The Film Experience by Timothy Corrigan; Patricia White - Fifth Edition, 2018 from Macmillan Student Store
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The Film Experience

An IntroductionFifth Edition ©2018 Timothy Corrigan; Patricia White

The experience of watching films can begin with journeying to imaginary worlds, witnessing re-creations of history, observing stars in familiar and unfamiliar roles, and exploring the laughter, thrills, or emotions of different genres. Understanding the full depth and variety of these experiences...

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The Film Experience by Timothy Corrigan; Patricia White - Fifth Edition, 2018 from Macmillan Student Store

Explore the full diversity of film experiences – in print and in video.

The experience of watching films can begin with journeying to imaginary worlds, witnessing re-creations of history, observing stars in familiar and unfamiliar roles, and exploring the laughter, thrills, or emotions of different genres. Understanding the full depth and variety of these experiences starts with that enjoyment. But it also requires knowledge of the technology, business, history, and visual language of cinema. The Film Experience brings all of this together in one comprehensive book.

The Film Experience: An Introduction aims to help students learn these film languages and synthesize them into a cohesive understanding of the medium that will, in turn, enhance their own film experiences. The new edition places special emphasis on representation throughout the history of film, highlighting voices and groups from the past that interact with the medium’s future. More than ever, the book places important historical developments in the modern, accessible context of ever-changing film technology, economics, and narrative. Throughout the book (and online through its LaunchPad Solo), perfect examples and digital tools bring this material to life.

Features

An innovative approach to film studies that integrates cultural, critical, and technical knowledge with practical teaching tools. The book covers the evolution of film in our culture, critical perspectives on ideas like genre and film theory, and formal elements like sound and editing -- all with examples and assignments that bring these concepts to life.

The best coverage of film’s formal elements gives students a deeper and more nuanced understanding of film meaning, with strong and clear explanations of practices in cinematography, editing, sound, mise-en-scene, along with elements of storytelling such as narrative structure and genre.

LaunchPad Solo for The Film Experience offers the best digital program for Film Appreciation courses. LaunchPad Solo features video clips from classic and contemporary films, video essays that expand on topics from the book, thought-provoking discussion questions from the author to accompany every video clip,and additional FIlm in Focus essays not included in the print edition.

A superior art program features hundreds of images selected from significant, popular, and thought-provoking films to visually reinforce the techniques, concepts, and traditions discussed throughout the text.

Visually engaging features that help students understand and analyze cinematic concepts:

  • Chapter-opening and part-opening vignettes place students inside a film. Each compelling vignette, many of them new to this edition, draws from actual scenes in a real movie to connect what students know as movie fans to key ideas in the chapter’s discussion. New vignettes cover contemporary films like La La Land, Moonlight, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
  • Film in Focus essays in each chapter provide close analyses of specific films, demonstrating how particular techniques or concepts inform and enrich those films. For example, a detailed deconstruction in Chapter 4 of the editing patterns in Bonnie and Clyde shows how they create specific emotional and visceral effects.
  • Form in Action boxes with image-by-image analyses give students a close look at how the formal concepts they read about translate onscreen. With several new additions, including a look at the mise-en-scène of a Martin Scorsese film, an analysis of a recent movie trailer, and an examination of the internationally acclaimed In the Mood for Love, each Form in Action essay brings key cinematic techniques alive and teaches students how to read and dissect a film formally.
  • Viewing Cue prompts in the margins ask students to consider how the book’s concepts can be applied to movies they’ve watched for fun, movies they’ve watched for class, or specific clips they can find on the LaunchPad Solo for The Film Experience, giving instructors a variety of options for assignments and discussions.

New to This Edition

More video than ever on LaunchPad Solo for The Film Experience
The Film Experience goes further with LaunchPad Solo, our online platform and home to numerous movie clips, video essays, discussion questions, and more—perfect for interactive learning. More than a dozen new clips, including recent Oscar winners, box office smashes, and acknowledged classics, have been added to the LaunchPad Solo for The Film Experience, all accompanied by thought-provoking discussion questions. LaunchPad Solo also includes many additional, exclusive Film in Focus and Form in Action boxes not available in the print edition.

Brand New Examples Everywhere
From the online videos to the print visual program, The Film Experience has been updated with dozens of new examples, including coverage of recent, student-accessible films both big and small from a variety of genres, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, Moonlight, Captain America: Civil War, Creed, Mad Max: Fury Road, Moana, Deadpool, Interstellar, La La Land, Trainwreck, and more.

A Heavily Revised History Chapter
Our chapter on history and historiography has been reconfigured and relocated in the text, now placed in Part 1, so that it can better provide valuable background for the chapters that follow. The history coverage has been updated, streamlined, and made more relevant to the chapters that follow, providing an overview that deepens when the book later introduces historical information about editing, cinematography, sound, and other elements of film form.

History Close Up Boxes Highlight Underrepresented Groups
Several chapters now include History Close Up boxes, intended to continue the conversation about how film history interacts with contemporary film culture, spotlighting individual women and minorities whose contributions have sometimes gone under-acknowledged in more traditional historical narratives. These boxes, profiling filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux, Dorothy Arzner, and John Waters, remind students that not every important figure in the development of this medium is well known, and that diversity and inclusion continue to be major issues in today’s film landscape.

"A beautifully written, attractively presented book that manages to incorporate an extraordinary amount of information, insight and analysis." – John MacKay, Yale University

"A great intro to film book that covers both film form and historical/cultural context. Smartly written. Definitely one of the best textbooks out there." – Alice Maurice, University of Toronto

"A well-written, accessible text. Each chapter provides concise historical context alongside cogent explanations of film form. – Janet Cutler, Montclair State University

"The LaunchPad Solo is an excellent resource... essential for online courses." – Lucinda McNamara, Cape Fear Community College

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Table of Contents

PART 1

CULTURAL CONTEXTS:

watching, studying, and making movies

introduction Studying Film: Culture and Experience

Why Film Studies Matters

Film Spectators and Film Cultures

FORM IN ACTION: Identification, Cognition, and Film Variety

 

chapter 1 Encountering Film: From Preproduction to Exhibition

Production: How Films Are Made

Preproduction

Production

Postproduction

Distribution: What We Can See

Distributors

Ancillary Markets

Distribution Timing

Film in Focus: Distributing Killer of Sheep (1977)

Marketing and Promotion: What We Want to See

Generating Interest

Advertising

Form in Action: The Changing Art and Business of the Film Trailer

viewing cue: Suicide Squad (2016)

Word of Mouth and Fan Engagement

Movie Exhibition: The Where, When, and How of Movie Experiences

The Changing Contexts and Practices of Film Exhibition

Technologies and Cultures of Exhibition

The Timing of Exhibition

FILM IN FOCUS: Exhibiting Citizen Kane (1941)

 

chapter 2 History and Historiography: Hollywood and Beyond

Silent Cinema 355

Early Hollywood Features

German Expressionist Cinema

Soviet Silent Films

French Cinema

HISTORY CLOSE-UP: Oscar Micheaux

The Sound Era

Classical Hollywood Cinema

European Cinema in the 1930s and 1940s

Golden Age Mexican Cinema

Postwar Cinemas (1945-1975)

Postwar Hollywood

Italian Neorealism

viewing cue: Gilda (1946) and Rome, Open City (1945)

French New Wave

Japanese Cinema

Third Cinema

Global Cinema Cultures (1975-2000)

Contemporary Hollywood

film in focus: Taxi Driver and New Hollywood (1976)

Independent Cinema

Contemporary European Cinema

Indian Cinema

African Cinema

Digital Cinema (2000-present)

Hollywood in the 21st Century

Chinese Cinema

Iranian Cinema

FILM IN FOCUS: Lost and Found History: Within Our Gates (1920)

Film Preservation and Archives

Orphan Films

Concepts at Work

 

PART 2

FORMAL COMPOSITIONS:

film scenes, shots, cuts, and sounds

chapter 3 Mise-en-Scène: Exploring a Material World

A Short History of Mise-en-Scène

Theatrical Mise-en-Scène and the Prehistory of Cinema

1900–1912: Early Cinema’s Theatrical Influences

1915–1928: Silent Cinema and the Star System

1930s–1960s: Studio-Era Production

1940–1970: New Cinematic Realism

1975–Present: Mise-en-Scène and the Blockbuster

The Elements of Mise-en-Scène

Settings and Sets

viewing cue: Life of Pi (2012)

Scenic Realism and Atmosphere

Props, Costumes, and Lights

FILM IN FOCUS: Mise-en-Scène in Do the Right Thing (1989)

viewing cue: Boyhood (2014)

Performance: Actors and Stars

FORM IN ACTION: Mise-en-Scène in Hugo (2011)

Making Sense of Mise-en-Scène

Defining Our Place in a Film’s Material World

Interpretive Contexts for Mise-en-Scène

FILM IN FOCUS: Naturalistic Mise-en-Scène in Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Spectacularizing the Movies

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 4 Cinematography: Framing What We See

A Short History of the Cinematic Image

1820s–1880s: The Invention of Photography and the Prehistory of Cinema

1890s–1920s: The Emergence and Refinement of Cinematography

1930s–1940s: Developments in Color, Wide-Angle, and Small-Gauge Cinematography

1950s–1960s: Widescreen, 3-D, and New Color Processes

1970s–1980s: Cinematography and Exhibition in the Age of the Blockbuster

1990s to the Present: The Digital Future

The Elements of Cinematography

Points of View

Four Attributes of the Shot

viewing cue: Touch of Evil (1958)

FORM IN ACTION: Color and Contrast in Film

viewing cue: Rear Window (1954)

viewing cue: The Battle of Algiers (1967)

Animation and Visual Effects : The Impact of Computer-Based Imaging

HISTORY CLOSE-UP: Floyd Norman

Making Sense of the Film Image

Defining Our Relationship to the Cinematic Image

Interpretive Contexts for the Cinematic Image

viewing cue: Vertigo (1958)

FILM IN FOCUS: From Angles to Animation in Vertigo (1958)

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 5 Editing: Relating Images

A Short History of Film Editing

1895–1918: Early Cinema and the Emergence of Editing

1919–1929: Soviet Montage

1930–1959: Continuity Editing in the Hollywood Studio Era

1960–1989: Modern Editing Styles

HISTORY CLOSE-UP: Women in the Editing Room

1990s–Present: Editing in the Digital Age

The Elements of Editing

The Cut and Other Transitions

viewing cue: Chinatown (1974)

Continuity Style

Editing and Temporality

viewing cue: The General (1927)

FORM IN ACTION: Editing and Rhythm in Moulin Rouge! (2001) 160

Making Sense of Film Editing 161

FILM IN FOCUS: Patterns of Editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 162

Disjunctive Editing

Converging Editing Styles

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 6 Film Sound: Listening to the Cinema

A Short History of Film Sound

Theatrical and Technological Prehistories of Film Sound

1895–1920s: The Sounds of Silent Cinema

1927–1930: Transition to Synchronized Sound

1930s–1940s: Challenges and Innovations in Cinema Sound

1950s–Present: From Stereophonic to Digital Sound

The Elements of Film Sound

Sound and Image

VIEWING CUE: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Sound Production

Film in focus: Sound and Image in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Voice in Film

Music in Film

FORM IN ACTION: Pop Music Soundtracks in Contemporary Cinema

Sound Effects in Film

viewing cue: Winter’s Bone (2010)

viewing cue: The Thin Red Line (1998)

Making Sense of Film Sound

Authenticity and Experience

Sound Continuity and Sound Montage

FILM IN FOCUS: The Role of Sound and Sound Technology in The Conversation (1974)

Concepts at Work

 

PART 3

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES:

from stories to genres

chapter 7 Narrative Films: Telling Stories

A Short History of Narrative Film

1900–1920s: Adaptations, Scriptwriters, and Screenplays

1927–1950: Sound Technology, Dialogue, and Classical Hollywood Narrative

1950–1980: Art Cinema

1980s–Present: From Narrative Reflexivity to Games

HISTORY CLOSE UP: Salt of the Earth

The Elements of Narrative Film

Stories and Plots

Characters

Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements

Narrative Patterns of Time

FORM IN ACTION: Nondiegetic Images and Narrative

viewing cue: Shutter Island (2010)

Narrative Space

Narrative Perspectives

viewing cue: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

FILM IN FOCUS: Plot and Narration

Making Sense of Film Narrative

Shaping Memory, Making History

Narrative Traditions

viewing cue: Midnight Cowboy (1969)

FILM IN FOCUS: Classical and Alternative Traditions in Mildred Pierce (1945) and Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 8 Documentary Films: Representing the Real

A Short History of Documentary Cinema

A Prehistory of Documentaries

1895–1905: Early Actualities, Scenics, and Topicals

The 1920s: Robert Flaherty and the Soviet Documentaries

1930–1945: The Politics and Propaganda of Documentary

1950s–1970s: New Technologies and the Arrival of Television

1980s–Present: Digital Cinema, Cable, and Reality TV

The Elements of Documentary Films

Nonfiction and Non-Narrative

Expositions: Organizations That Show or Describe

FILM IN FOCUS: Nonfiction and Non-Narrative in Man of Aran (1934)

viewing cue: The Cove (2009)

Rhetorical Positions

viewing cue: He Named Me Malala (2015)

Making Sense of Documentary Films

Revealing New or Ignored Realities

Confronting Assumptions, Altering Opinions

Serving as a Social, Cultural, and Personal Lens

FILM IN FOCUS: Stories We Tell (2012)

HISTORY CLOSE-UP: Indigenous Media

FORM IN ACTION: The Contemporary Documentary: What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016)

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 9 Experimental Film and New Media: Challenging Form A Short History of Experimental Film and Media Practices

1910s–1920s: European Avant-Garde Movements

1930s–1940s: Sound and Vision

1950s–1960s: The Postwar Avant-Garde in America

FILM IN FOCUS: Avant-Garde Visions in Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

1968–1980: Politics and Experimental Cinema

1980s–Present: New Technologies and New Media

Formalist Strategies

Abstraction

Narrative Experimentation

Experimental Organizations: Associative, Structural, and Participatory

FILM IN FOCUS: Formal Play in Ballet mecnanique (1924)

Making Sense of Experimental Media

Challenging and Expanding Perception

Experimental Film Styles and Approaches

viewing cue: Gently Down the Stream (1964)

FORM IN ACTION: Lyrical Style in Bridges-Go-Round (1958)

viewing cue: The Future (2011)

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 10 Movie Genres: Conventions, Formulas, and Audience Expectations

A Short History of Film Genre

Historical Origins of Genres

Early Film Genres

1920s–1940s: Genre and the Studio System

1948–1970s: Postwar Film Genres

1970s–Present: New Hollywood, Sequels, and Global Genres

The Elements of Film Genre

Conventions

Formulas and Myths

Audience Expectations

Six Movie Genres

Comedies

Westerns

Melodramas

Musicals

viewing cue: La La Land (2016)

Horror Films

Crime Films

viewing cue: The Searchers (1956)

Making Sense of Film Genres

Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches

Classical and Revisionist Traditions

FILM IN FOCUS: Crime Film Conventions and Formulas: Chinatown (1974)

viewing cue: Unforgiven (1992)

HISTORY CLOSE UP: John Waters and Midnight Movies

FORM IN ACTION: Melodrama and In the Mood for Love (2000)

Local and Global Genres

Concepts at Work

 

PART 4

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES:

Reading and writing about film

 

chapter 11 Reading about Film: Critical Theories and Methods

The Evolution of Film Theory

Early and Classical Film Theory

Early Film Theory

Classical Film Theories: Formalism and Realism

Postwar Film Culture and Criticism

Film Journals

Auteur Theory

Genre Theory

Contemporary Film Theory

Structuralism and Semiotics

viewing cue: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Poststructuralism

FILM IN FOCUS: Signs and Meaning

Theories of Gender and Sexuality

Cultural Studies

Film and Philosophy

Postmodernism and New Media

FILM IN FOCUS: Clueless about Contemporary Film Theory? (1995)

Concepts at Work

 

chapter 12 Writing a Film Essay: Observations, Arguments, Research, and Analysis

Writing an Analytical Film Essay

Personal Opinion and Objectivity

viewing cue: Birdman (2014)

Identifying Your Readers

Elements of the Analytical Film Essay

Preparing to Write about a Film

Asking Questions

Taking Notes

Selecting a Topic

FILM IN FOCUS: Analysis, Audience, and Minority Report (2002)

Elements of a Film Essay

Thesis Statement

Outline and Topic Sentences

Revising, Formatting, and Proofreading

Writer’s Checklist

Researching the Movies

Distinguishing Research Materials

FILM IN FOCUS: Interpretation, Argument, and Evidence in Rashomon (1950)

Using and Documenting Sources

FORM IN ACTION: Creating a Video Essay

FILM IN FOCUS: From Research to Writing about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Concepts at Work

 

Glossary

Timothy Corrigan

Timothy Corrigan is a professor emeritus of cinema and media studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His other books include New German Film: The Displaced Image (Indiana UP); The Films of Werner Herzog: Between Mirage and History (Routledge); Writing about Film (Longman/Pearson); A Cinema without Walls: Movies and Culture after Vietnam (Routledge/Rutgers UP); Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader (Routledge); Critical Visions in Film Theory: Classical and Contemporary Readings (Bedford/St. Martin’s), with Patricia White and Meta Mazaj; American Cinema of the 2000s (Rutgers UP); Essays on the Essay Film (Columbia UP), with Nora M. Alter; and The Essay Film: From Montaigne, After Marker (Oxford UP), winner of the 2012 Katherine Singer Kovács Award for the outstanding book in film and media studies. He has published essays in Film Quarterly, Discourse, and Cinema Journal, among other collections, and is also an editor of the journal Adaptation and a former editorial board member of Cinema Journal. In 2014, he received the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Award for Outstanding Pedagogical Achievement.

Patricia White

Patricia White is Professor and Chair of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College. She is the author of Women’s Cinema/World Cinema: Projecting Twenty-first Century Feminisms (Duke UP) and Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana UP). Her essays have appeared in journals including Camera Obscura, Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly, and Screen, and in books including A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema, Out in Culture, and The Routledge Companion to Cinema and Gender. She is coeditor with Timothy Corrigan and Meta Mazaj of Critical Visions in Film Theory: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Bedford/St. Martin’s). She is a member of the editorial collective of the feminist film journal Camera Obscura. She serves on the board of the feminist distributor and media organization Women Make Movies and the editorial board of Film Quarterly.

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