A Pocket Guide to Analyzing Films - Softcover

Spadoni, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520280709 ISBN 13: 9780520280700

Publisher: University of California Press, 2014

Synopsis

This is the perfect concise guide to the formal analysis of film. Designed to be used by readers at many levels of knowledge, this book moves systematically through the elements that make up most films, focusing on aspects of the art of cinema that are common across history and national cinemas. From form and narrative to miseenscene and cinematography to editing and sound, Robert Spadoni introduces and explains the principles and conventions of film in engaging, straightforward language. In addition to illustrating film techniques with almost 200 images - most of them in color - the book explains ways to find patterns and meaning in films through such concepts as motifs, development, and motivation. Thumbnail readings of exemplary films further lay out the essentials of formal analysis. Film illustrations include frame enlargements from Stagecoach, Psycho, Jeepers Creepers, Persepolis, Groundhog Day, Take Shelter, and more. Modestly priced and packed with images, A Pocket Guide to Analyzing Films is ideal for students in a wide range of film courses who are looking for an easy-to-read guide to film analysis to accompany and enhance their course materials.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Spadoni is the author of Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre. He is an associate professor in the English Department at Case Western Reserve University, where he teaches film studies.

From the Inside Flap

"Robert Spadoni’s well-written and well-organized short guide to film/media aesthetics helps fill a significant gap for students and professors in assorted history/criticism courses. While many departments devote an entire course just to introducing the elements of film style, those in film history surveys, genre courses, and other specialized topics also need a succinct introduction to mise-en-scene, editing, sound design, camera movement, and narrative structure even when not the course’s major subject. Spadoni’s book provides a much-needed (and in my experience often requested) introduction to film aesthetics useful for both majors and non-majors enrolling in general education courses devoted to film and media arts." —Dr. Rick Worland, Southern Methodist University

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520280709
• ISBN 13: 9780520280700
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188