How to Read a Film The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia:Language, History, Theory

by Monaco, James

• ISBN13: 9780195139815
• ISBN10: 019513981X
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

First published in 1977, this popular book has become the source on film and media. Now, James Monaco offers a revised and rewritten third edition incorporating every major aspect of this dynamic medium right up to the present. Looking at film from many vantage points, How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, Multimedia explores the medium as both art and craft, sensibility and science, tradition and technology. After examining film's close relation to such other narrative media as the novel, painting, photography, television, and even music, Monaco discusses those elements necessary to understand how films convey meaning and, more importantly, how we can best discern all that a film is attempting to communicate. In a key departure from the book's previous editions, the new and still-evolving digital context of film is now emphasized throughout How to Read a Film . A new chapter on multimedia brings media criticism into the twenty-first century with a thorough discussion of topics like virtual reality, cyberspace, and the proximity of both to film. Monaco has likewise doubled the size and scope of his "Film and Media: A Chronology" appendix. The book also features a new introduction, an expanded bibliography, and hundreds of illustrative black-and-white film stills and diagrams. It is a must for all film students, media buffs, and movie fans.

Author Biography

James Monaco is a writer, publisher, and producer. His books include American Film Now, The New Wave, The Encyclopedia of Film, and The Connoisseur's Guide to the Movies.

Table of Contents

Introduction	12	(5)
Preface to the Second Edition	17	(5)
Film As An Art	22	(46)
The Nature of Art	22	(6)
Ways of Looking at Art	28	(10)
The Spectrum of Abstraction
The Modes of Discourse
The ``Rapports de Production''
Film, Recording, and the Other Arts	38	(24)
Film, Photography, and Painting
Film and the Novel
Film and Theater
Film and Music
Film and the Environmental Arts
The Structure of Art	62	(6)
Technology: Image And Sound	68	(84)
Art and Technology	68	(10)
Image Technology
Sound Technology
The Lens	78	(8)
The Camera	86	(14)
The Filmstock	100	(24)
Negatives, Prints, and Generations
Aspect Ratio
Grain, Gauge, and Speed
Color, Contrast, and Tone
The Soundtrack	124	(4)
Postproduction	128	(15)
Editing
Mixing and Looping
Special Effects
Opticals, the Lab, and the Post House
Video and Film	143	(2)
Projection	145	(7)
The Language Of Film: Signs And Syntax	152	(76)
Signs	152	(20)
The Physiology of Perception
Denotative and Connotative Meaning
Syntax	172	(56)
Codes
Mise-en-Scene
The Framed Image
The Diachronic Shot
Sound
Montage
The Shape of Film History	228	(160)
Movies/Film/Cinema	228	(4)
``Movies'': Economics	232	(29)
``Film'': Politics	261	(23)
``Cinema'': Esthetics	284	(104)
Creating an Art: Lumiere Versus Melies	285	(3)
The Silent Feature: Realism Versus Expressionism	288	(6)
Hollywood: Genre Versus Auteur	294	(7)
Neorealism and After: Hollywood Versus the World	301	(12)
The New Wave and the Third World: Entertainment Versus Communication	313	(45)
The Postmodern Sequel: Democracy, Technology, End of Cinema	358	(30)
Film Theory: Form And Function	388	(40)
The Critic	388	(3)
The Poet and the Philosopher: Lindsay and Munsterberg	391	(3)
Expressionism and Realism: Arnheim and Kracauer	394	(6)
Montage: Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Balazs, and Formalism	400	(6)
Mise en Scene: Neorealism, Bazin, and Godard	406	(11)
Film Speaks and Acts: Metz and Contemporary Theory	417	(11)
Media: In The Middle Of Things	428	(90)
Community	428	(2)
Print and Electronic Media	430	(10)
The Technology of Mechanical and Electronic Media	440	(20)
Radio and Records	460	(5)
Television and Video	465	(53)
``Broadcasting'': The Business	469	(11)
``Television'': The Art	480	(25)
``TV'': The Virtual Family	505	(13)
Multimedia: The Digital Revolution	518	(52)
The Digital Revolution	518	(16)
The Myth of Multimedia	534	(9)
The Myth of Virtual Reality	543	(7)
The Myth of Cyberspace	550	(8)
``What Is to be Done?''	558	(12)
I FILM AND MEDIA: A CHRONOLOGY	570	(34)
To 1895: Prehistory	570	(2)
1896--1915: The Birth of Film	572	(1)
1916--1930: Silent Film, The Births of Radio and Sound Film	573	(2)
1931--1945: The Great Age of Hollywood and Radio	575	(3)
1946--1960: The Growth of Television	578	(3)
1961--1980: The Media World	581	(7)
1981--Present: The Digital World	588	(16)
II READING ABOUT FILM AND MEDIA	604	(1)
Part One: A Basic Library	605	(32)
Part Two: Information	637	(7)
INDEX
Topics	644	(8)
People	652	(11)
Titles	663