and knowledge of the medium's full scope. And with its game-changing new video program in LaunchPad Solo (see below), this thoroughly updated new edition makes it easier than ever to link each student’s personal viewing to a greater overall understanding of film.

Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White’s classroom favorite is both authoritative and joyful about watching, analyzing, and understanding film. With clips from classic and contemporary films (Rear Window, Life of Pi, Moonrise Kingdom, Chinatown, and many others) plus hundreds of movie images and other graphics, the thoroughly revised new edition covers everything from editing to cinematography to narrative genres, all in a cultural context that reinforces why films and film study matter. The book's features—Form in Action, Film in Focus, and Concepts at Work —combine text, stills, and links to videos online to explore specific films, scenes, and trends in depth.

Author Biography

Timothy Corrigan is a Professor of English, Cinema Studies, and History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. His work in Cinema Studies has focused on modern American and contemporary international cinema. He received a BA from the University of Notre Dame, and completed graduate work at the University of Leeds, Emory University, and the University of Paris III. His books include New German Film: The Displaced Image (Indiana UP), The Films of Werner Herzog: Between Mirage and History (Methuen); Writing about Film (Seventh Edition, Longman); A Cinema without Walls: Movies and Culture after Vietnam (Routledge/Rutgers UP); Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader (Second Edition, Routledge); The Film Experience (Second Edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, coauthored with Patricia White); Critical Visions: Readings in Classic and Contemporary Film Theory (Bedford/St. Martin’s, coauthored with Patricia White); and The Essay Film: from Montaigne, after Marker (Oxford UP, forthcoming). He has published essays in Film Quarterly, Discourse, and Cinema Journal, among other collections, and is also an editor of the journal Adaptation and an editorial board member of Cinema Journal.

 

Patricia White is Associate Professor and Chair of the Program in Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College. She is the author of Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana UP, 1999) and numerous articles and chapters on film theory and culture. She is writing a book on women filmmakers and world cinema. She is a member of the editorial collective of the leading English-language journal of feminism and film, Camera Obscura, and she currently chairs the board of the nonprofit feminist media arts organization and independent distributor Women Make Movies. With Timothy Corrigan, coauthor of The Film Experience, she is editing an anthology of essays in classical and contemporary film theory.

 

Table of Contents

Part One: 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
Film in Focus The 400 Blows: An Auteur’s Film Experience (1959)
The Film Experience

Chapter One: Encountering Film: From Preproduction to Exhibition
Production: How Films Are Made
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Distribution: What We Can See
Distributors
Ancillary Markets
Distribution Timing
Film in Focus Distributing Killer of Sheep (1977)
Marketing and Promotion: What We Want to See
Generating Interest
Advertising
► Viewing Cue: Man of Steel (2013)
Form in Action The Changing Art and Business of the Film Trailer
Word of Mouth and Fan Engagement
Movie Exhibition: The Where, When, and How of Movie Experiences
The Changing Contexts and Practices of Film Exhibition
Film in Focus Promoting The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Technologies and Cultures of Exhibition
Film in Focus Exhibiting Citizen Kane (1941)
The Timing of Exhibition

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

Chapter Two: 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
Scenic Realism and Atmosphere
► Viewing Cue: Life of Pi (2012)
Props, Actors, Costumes, and Lights
Film in Focus Making Sense of Mise-en-Scène in Do the Right Thing
Space and Design
Form in Action Mise-en-Scène in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Making Sense of Mise-en-Scène
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)
Spectacularizing the Movies

Chapter Three: 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 and Beyond: The Digital Future
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
Animation and Visual Effects
► Viewing Cue: Rear Window (1954)
► Viewing Cue: The Battle of Algiers (1967)
Making Sense of the Film Image
Defining Our Relationship to the Cinematic Image
Interpretive Contexts for the Cinematic Image
Film in Focus From Angles to Animation in Vertigo (1958)
Film in Focus Meaning through Images in M (1931)
 
Chapter Four: Editing: Relating Images
A Short History of Film Editing
1895–1918: Early Cinema and the Emergence of Editing
1919–1929: Soviet Montage
1930–1959: The Hollywood Studio Era, Sound, and Continuity Editing
1960–1989: Modern Disjunctive Editing
1990s–Present: Editing in the Digital Age
The Elements of Editing
The Cut and Other Transitions
► Viewing Cue: Chinatown (1974)
Continuity Style
Editing and Temporality
► Viewing Cue: The General (1927)
Form in Action Editing and Rhythm in Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Film in Focus Patterns of Editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Making Sense of Film Editing
Disjunctive Editing
Film in Focus Montage in Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Converging Editing Styles

Chapter Five: Film Sound: Listening to the Cinema
A Short History of Film Sound
Theatrical and Technological Prehistories of Film Sound
1895–1920s: The Sounds of Silent Cinema
1927–1930: Transition to Synchronized Sound
1950s–Present: From Stereophonic to Digital Sound
The Elements of Film Sound
Sound and Image
Sound Production
Film in Focus Sound and Image in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Voice in Film
Music in Film
Form in Action Pop Music Soundtracks in Contemporary Cinema  
Sound Effects in Film
► Viewing Cue: Winter's Bone (2010)
► Viewing Cue: The Thin Red Line (1998)
Making Sense of Film Sound
Sound Continuity and Sound Montage
Film in Focus The Role of Sound and Sound Technology in The Conversation (1974)

Part Three: Organizational Structures: From Stories to Genres

Chapter Six: 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
The Elements of Narrative Film
Stories and Plots
Characters
Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements
Narrative Patterns of Time
Form in Action Nondiegetic Images and Narrative
Narrative Space
Narrative Perspectives   
► Viewing Cue: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Film in Focus Plot and Narration in Apocalypse Now (1979)
Making Sense of Film Narrative
Shaping Memory, Making History
Narrative Traditions
Film in Focus Classical and Alternative Traditions in Mildred Pierce and Daughters of the Dust

Chapter Seven: 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
Making Sense of Documentary Films
Revealing New or Ignored Realities
Film in Focus Stories We Tell (2013)
Confronting Assumptions, Altering Opinions
Serving as a Social, Cultural, and Personal Lens
Form in Action The Contemporary Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Chapter Eight: 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 to 1980: Politics and Experimental Cinema
1980s–Present: New Technologies and New Media
The Elements of Experimental Media
Formalisms: Narrative Experimentation and Abstraction
Experimental Organizations: Associative, Structural, and Participatory
Film in Focus Formal Play in Ballet mécanique (1924)
Making Senses of Experimental Media
Challenging and Expanding Perception
Experimental Film Styles and Approaches
Form in Action Lyrical Style in Bridges-Go-Round (1958)

Chapter Nine: 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
► Viewing Cue: Bridesmaids (2011)
Six Movie Genres
Comedies
Westerns
Melodramas
Musicals
Horror Films
Crime Films
Making Sense of Film Genres
Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches
Film in Focus Crime Film Conventions and Formulas: Chinatown (1974)
Classical and Revisionist Traditions
Form in Action Genre Revisionism: Comparing True Grit (1969) and True Grit (2010)
Local and Global Genres
Film in Focus Genre History in Vagabond

Part Four: Critical Perspectives: History, Methods, Writing

Chapter 10: History and Historiography: Hollywood and Beyond
Early Cinema
Cinema between the Wars
Classical Hollywood Cinema
German Expressionist Cinema
Soviet Silent Films
French Impressionist Cinema and Poetic Realism
Postwar Cinemas
Postwar Hollywood
Italian Neorealism
► Viewing Cue: Gilda (1946) and Rome, Open City (1945)
French New Wave
Japanese Cinema
Third Cinema
Contemporary Film Cultures
Contemporary Hollywood
Contemporary Independent Cinema
Film in Focus Taxi Driver and New Hollywood (1976)
Contemporary European Cinema
Indian Cinema
African Cinema
Chinese Cinema
Iranian Cinema
The Lost and Found of Film History
Women Filmmakers
African American Cinema
Film in Focus Lost and Found History: Within Our Gates (1920)
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) Film History
Indigenous Media
Excavating Film History

Chapter Eleven: 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
Postwar Film Culture and Criticism
Film Journals
Auteur Theory
Genre Theory
Contemporary Film Theory
Structuralism and Semiotics
► Viewing Cue: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Film in Focus Signs and Meaning in Persepolis (2007)
Poststructuralism
Theories of Gender and Sexuality
Cultural Studies
Film and Philosophy
Postmodernism and New Media
Film in Focus Clueless about Contemporary Film Theory? (1995)

Chapter Twelve: Writing a Film Essay: Observations, Arguments, Research, and Analysis
Writing an Analytical Film Essay
Personal Opinion and Objectivity
Identifying Your Readers
► Viewing Cue: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Elements of the Analytical Film Essay
Preparing to Write about a Film
Asking Questions
Taking Notes
Film in Focus Analysis, Audience, and Minority Report (2002)
Selecting a Topic
Elements of a Film Essay
Thesis Statement
Outline and Topic Sentences
Revision, Manuscript Format, and Proofreading
Writer's Checklist
Researching the Movies
Distinguishing Research Materials
Using and Documenting Sources
Film in Focus Interpretation, Argument, and Evidence in Rashomon (1950)
Using Film Images in Your Paper
Film in Focus From Research to Writing about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Glossary
The Next Level: Additional Sources
Acknowledgments
Index