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How to Read a Film
The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia: Language, History, Theory

Third Edition

James Monaco

Price: £17.99 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-503869-9
Publication date: 6 April 2000
672 pages, 336 b/w illus., 232x164 mm
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Reviews
  • '"Very good introduction to moveing image studies. Clear and coherent", Liz Wilkinson, Surrey Institute' -
  • '"Best single introduction to film for students", Professor David Whitton, Lancaster University' -
  • '"An impressive update of a classic treatemtent of the genre,for film studies it is clearly an essential text, but I would also recommend it to any student whi has a serious interst in film", Dr MJ Miller, University of Central England' -
  • '"Intelligent and wide-ranging in both argument and references, a very useful overview for constant reference", Claire Barwell, The Surrey Institute of Art and Design' -
  • '"An accesible, wide-ranging introduction, providing historical, technical and contemporary information. Very student friendly writing style", Dr Richard Lane, South Bank University' -
  • 'The latest edition of a reliable and useful student text. Updates and revisions continue to keep this book in the forefront of its field.' - Dr Jonathan Bignell, Senior Lecturer, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • 'The best introductory textbook for film studies - now updated.' - Roy Boyne, Academic Director, European Studies, University of Durham
  • 'dauntingly thorough work of theoretical analysis' - Empire

Description
  • The definitive source book on film and media -- now completely revised and rewritten
Few books on film have met with such critical acclaim as How to Read a Film . Since its original publication in 1977, this hugely popular book has become the definitive source on film and media. Now, James Monaco offers a completely revised and rewritten third edition that brings every major aspect of this dynamic medium right up to the present day.

Looking at film from many vantage points, Monaco discusses the elements necessary to understand how a film conveys its meaning, and, more importantly, how the audience can best discern all that a film is attempting to communicate. He begins by setting movies in the context of the more traditional arts such as the novel, painting, photography, theater -- even music-- demonstrating that film as a narrative technique is directly comparable to these older mediums. He points out that much of what we see and experience in film can be traced directly back to other art forms. Accordingly, as film is a technology as well as an art, he examines the intriguing science of cinema and follows the development of the electronic media and its parallel growth with film during this century. A new chapter on multimedia brings media criticism into the late 1990s with a thorough discussion of such topics as virtual reality and cyberspace and their relationship to film. Monaco goes on to show how film operates as a language, describing the various techniques and concepts responsible for the often visceral reactions that only film can elicit.

Lavishly illustrated with over 350 halftones and seventy-four original diagrams, as well as discussions on the development of the art of movies and the major theoretical developments of the last seventy-five years, How to Read a Film is an exciting and definitive behind the scenes look at the complex world of film.

Contents
I. Film as an Art
The Nature of Art
The Spectrum of Art: Modes of Discourse
Film, Recording, and the Other Arts
Film, Photography, and Painting; Film and the Novel; Film and Theater; Film and Music; Film and the Environmental Arts
The Structure of Art
II. Technology: Image and Sound
Art and Technology
Image Technology; Sound Technology
The Lens
The Camera
The Filmstock
Negatives, Prints, and Generations; Aspect Ratio; Grain Gauge, and Speed; Contrast, Tone, and Color
The Soundtrack
Post-Production
Editing; Mixing and Looping; Special Effects; Opticals and the Laboratory
The Uses of Video
Projection
III. The Language of Film: Signs and Syntax
Signs
The Physiology of Perception; Denotative and Connotative Meaning: Reading the Image
Syntax
Codes; Mise en Scene (The Framed Image); The Diachronic Shot; Sound; Montage; Reading the Narrative
IV. The Shape of Film History
"The Movies": Economics
The Birthe of Film; The Silent Business; Sound; The Studios; Film versus Television; the Conglomerates and Independents
"The Film": Politics
Ontological Level; Mimetic Level; Inherent Level; Psychopolitics; Sociopolitics
"The Cinema": Esthetics
Creating an Art; Lumiere versus Melies; The Silent Feature: Realism versus Expressionism; Hollywood: Genre versus Auteur; Neorealism and After: Hollywood versus the World; The New Wave and the Third World: Entertainment versus Communication (The New Wave; Avant Gard, Direct Cinema and Cinema Verite; England; Italy; Sweden; Eastern Europe; The Third World; Japan and Asia; New French Cinema; Das Neue Kino; Swiss Cinema; American Film Now); The Eighties and Beyond: Democracy and Technology: End of Cinema
V. Film Theory: Form and Function
The Poet and the Philosopher: Lindsay and Munsterberg
Expressionism and Realism: Arnheim and Kracauer
Montage: Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Balazs, and Formalism
Mise en Scene: Neorealism, Bazin, and Godard
Film Speaks and Acts: Metz and Contemporary Theory
VI. Media
Print and Electronic Media
The Technology of Mechanical Electronic Media
Radio and Records
Television and Video
A Concluding Note: Media Democracy
Appendix I: A Standard Glossary for Film and Media Criticism
Appendix II: Reading about Film and Media
Part One: A Basic Library
Part Two: Information
Appendix III: Film and Media: A Chronology
Index

Authors, editors, and contributors


James Monaco


Links to web resources and related information
More in the same subject area:
Media studies
Film theory & criticism

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

 
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