How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond / Edition 4

by James Monaco

Overview

Richard Gilman referred to How to Read a Film as simply "the best single work of its kind." And Janet Maslin in The New York Times Book Review marveled at James Monaco's ability to collect "an enormous amount of useful information and assemble it in an exhilaratingly simple and systematic way." Indeed, since its original publication in 1977, this hugely popular book has become the definitive source on film and media.

Now, James Monaco offers a special anniversary edition of his classic work, featuring a new preface and several new sections, including an "Essential Library: One Hundred Books About Film and Media You Should Read" and "One Hundred Films You Should See." As in previous editions, Monaco once again looks at film from many vantage points, as both art and craft, sensibility and science, tradition and technology. After examining film's close relation to other narrative media such as the novel, painting, photography, television, and even music, the book discusses the elements necessary to understand how films convey meaning, and, more importantly, how we can best discern all that a film is attempting to communicate. In addition, Monaco stresses the still-evolving digital context of film throughout—one of the new sections looks at the untrustworthy nature of digital images and sound—and his chapter on multimedia brings media criticism into the twenty-first century with a thorough discussion of topics like virtual reality, cyberspace, and the proximity of both to film.

With hundreds of illustrative black-and-white film stills and diagrams, How to Read a Film is an indispensable addition to the library of everyone who loves the cinema and wants to understand it better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195321050
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/08/2009
Edition description:	Thirtieth Anniversary Edition
Pages:	736
Sales rank:	427,684
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

James Monaco is a writer, publisher, and producer. His books include American Film Now, The New Wave, The Encyclopedia of Film, and The Connoisseur's Guide to the Movies. He lives and works in the New York City area.

Table of Contents

IntroductionI. Film as ArtThe Nature of ArtWays of Looking at ArtFilm, Recording, and the Other ArtsThe Structure of ArtII. Technology: Image and SoundArt and TechnologyThe LensThe CameraThe FilmstockThe SoudtrackPost-ProductionVideo and FilmProjectionIII. The Language of Film: Signs and SyntaxSignsSyntaxIV. The Shape of Film HistoryMovies/Film/Cinema"Movies": Economics"Film": Politics"Cinema": AestheticsV. Film Theory: Form and FunctionThe CriticThe Poet and the Philosopher: Lindsay and MunsterbergExpressionism and Realism: Arnheim and KracauerMontage: Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Balazs, and FormalismMise en Scene: Neorealism, Bazin, and GodardFilm Speaks and Acts: Metz and Contemporary TheoryVI. Media: The Middle of ThingsCommunityPrint and Electronic MediaThe Technology of Mechanical and Electronic MediaRadio and RecordsTelevision and VideoVII. Multimedia: The Digital RevolutionThe Digital RevolutionThe Myth of MultimediaThe Myth of Virtual RealityThe Myth of Cyberspace"What is to be Done?"Film and Media: A ChronologyReading About Film and MediaIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Anyone who writes about film, or who is interested in film seriously, just has to have it."—Richard Roud, Director of the New York Film Festival

From the Publisher