Short Guide to Writing about Film, A

by Corrigan, Timothy

• ISBN13: 9780321412287
• ISBN10: 0321412281
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Doubling an introduction to film study and a practical writing guide, this brief text introduces students to film terms and the major film theories, enabling them to write more critically. Examples from newer movies provide a fresh list of references for students introduced to film study and writing films. The author presents several approaches to film analysis and writing about filmauteurs, genres, ideology, kinds of formalism, and national cinemas, and introduces students to a range of film terms and film theories. Recent movies are used to fresh examples. Multiple approaches to writing about film as well as theories about film are given. Please enter here.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Writing About the Movies	1	(17)
Why Write about the Movies?	1	(5)
Your Audience and the Aims of Film Criticism	6	(8)
The Screening Report	7	(1)
The Movie Review	8	(2)
The Theoretical Essay	10	(1)
The Critical Essay	11	(3)
Opinion and Evaluation	14	(3)
Exercises	17	(1)
Beginning to Think, Preparing to Watch, and Starting to Write	18	(18)
Subject Matter and Meaning	22	(1)
Silent Dialogue: Talking Back to the Movies	22	(4)
Taking Notes	26	(3)
Visual Memory and Reflection	29	(6)
Exercises	35	(1)
Film Terms and Topics for Film Analysis and Writing	36	(46)
Themes	37	(2)
Film and the Other Arts	39	(9)
Narrative	39	(4)
Characters	43	(3)
Point of View	46	(1)
Comparative Essays	47	(1)
Mise-en-Scene and Realism	48	(9)
Realism	48	(3)
Elements of Mise-en-Scene	51	(6)
Composition and the Image	57	(15)
The Shot	58	(7)
The Edited Image	65	(7)
Sound	72	(4)
Sample Essay	76	(4)
Exercises	80	(2)
Six Approaches to Writing About Film	82	(27)
Film History	83	(2)
National Cinemas	85	(2)
Genres	87	(2)
Auteurs	89	(1)
Kinds of Formalism	90	(2)
Ideology	92	(3)
Sample Essays	95	(13)
Exercises	108	(1)
Style and Structure in Writing	109	(18)
The Right Words	112	(3)
Concrete Language	112	(1)
Denotation and Connotation	112	(1)
Tone	113	(1)
Repetitions and Cliches	114	(1)
Effective Sentences	115	(2)
Economy	115	(1)
Varied Sentence Structures	116	(1)
Coherent Paragraphs	117	(4)
Introductory Paragraphs	121	(2)
Concluding Paragraphs	123	(1)
Checklist for Writing an Effective Essay	124	(2)
Exercises	126	(1)
Researching the Movies	127	(30)
How to Begin Research	130	(2)
The Materials of Research	132	(10)
Primary Sources	133	(1)
Video	133	(1)
Scripts	134	(1)
Secondary Sources: Books, Indexes, Journals, and Electronic Sources	135	(7)
Film Research on the Internet	142	(3)
Taking Notes on Secondary Sources	145	(1)
Writing the Paper	146	(2)
Sample Essays	148	(7)
Exercises	155	(2)
Manuscript Form	157	(18)
Manuscript Copy	157	(1)
Last-Minute Corrections	158	(2)
Quotations	160	(2)
Acknowledging Sources	162	(3)
Common Knowledge	164	(1)
Documenting Sources	165	(6)
Notes for Documentation	165	(2)
Works Cited	167	(3)
Notes Supplying Additional Commentary	170	(1)
Common Conventions of Usage	171	(3)
Names	171	(1)
Titles	172	(1)
Foreign Words and Quotation Marks	172	(1)
Sexist Language	173	(1)
Spelling	173	(1)
Last Words	174	(1)
Appendix: Symbols Commonly Used in Marking Papers	175	(2)
Glossary of Film Terms	177	(6)
Works Cited	183	(2)
Credits	185	(2)
Index	187