Annual Editions : Film 08/09

by Addison, Heather

• ISBN13: 9780073397573
• ISBN10: 0073397571
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-21
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin

Summary

This Second Edition of ANNUAL EDITIONS: FILM 08/09 provides convenient, inexpensive access to current articles selected from the best of the public press. Organizational features include: an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites; an annotated table of contents; a topic guide; a general introduction; brief overviews for each section; a topical index; and an instructor's resource guide with testing materials. USING ANNUAL EDITIONS IN THE CLASSROOM is offered as a practical guide for instructors. ANNUAL EDITIONS titles are supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Contents UNIT 1. Style: Film Foundations 1. 46279 Fear and Fantasy, John Calhoun, American Cinematographer, January 2007 Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro explains how he and director Guillermo Del Toro crafted the imaginative, menacing settings of Pan's Labyrinth. 2. 46280 Tales of Upward Mobility, Kristen Whissel, Film Quarterly, Summer 2006 Using digital technology, post-1996 blockbusters have made increasingly dramatic use of the vertical axis of the film frame; scholar Kristen Whissel argues that it is time for critical analysis of this emerging "verticality." 3. 43145 Intensified Continuity, David Bordwell, Film Quarterly, Spring 2002 Despite what often appears to be narrative incoherence and/or stylistic fragmentation, mainstream American films still tend to follow the guidelines of the classical Hollywood style that emerged during first half of the twentieth century; what has occurred is an intensification of long-established techniques. 4. 43330 Sound Doctrine, Michael Jarrett, Film Quarterly, Spring 2000 Using examples from several of his films, sound designer (and film editor) Walter Murch explains that well-crafted motion picture sound can prompt us to "hear" the world differently, just as paintings can help us to see the world from a new perspective. 5. 46282 Psycho: The Music of Terror, Jack Sullivan, Cineaste, Winter 2006 Jack Sullivan examines the "primordial dread" evoked by Bernard Herrmann's screeching score, which has become one of the most instantly recognizable examples of film music. 6. 46283 What Is 'Great' Acting?, Patrick McGilligan, Cineaste, Fall 2006 "Great" has become a routine adjective for screen performances, but what criteria should be used to judge the quality of movie acting? Patrick McGilligan argues that an original persona; range, versatility, and depth; careful directing; and creative screenwriting are all important ingredients of a "great" performance. 7. 46284 Breathtaking: Bette Davis's Performance at the End of Now, Voyager, Martin Shingler, Journal of Film and Video, Spring/Summer 2006 Now, Voyager is a classical example of Hollywood melodrama, a genre involving heightened emotions and histrionic performances; yet, Davis's final scene in the film offers a "magnificent example" of subtle body and voice control. 8. 46286 From Hollywood to Tokyo, Robert Davis and Riccardo de los Rios, Film Criticism, Fall 2006 Recent Hollywood blockbusters feature fantastic set pieces while relegating "concerns about character psychology [and narrative development] to ever-shrinking interstitial scenes." Davis and de los Rios consider three recent Japanese films that offer interesting, idiosyncratic ways to resolve the tension between spectacle and storytelling. 9. 46286 Yes, It's Been an Auteur's World. But Writers May Yet Get Their 'Film by' Due, David Kipen, Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2006 Directors are typically considered the "authors" of films, but Kipen argues that the artistic contributions made by screenwriters may be more essential to the filmmaking process. 10. 46287 Screenwriters on Adaptation, Marc Weinberg, Literature/Film Quarterly, Fall 2006 Robin Swicord, who wrote the screenplay for Memoirs of a Geisha, comments on the adaptation process-and her reputation for female character studies. 11. 43153 The Doyen of Direct Cinema, David E. Williams, American Cinematographer, February 2006 Respected documentarian Frederick Wiseman pioneered an unobtrusive approach to nonfiction filmmaking involving simple, stark recording of subjects without the use of voice-over narration, interviewing, or music. 12. 46289 The Accidental Auteur, Bert Cardullo, Bright Lights Film Journal, February 2007 Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is renowned for his open-ended, strongly humanist films, produced in a country that both celebrates and restricts cinema. 13. 46290 Requiem for a Dr