Film Histories
An Introduction and Reader
Published on 11. January 2007
Book
Hardback
616 pages
978-0-7486-1906-1 (ISBN)
Description
A wide-ranging introduction to film history, this anthology covers the history of film from 1895 to the present day. The book is arranged chronologically, and each chapter contains an introduction by the editors on the key developments within the period, followed by a classic piece of historical research about that period. Various types of film history are undertaken in the articles, so that students can become familiar with different types of film historical research. For example, topics include the history of audiences; exhibition; marketing; censorship; aesthetic history; political history; and historical reception studies. The book is therefore designed to provide students with a narrative history spine while simultaneously introducing them to different approaches to the study and research of film history. Concentrating on the plurality of the 'historical turn' in film studies, this book demonstrates that film history is, and should be, about more than simply key films, directors and movements.Key features*Contains a preface that explains the structure and organisation of the book*Chapter introductions provide a chronological sense of international developments*Includes key articles of film history that illustrate differences in methodological approach, and which are devoted both to America and to a wide range of non-American contexts
Reviews / Votes
This is a substantial book which provides a comprehensive and concise history of film from the late 19th century to the present day. The book has a very user-friendly structure [and] the authors have managed successfully to combine two types of film text book: an all-embracing and succinct history book and an excellent collection of essays which provide a chronological analysis of the development of cinema... the book is an excellent general history for undergraduate film and media students and would also be very useful for those studying popular culture and cultural history. -- Millard Parkinson * Art, Design, Media Subject Centre Newsletter * The authors have managed successfully to combine two types of film text book: an all-embracing and succinct history book and an excellent collection of essays which provide a chronological analysis of the development of cinema ... the book is an excellent general history for undergraduate film and media students. * Resource Review * With essays by Tom Gunning, Richard Abel, Douglas Gomery, Tino Balio, Barbara Klinger, etc., this collection assembles some of the best historical writing on cinema, and links them together through a sequence of introductory essays providing an overview and a context for each piece. Together, Film Histories offers its reader a collection of the leading examples of the methodologies available for the construction of the social, economic and cultural history of cinema. -- Richard Maltby, Head of the School of Humanities and Professor of Screen Studies, Flinders UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 172 mm
Weight
1244 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-1906-1 (9780748619061)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Paul Grainge is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is the author and editor of six books, including Promotional Screen Industries (with Catherine Johnson) (2015), Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube (2011), and Brand Hollywood: Selling Entertainment in a Global Media Age (2008). Mark Jancovich is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia. Sharon Monteith is Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Cultural History at Nottingham Trent University. She is author of Advancing Sisterhood? Interracial Friendships in Contemporary Southern Fiction (2000) and Pat Barker (2002) and co-author of Film Histories (2007). Among other volumes she is co-editor of Gender and the Civil Rights Movement (1999; 2004) and South to a New Place: Region, Literature, Culture (2002).
Content
PrefacePart One: Film History from its origins to 19451. The Emergence of Cinema2. Organising Early Film Audiences3. Nationalism, Trade and Market Domination 4. Establishing Classical Norms5. The Age of the Dream Palace and the Rise of the Star System6. Competing with Hollywood: National Film Industries Outside Hollywood7. The Rise of the Studios and the Coming of Sound 8. Realism, Nationalism and 'Film Culture' 9. Adjustment, Depression and Regulation 10. Totalitarianism, Dictatorship and Propaganda11. The Common People, Historical Drama and the Preparations for War12. War-time Unity and AlienationPart Two: Film History from 1946 to the present13. Post-War Challenges: National Regeneration, HUAC Investigations, Divestiture, and Declining Audiences14. The Politics of Polarisation: Affluence, Anxiety and the Cold War15. Cinematic Spectacles and the Rise of the Independents16. New Waves, Specialist Audiences and Adult Films17. Radicalism, Revolution and Counter-Cinema18. Modernism, Nostalgia and the Hollywood Renaissance 19. From Movie Brats to Movie Blockbusters20. The Exhibitors Strike Back: Multiplexes, Video and the Rise of Home Cinema 21. Postmodernism, High Concept and Eighties Excess22. Cults, Independents and "Guerrilla" Filmmaking23. From Cinemas to Theme Parks: Conglomeration, Synergy and Multimedia24. Globalisation and the New MillenniumBibliography