Synopses & Reviews
Anatomy of Film is a brief, jargon-free introduction to film appreciation and analysis. Designed to be used in either English or Communication departments, Anatomy of Film helps students new to film develop a critical awareness of cinema without overwhelming them.
About the Author
BERNARD F. DICK is professor of communication and English in the School of Art and Media Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Teaneck, New Jersey campus. He is the author of a number of books on film including The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film, Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood, and most recently Hal Wallis, Producer to the Stars.
Table of Contents
1. Understanding the Medium Film as a Hybrid Art
The Creation of the Narrative Film
Narrative Film
Time-Space Relationships
Movie Time
The Diversity of the Medium
Independent Film
International Film
Examining a Film Text
2. Graphics and Sound
Graphics
Logos
Main Titles, Credits, Precredits, Sequences, and End Credits
Opening Titles and End Titles
Intertitles
Subtitles
Other Uses of the Printed Word
Sound
Actual and Commentative
Sound
Overlap
Synchronization andAsynchronization
Voice-Over Narration
3. Film, Space, and Mise-en-Scène
The Shot
Types of Shots
Combining Shots: The Sequence
The Linear Sequence
The Associative Sequence
The Montage Sequence
From Shot to Shot
Cuts
Transitions
Assembling the Shots
Eisenstein's Theory of Montage
Continuity Editing
The Role of the Editor
Mise-en-scène
4. Enhancing the Image: Color, Lighting, and Visual Effects
Coloring the Image
The Black-and-White Film
The Color Film
Lighting the Image
Special Effects/Visual Effects (SFX, VFX)
5. Film Genres
The Musical
The Western
The Crime Film
Film Noir
The Combat Film
Comedies
The Reflexive Film
The Woman's Film
Documentary
The Horror Film
Science-Fiction
Understanding Genre
6. Film Subtext
Mythic Associations
The Transformation Myth in Cat People
The Savior Myth in Shane
The War of the Worlds in The Matrix trilogy
Visual/Iconic Associations
Humphrey Bogart as Screen Icon in High Sierra
Al Pacino as Christ Figure in Serpico
Jack Nicholson as Free Spirit and Louise Fletcher as Boss Lady in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Barbara Stanwyk as Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity
Intellectual Associations
History by Suggestion
Film History by Suggestion
Remaking the Original: The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime, You've Got Mail
Musical Associations
7. The Film Director
Auteurism
Collaboration
Variety
Repetition
Quotations
Borrowings
An Interview with Billy Wilder
An Interview with Alan Alda
8. Film and Literature
Literary Techniques
The Flashback
The Flashforward
Point of View
Film Adaptation
Adaptations of Novels
Jane Austen's Emma
Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway
Michael Cunningham's The Hours
Adaptations of Plays
Adapting Short Stories
Daphne du Maruier's "The Birds"
Philip K. Dick's "Minority Report"
The Nature of Screenwriting
9. Film Analysis
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2001)
Analyzing Films
10. Film Theory and Criticism
The History of Film Criticism
The Russians
The Grammarians
The Apologists
The Realists
The Auteurists
The Mythographers
The Semioticians
Feminist Criticism
Ideological Criticism
Reception Theory
The Reviewers
Practical Criticism: Interpreting Citizen Kane
The Film Historian
The Auteurist
The Myth Critic
The Social Historian
Guidelines for Film Criticism
Appendix I: Films Discussed and Directed
Appendix II: Sample Student Papers
Appendix III: Online Resources and Citation
Glossary of Motion Picture Terms
Index