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  • Film History: An Introduction

    Film History: An Introduction by Thompson, Kristin; Bordwell, David;

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    Product details:

    • Edition number 2
    • Publisher McGraw-Hill
    • Date of Publication 1 August 2002

    • ISBN 9780070384293
    • Binding Paperback
    • No. of pages808 pages
    • Size 276x221x28 mm
    • Weight 1728 g
    • Language English
    • 0

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    Long description:

    Written by two leading film scholars, Film History: An Introduction is a comprehensive survey of film-from the backlots of Hollywood, across the United States, and around the world. As in the authors' bestselling Film Art, concepts and events are illustrated with actual frame enlargements, giving students more realistic points of reference than competing books that use publicity stills.

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    Table of Contents:

    Preface

    Introduction: Film History and How It Is Done

    Why Do We Care About Old Movies?

    What do Film Historians Do?

    Our Approach to Film History

    History as Story



    PART ONE: EARLY CINEMA



    1 THE INVENTION AND EARLY YEARS OF THE CINEMA, 1880s-1904

    The Invention of the Cinema

    Preconditions for Motion Pictures

    Major Precursors of Motion Pictures

    An International Process of Invention



    Early Filmmaking and Exhibition

    Scenics, Topicals, and Fiction Films

    Creating an Appealing Program

    The Growth of the French Film Industry

    England and the "Brighton School"

    The United States: Competition and the Resurgence of Edison



    Notes and Queries

    Identification and Preservation of Early Films

    Reviving Interest in Early Cinema: The Brighton Conference

    References

    Further Reading



    2 THE INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION OF THE CINEMA, 1905-1912

    Film Production in Europe

    France: Pathé versus Gaumont

    Italy: Growth through Spectacle

    Denmark: Nordisk and Ole Olsen

    Other Countries



    The Struggle for the Expanding American Film Industry

    The Nickeodeon Boom

    The Motion Picture Patents Company versus the Independents

    Social Pressures and Self-Censorship

    The Rise of the Feature Film

    The Star System

    The Movies Move to Hollywood



    The Problem of Narrative Clarity

    Early Moves toward Classical Storytelling

    Intertitles

    Camera Position and Acting

    Color

    Set Design and Lighting

    The Beginnings of the Continuity System

    An International Style



    Notes and Queries

    Griffith's Importance in the Development of Film Style



    References

    Further Reading



    3 NATIONAL CINEMAs, HOLLYWOOD CLASSICISM, AND WORLD WAR I, 1913-1919

    The American Takeover of World Markets

    The Rise of National Cinemas

    Germany

    Italy

    Russia

    France

    Denmark

    Sweden

    The Classical Hollywood Cinema

    The Major Studios Begin to Form

    Controlling Filmmaking

    Filmmaking in Hollywood during the 1910s

    Films and Filmmakers

    Streamlining American Animation

    Small Producing Countries

    Notes and Queries

    The Ongoing Rediscovery of the 1910s

    Further Reading



    PART TWO: THE LATE SILENT ERA, 1919-1929



    4 FRANCE IN THE 1920S

    The French Film Industry after World War I

    Competition from Imports

    Disunity within the Film Industry

    Outdated Production Facilities



    Major Postwar Genres



    The French Impressionist Movement

    The Impressionists' Relation to the Industry

    Impressionist Theory

    Formal Traits of Impressionism



    The End of French Impressionism

    The Filmmakers Go Their Own Ways

    Problems within the Film Industry



    Notes and Queries

    French Impressionist Theory and Criticism

    Restoration Work on Napoléon



    References

    Further Reading



    5 GERMANY IN THE 1920s



    The German Situation after World War I

    Genres and Styles of German Postwar Cinema

    Spectacles

    The German Expressionist Movement

    Kammerspiel

    German Films Abroad



    Major Changes in the Mid- to Late 1920s

    The Technological Updating of the German Studios

    The End of Inflation

    The End of the Expressionist Movement

    New Objectivity

    Export and Classical Style

    Notes and Queries

    German Cinema and German Society

    Expressionism, New Objectivity, and the Other Arts



    References



    Further Reading



    6 SOVIET CINEMA IN THE 1920s



    The Hardships of War Communism, 1918-1920



    Recovery under the New Economic Policy, 1921-1924



    Increased State Control and the Montage Movement, 1925-1930

    Growth and Export in the Film Industry

    The Influence of Constructivism

    A New Generation: The Montage Filmmakers

    The Theoretical Writings of Montage Filmmakers

    Soviet Montage Form and Style



    Other Soviet Films



    The Five-Year Plan and the End of the Montage Movement



    Notes and Queries

    Film Industry and Governmental Policy: A Tangled History

    The Kuleshov Effect

    The Russian Formalists and the Cinema



    References



    Further Reading



    7 THE LATE SILENT ERA IN HOLLYWOOD, 1920-1928



    Theater Chains and the Structure of the Industry

    Vertical Integration

    Picture Palaces

    The Big Three and the Little Five

    The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America

    Studio Filmmaking

    Style and Technological Changes

    Big-Budget Films of the 1920s

    New Investments and Blockbusters

    Genres and Directors

    Foreign Filmmakers in Hollywood



    Films for African-American Audiences

    The Animated Part of the Program



    Notes and Queries

    The Rediscovery of Buster Keaton

    References

    Further Reading



    8 INTERNATIONAL TRENDS OF THE 1920s



    "Film Europe"

    Concrete Steps toward Co-operation

    Success Cut Short



    The "International Style"

    Carl Dreyer: European Director



    Film Experiments Outside the Mainstream Industry



    Documentary Features Gain Prominence



    Commercial Filmmaking Internationally

    Japan

    Great Britain

    Italy

    Some Small Producing Countries



    Notes and Queries

    Different Versions of Silent Classics



    References



    Further Reading



    PART THREE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUND CINEMA, 1926-1945

    9 THE INTRODUCTION OF SOUND



    Sound in the United States

    Warner Bros. and Vitaphone

    Sound-on-Film Is Adopted

    Sound and Filmmaking



    Germany Challenges Hollywood

    Dividing the International Pie

    The Early Sound Era in Germany



    The USSR Pursues Its Own Path to Sound



    The International Adoption of Sound

    France

    Great Britain

    Japan

    Wiring the World's Theaters for Sound

    Crossing the Language Barrier



    Notes and Queries

    Filmmakers on the Coming of Sound

    Sound and the Revision of Film History



    References



    Further Reading



    10 THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM, 1930-1945



    The New Structure of the Film Industry

    The Big Five

    The Little Three

    The Independents



    Exhibition Practice in the 1930s



    Continued Innovation in Hollywood

    Sound Recording

    Camera Movement

    Technicolor

    Special Effects

    Cinematography Styles



    Major Directors

    The Older Generation

    New Directors

    Émigré Directors



    Genre Innovations and Transformations

    The Musical

    The Screwball Comedy

    The Horror Film

    The Social Problem Film

    The Gangster Film

    Film Noir

    The War Film



    Animation and the Studio System



    Notes and Queries

    The Controversy over Orson Welles



    References



    Further Reading



    11 OTHER STUDIO SYSTEMS



    Quota Quickies and Wartime Pressures: The British Studios

    The British Film Industry Grows

    Export Successes

    Alfred Hitchcock's Thrillers

    Crisis and Recovery

    The Effects of the War



    Innovation within an Industry: The Studio System of Japan

    Popular Cinema of the 1930s

    The Pacific War



    India: An Industry Built on Music

    A Highly Fragmented Business

    Mythologicals, Socials, Devotionals

    Independents Weaken the System



    China: Filmmaking Caught between Left and Right



    Notes and Queries

    Japanese Cinema Rediscovered



    References



    Further Reading



    12 Cinema and the State: The USSR, Germany, and Italy, 1930-1945



    The Soviet Union: Socialist Realism and World War II

    Films of the Early 1930s

    The Doctrine of Socialist Realism

    The Main Genres of Socialist Realism

    The Soviet Cinema in Wartime



    The German Cinema under the Nazis

    The Nazi Regime and the Film Industry

    Films of the Nazi Era

    The Aftermath of the Nazi Cinema



    Italy: Propaganda versus Entertainment

    Industry Tendencies

    A Cinema of Distraction

    A New Realism?



    Notes and Queries

    The Case of Leni Riefenstahl



    References



    Further Reading



    13 FRANCE: POETIC REALISM, THE POPULAR FRONT AND THE OCCUPATION, 1930-1945



    The Industry and Filmmaking during the 1930s

    Production Problems and Artistic Freedom

    Quality Studio Filmmaking

    Émigrés in France

    Everyday Realism



    Poetic Realism

    Doomed Lovers, Atmospheric Settings

    The Creative Burst of Jean Renoir



    Brief Interlude: The Popular Front



    Filmmaking in Occupied and Vichy France

    The Situation of the Film Industry

    Films of the Occupation Period



    Notes and Queries

    Renewed Interest in the Popular Front



    Reference



    Further Reading



    14 LEFTIST, DOCUMENTARY, AND EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA, 1930-1945



    The Spread of Political Cinema

    The United States

    Germany

    Belgium and the Netherlands

    Great Britain

    International Leftist Filmmaking in the Late 1930s



    Government- and Corporate-sponsored Documentaries

    The United States

    Great Britain



    Wa
    rtime Documentaries

    Hollywood Directors and the War

    Great Britain

    Germany and the USSR



    The International Experimental Cinema

    Experimental Narratives and Lyrical Films

    Surrealism

    Animation



    References



    Further Reading



    PART FOUR: THE POSTWAR ERA, 1946-1960s

    15 AMERICAN CINEMA IN THE POSTWAR ERA, 1946-1960



    1946/1947/1948

    The HUAC Hearings: The Cold War Reaches Hollywood

    The Paramount Decision



    The Decline of the Hollywood Studio System

    Changing Lifestyles and Competing Entertainment

    Wider and More Colorful Movies

    Hollywood Adjusts to Television

    Art Cinemas and Drive-ins

    Challenges to Censorship



    The New Power of the Individual Film

    Roadshow Distribution and Exhibition



    The Rise of the Independents

    Mainstream Independents: Agents, Star Power, and the Package

    Exploitation

    Independents on the Fringes



    Classical Hollywood Filmmaking: A Continuing Tradition

    Complexity and Realism in Storytelling

    Stylistic Changes

    New Twists on Old Genres



    Major Directors: Several Generations

    Veterans of the Studio Era

    Émigrés Stay On

    Welles's Struggle with Hollywood

    The Impact of the Theater

    New Directors



    Notes and Queries

    Widescreen Formats in Subsequent History



    References



    Further Reading



    16 POSTWAR EUROPEAN CINEMA: NEOREALISM AND ITS CONTEXT, 1945-1959



    The Postwar Context



    Film Industries and Film Culture

    West Germany: "Papas Kino"

    Resistance to U.S. Encroachment

    Art Cinema: The Return of Modernism



    Italy: Neorealism and After

    Italian Spring

    Defining Neorealism

    Beyond Neorealism



    A Spanish Neorealism?



    Notes and Queries

    Controversies around Neorealism



    References



    Further Reading



    17 POSTWAR EUROPEAN CINEMA: FRANCE, SCANDINAVIA, AND BRITAIN, 1945-1959



    French Cinema of the Postwar Decade

    The Industry Recovers

    The Tradition of Quality

    The Return of Older Directors

    New Independent Directors



    Scandinavian Revival



    England: Quality and Comedy

    Problems in the Industry

    Literary Heritage and Eccentricity

    Arthouse Success Abroad



    Notes and Queries

    Postwar French Film Theory

    The Powell-Pressburger Revival



    References



    Further Reading



    18 POSTWAR CINEMA BEYOND THE WEST, 1945-1959



    General Tendencies



    Japan

    Industry Recovery under the Occupation

    The Veteran Directors

    The War Generation



    Postwar Cinema in the Soviet Sphere of Influence

    The USSR from High Stalinism to the Thaw

    Obstacles of the Postwar Years

    Stalin's Death and the New Humanism

    Postwar Cinema in Eastern Europe



    People's Republic of China

    Civil War and Revolution

    Mixing Maoism and Tradition



    India

    A Disorganized but Prolific Industry

    The Populist Tradition and Raj Kapoor

    Swimming Against the Stream: Guru Dutt and Ritwik Ghatak



    Latin America

    Argentina and Brazil

    The Mexican Popular Cinema



    Notes and Queries

    De-Stalinization and the Disappearing Act



    References



    Further Reading



    19 ART CINEMA AND THE IDEA OF AUTHORSHIP



    The Rise and Spread of the Auteur Theory



    Authorship and the Growth of the Art Cinema



    Luis Bunuel (190-1983)



    Ingmar Bergman (1918- )



    Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)



    Federico Fellini (1920-1993)



    Michelangelo Antonioni (1912- )



    Robert Bresson (1907-1999)



    Jacques Tati (1908-1982)



    Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)



    Notes and Queries

    The Impact of Auteurism

    Auteurism and the American Cinema

    1950s and 1960s Modernist Cinema



    References



    Further Reading



    20 NEW WAVES AND YOUNG CINEMA, 1958-1967



    The Industries' New Needs



    Formal and Stylistic Trends



    France: New Wave and New Cinema

    The New Wave

    French New Cinema: The Left Bank



    Italy: Young Cinema and Spaghetti Westerns



    Great Britain: "Kitchen Sink" Cinema



    Young German Film



    New Cinema in the USSR and Eastern Europe

    Young Cinema in the Soviet Union

    New Waves in Eastern Europe



    The Japanese New Wave



    Brazil: Cinema Nôvo



    Notes and Queries

    Censorship and the French New Wave

    New Film Theory



    References



    Further Reading



    21 DOCUMENTARY AND EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA IN THE POSTWAR ERA,1945-MID-1960s



    Toward the Personal Documentary

    Innovative Trends

    The National Film Board and "Free Cinema"

    France: The Auteurs' Documentaries

    Jean Rouch and Ethnographic Documentary



    Direct Cinema

    The United States: Drew and Associates

    Direct Cinema in Bilingual Canada

    France: Cinéma vérité



    Experimental and Avant-garde Cinema

    Abstraction, Collage, and Personal Expression

    Underground and Expanded Cinema

    Stretching the Limits of Taste and the Medium



    Notes and Queries

    Writing the History of the Postwar Avant-garde



    References



    Further Reading



    PART FIVE: THE CONTEMPORARY CINEMA SINCE THE 1960s

    22 HOLLYWOOD'S FALL AND RISE, 1960-1980



    1960s: The Film Industry in Recession

    The 1960s Crisis

    Styles and Genres in the 1960s

    Modifying the Classical Studio Style

    Identifying the Audience



    The New Hollywood: Late 1960s-Late 1970s

    Toward and American Art Cinema

    The 1970s: Hollywood Strikes Gold

    The Return of the Blockbuster

    Hollywood Updated

    Scorsese as Synthesis



    Opportunities for Independents



    Notes and Queries

    The American Director as Superstar

    Film Consciousness and Film Preservation

    Exploitation Films and Connoisseurs of "Weird Movies"



    References



    Further Reading



    23 POLITICALLY CRITICAL CINEMA OF THE 1960s AND 1970s

    Political Filmmaking in the Third World

    Revolutionary Aspirations

    Political Genres and Styles

    Latin America

    Black African Cinema

    China: Cinema and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution



    Political Filmmaking in the First and Second Worlds

    Eastern Europe and the USSR

    Political Cinema in the West

    Political Modernism

    The Politicization of Mainstream Narrative and the Art Film

    New Cinema in West Germany: The Political Wing



    Notes and Queries

    Defining Third World Revolutionary Cinema

    Film Studies and the New Film Theory



    References



    Further Reading



    24 DOCUMENTARY AND EXPERIMENTAL FILM SINCE THE LATE 1960s



    Documentary Cinema

    Direct Cinema and Its Legacy

    The Questioning of Documentary

    From Structuralism to Pluralism in Avant-garde Cinema

    Structural Film

    Reactions and Alternatives to Structural Film

    New Mergers



    Notes and Queries

    Rethinking Documentary

    The Idea of Structure

    The Avant-garde and Postmodernism



    References



    Further Reading



    25 NEW CINEMAS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS: EUROPE AND THE USSR SINCE THE 1970s



    Western Europe

    Crisis in the Industry

    The Art Cinema Revived: Toward Accessibility

    The Arresting Image



    Eastern Europe and the USSR

    Eastern Europe: From Reform to Revolution

    The USSR: The Final Thaw and Its Aftermath



    Notes and Queries

    The New German Cinema



    References



    Further Reading



    26 BEYOND THE INDUSTRIALIZED WEST: LATIN AMERICA, THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND AFRICA SINCE THE 1970s

    Latin America: Accessibility and Decline

    Brazil

    Argentina and Elsewhere

    Mexico

    Cuba and Other Left-Wing Cinemas

    Recent Trends

    India: A Parallel Cinema

    New Cinemas in East Asia and the Pacific Rim

    The Philippines

    Hong Kong

    Taiwan

    Mainland China: The Fifth Generation and Their Successors

    Japan

    Australia

    New Zealand

    Notes and Queries

    Pinning the Tail on Pinochet

    Storytelling in Third World Cinema



    PART SIX: CINEMA IN THE AGE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA

    27 AMERICAN CINEMA AND THE ENTERTAINMENT ECONOMY: THE 1980s AND AFTER

    Hollywood, Movies, and Videotape

    Concentration and Consolidation in the Film Industry

    The Megapix Mentality

    The Bottom Line

    Prime Packagers

    New Revenue Streams

    Megaplexing: The New Face of Exhibition

    Artistic Trends

    Form and Style

    Directors: Coming to Terms with Megapix

    Genres



    A New Age of Independent Cinema

    Support Systems

    The Arty Indies

    Off-Hollywood Indies

    Retro-Hollywood Independents

    Digital Cinema

    Notes and Queries

    Video Versions

    George Lucas: Is Film Dead?

    References

    Further Reading



    28 TOWARD A GLOBAL FILM CULTURE

    Hollyworld?

    The Media Conglomerates

    Cooperation and Cooptation

    Battles over GATT

    Multiplexing the Planet

    Regional Trends and the New International Film

    Europe and Asia Try to Compete

    Media Empires

    Global Films from Europe

    East Asia: Regional Alliances and Global Effo
    rts

    Global Diasporas



    The Festival Circuit



    Global Subcultures

    Video Piracy: An Efficient Distribution System?

    Fan Subcultures: Appropriating the Movies

    Digital Convergence

    The Internet as Movie Billboard

    Digital Moviemaking

    Notes and Queries

    Akira, Gundam, Sailor Moon, and Their Friends

    Auteurs on the Web

    References

    Further Reading

    Bibliography

    Glossary

    Index

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