Film: A Critical Introduction

Film: A Critical Introduction provides a comprehensive framework for studying films, with an emphasis on writing as a means of exploring film’s aesthetic and cultural significance.  This text’s consistent and comprehensive focus on writing allows students to master film vocabulary and concepts while learning to formulate rich interpretations. Part I introduces readers to the importance of film analysis, offering helpful strategies for discerning the way films produce meaning. Part II examines the fundamental elements of film, including narrative form, mise en scène, cinematography, editing, and sound, and shows how these concepts can be used to interpret films. Part III moves beyond textual analysis to explore film as a cultural institution and introduce students to essential areas of film studies research.

by Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis, both of North Carolina State University

Film: A Critical Introduction is an exciting new offering that provides students with a comprehensive introduction to film studies. It does not merely address techniques and terminology used in film production and film criticism; but also emphasizes thinking and writing critically and effectively about film.

Organized in three parts, the text focuses on the fundamentals of film analysis before moving on to more complex topics.

• Parts I and II teach students to recognize how the components of film-narrative, mise en scène, cinematography, editing, and sound-work together to produce meaning within an individual film text.
• Part III introduces readers to interpretive frameworks that treat cinema as a cultural institution. This section encourages readers to move beyond textual analysis and consider the relationship between film and culture.

Special Features

• Emphasizes critical thinking and writing about film.
• Illustrates basic film concepts in context and in depth.
• “Techniques in Practice” sections offer detailed analyses emphasizing how one film uses the techniques being discussed.
• “Case Study” essays on key films develop critical thinking and writing skills, offering the option of studying the similarities and differences among Classical Hollywood texts, post-studio Hollywood texts, documentaries, avant-garde films, and art cinema films.
• Discusses how students can develop rhetorical strategies for incorporating production history and film scholarship as they think and write about films.

Praise for Film: A Critical Introduction
“I thought this was one of the best introduction to film books I’d ever read. It’s beautifully written, extremely knowledgeable, current, and complete. As the authors recognize, teaching introduction to film involves teaching writing about film. This book’s efforts to incorporate the writing process in stages which unfold through the chapters is brilliant.”
Cynthia Erb, Wayne State University

“Pramaggiore and Wallis are exceptional writers for this audience….The writing is clear and compelling. The chapter selection and sequence is manageable and useful. The insights and progression of thought are solid. The idea to emphasize student writing in each chapter is a real strength of this text….They cover an astonishing amount of ground with a minimum of fuss.”
Dann L. Pierce, University of Portland

“This text is extremely well-organized and the examples cited are dead-on and up-to-date….This text makes both contemporary and classical references, certain to make its point clear to those students who are beginners and who have not seen many classical films.”
Walton Jones, University of California, San Diego