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An Introduction to Film Analysis
Technique and Meaning in Narrative Film
by Michael Ryan and Melissa Lenos
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Book Presentation:
An Introduction to Film Analysis is designed to introduce students to filmmaking techniques while also providing an invaluable guide to film interpretation. It takes readers step by step through:
-the basic technical terms
-shot-by-shot analyses of film sequences
-set design, composition, editing, camera work, post-production, art direction and more
-each chapter provides clear examples and full colour images from classic as well as contemporary films.
Ryan and Lenos's updated edition introduces students to the different kinds of lenses and their effects, the multiple possibilities of lighting, and the way post-production modifies images through such processes as saturation and desaturation. Students will learn to ask why the camera is placed where it is, why an edit occurs where it does, or why the set is designed in a certain way.
The second section of the book focuses on critical analysis, introducing students to the various approaches to film, from psychology to history, with new analysis on postcolonial, transnational and Affect Theory.
New to this edition is a third section featuring several in-depth analyses of films to put into practice what comes before: The Birds, The Shining, Vagabond, In the Mood for Love, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
About the authors:
Michael Ryan is Emeritus Professor in the Center for the Arts at Temple University, USA. His books include Marxism and Deconstruction (1982), Politics and Culture (1989), Camera Politica (1988), An Introduction to Criticism (2012), and Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction (2017). His book, Politics and Evolution: Conservatism and Liberalism in Human History, is forthcoming. He is at work on a book entitled The Politics of Form.Melissa Lenos is Senior Director of Graduate Advising and Engagement for the Humanities at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Press Reviews:
"An exceptionally clear and thorough account of the explicit and implicit ways that narrative cinema makes meaning for viewers. Filled with lucid writing and a profitably wide variety of examples, An Introduction to Film Analysis empowers students to analyze film technique from a range of diverse perspectives." ―Kevin L. Ferguson, Associate Professor, Queens College, CUNY, USA
"This step-by-step guide to film analysis by Ryan and Lenos is full of beautiful and instructive photography to make the art of moving images come alive on the page. It will entice students into a passion for film through its sophisticated and thorough discussions of a wide range of films, including historical classics, contemporary movies, independent films, and global cinema. This is a textbook that teaches by doing, modeling different approaches to film analysis through thorough and insightful case studies of a unique set of films, including The Silence of the Lambs, Mildred Pierce, Run, Lola, Run, and others. Worthy of special note, Ryan and Lenos provide accessible and productive tools for teachers, including student assignment instructions for specific clips from different films that invite students to develop and demonstrate their analytical skills. Through their many examples, the authors empower students to articulate not only how they react to a movie but also why, drawing clear lines between the cinematic vocabulary they are building with the work of meaning making." ―Karen Petruska, Assistant Professor in Communication Studies, Gonzaga University, USA
See the publisher website: Bloomsbury Academic
> From the same authors:
Camera Politica (1988)
The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film
by Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner
Subject: Sociology
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