As Film Studies

by Casey Benyahia; Sarah

• ISBN13: 9780415393119
• ISBN10: 0415393116
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

AS Film Studies: The Essential Introduction will give students the confidence to tackle every part of the AS level Film Studies course. The authors, who have wide ranging experience as teachers, examiners and authors, introduce students step by step, to the skills involved in the study of film. Individual chapters address the following key areas: Film Form Narrative Genre Practical Application of Learning Hollywood and British Cinema Films as products Audiences as fans and consumers Stars New technologies and the film industry British and Irish Cinema Specifically designed to be user friendly, AS Film Studies: The Essential Introduction includes: Activities Example exam questions Suggestions for further reading A glossary of key terms and resources Case studies

Table of Contents

Figure acknowledgements	xi
Preface	xv
Introduction	1	(1)
Going to the cinema	2	(1)
Can't we just enjoy films?	2	(4)
Film Studies as a subject	6	(2)
What are films?	8	(4)
History, social context and politics	12	(1)
Hollywood and alternative cinemas	13	(1)
Conclusion	13	(1)
Further reading	13	(2)
PART 1 MAKING MEANING 1 (FS1)	15	(102)
Film form: What is film construction? What does it mean to say a film has been `put together'?	16	(27)
Films mentioned	16	(1)
Mise en scene: setting	17	(2)
Mise en scene: performance and movement	19	(4)
Mise en scene: costume and props	23	(3)
Cinematography: colour	26	(2)
Cinematography: lighting	28	(3)
Cinematography: camerawork	31	(4)
Editing	35	(3)
Sound	38	(2)
Film form: overview	40	(2)
Conclusion	42	(1)
Further reading	42	(1)
Useful websites	42	(1)
Narrative: Aren't all films just stories? What is narrative structure?	43	(26)
Fimls mentioned	43	(1)
Narrative	44	(3)
Plot structure	47	(12)
Narrative structure and the viewer	59	(5)
Stories and society	64	(3)
Conclusion	67	(1)
Further reading	67	(1)
Useful websites	67	(1)
Notes	68	(1)
Genre: What is genre and why it is such an important term in Film Studies?	69	(19)
Films mentioned	69	(1)
Genre: the concept	70	(10)
Film noir	80	(6)
Conclusion	86	(1)
Further reading	86	(1)
Useful websites	87	(1)
Overview: How should we approach a film we have not seen before?	88	(7)
Films mentioned	88	(1)
Questions	89	(3)
Proactive reading	92	(1)
A practical approach	92	(2)
Conclusion	94	(1)
Practical application of learning	95	(22)
Cinematic ideas	98	(3)
The screenplay	101	(4)
The storyboard	105	(2)
Video production	107	(6)
Evaluation	113	(1)
Further reading	114	(1)
Useful websites	114	(3)
PART 2 PRODUCERS AND AUDIENCES: HOLLYWOOD AND BRITISH CINEMA (FS2)	117	(96)
Films as products	118	(24)
The global and local dimensions	118	(2)
Hollywood	120	(1)
Studios	120	(6)
Films as commercial products	126	(1)
Adaptability of the film industry	127	(5)
Filmmaking: the process	132	(5)
Film production, distribution and exhibition	137	(2)
Overview	139	(1)
Example exam questions	140	(1)
Conclusion	140	(1)
Further reading	140	(1)
Useful websites	141	(1)
Audiences as fans and consumers	142	(19)
The early cinema experience	142	(4)
Changing patterns of consumption	146	(1)
The role of the audience in the filmmaking process	147	(6)
Censorship and classification	153	(2)
Fan power	155	(1)
Industry power	155	(2)
Globalization	157	(2)
Example exam questions	159	(1)
Conclusion	159	(1)
Further reading	159	(1)
Useful websites	160	(1)
Stars -- What are they and why do we have them?	161	(15)
Your experience of stars	161	(1)
Stars: the concept	162	(12)
Example exam questions	174	(1)
Conclusion	174	(1)
Further reading	175	(1)
Useful websites	175	(1)
Hollywood back in the day and Hollywood today -- Old Hollywood and New Hollywood	176	(19)
Old Hollywood--New Hollywood: a simplification	176	(2)
Actors, directors and agents	178	(1)
Producers	179	(2)
Production: an overview	181	(2)
Distribution in Old Hollywood and New Hollywood	183	(10)
Example exam questions	193	(1)
Conclusion	193	(1)
Further reading	193	(1)
Useful website	194	(1)
Is the British film industry in any way distinctive and different? How does it cope with having to survive in the shadow of Hollywood?	195	(6)
A distinctive and different cinema	196	(3)
Surviving in the shadows	199	(1)
Useful websites	200	(1)
New technologies in the film industry	201	(12)
Film and technology	202	(2)
Film and changes in technology	204	(6)
Conclusion	210	(1)
Further reading	211	(2)
PART 3 MESSAGES AND VALUES -- BRITISH AND IRISH CINEMA (FS3)	213	(110)
Introduction: What is the relationship between films and the everyday world?	214	(4)
The 1940s: The war and its aftermath	218	(17)
In Which We Serve -- summary	219	(1)
Passport to Pimlico -- summary	220	(3)
National identity	223	(3)
Class, rank, and gender representation	226	(2)
Social and political institutions	228	(2)
Propaganda and the historical context	230	(1)
Production context	231	(2)
Example exam questions	233	(1)
Further reading	233	(1)
Useful websites	233	(2)
Swinging Britain: 1963--1973	235	(18)
Darling -- summary	236	(4)
Performance -- summary	240	(3)
London versus the regions	243	(2)
National/regional identity	245	(2)
Class, sexuality, and gender representations	247	(2)
Social and political institutions and the rise of youth	249	(1)
Production context	250	(1)
Example exam questions	251	(1)
Further reading	252	(1)
Useful websites	252	(1)
Passions and repressions	253	(20)
Focus film: Beautiful Thing	256	(2)
Analysis of the opening of the film	258	(2)
Beautiful Thing and narrative structure	260	(2)
Messages and values: resolution in Beautiful Thing	262	(2)
Analysis of the final sequence of Beautiful Thing	264	(1)
Why does representation matter?	265	(7)
Suggestions for further work	272	(1)
Example exam questions	272	(1)
Social and political conflict	273	(16)
Focus film: Bloody Sunday	275	(1)
Political and Institutional contexts	276	(3)
Film language: the docudrama	279	(2)
Real events and narrative structure	281	(1)
Messages and values: identification and representation in Bloody Sunday	282	(5)
Comparative analysis: In the Name of the Father	287	(1)
Suggestions for further work	288	(1)
Example exam questions	288	(1)
Scottish cinema	289	(17)
Local Hero -- summary	290	(2)
Orphans -- summary	292	(3)
Scottish genres	295	(3)
National identity	298	(1)
Class, regional identity, sexuality, and gender representation	299	(2)
Social and political institutions	301	(2)
Production context	303	(1)
Example exam questions	304	(1)
Further reading	305	(1)
Useful websites	305	(1)
Comedy	306	(17)
Films mentioned	306	(1)
Defining comedy	307	(1)
Film and ways of seeing the world	308	(10)
Postwar comedies	318	(2)
Ealing comedies	320	(2)
Example exam questions	322	(1)
Conclusion	322	(1)
Further reading	322	(1)
Glossary	323	(11)
Web resources	334	(2)
Bibliography	336	(3)
Index	339