The Routledge Companion to Film History by William Guynn
..utl...e | 2010-10-20 | ISBN: 0415776562 | 296 pages | PDF


The Routledge Companion to Film History is an indispensable guide for anyone studying film history for the first time. The approach taken presents a substantial and readable overview of the field and provides students with a tool of reference that will be valuable throughout their studies.

The volume is divided into two parts. The first is a set of eleven essays that approaches film history around the following themes:

* History of the moving image

* Film as art and popular culture

* Production process

* Evolution of sound

* Alternative modes: experimental, documentary, animation

* Cultural difference

* Film’s relationship to history

The second is a critical dictionary that explains concepts, summarizes debates in film studies, defines technical terms, describes major periods and movements, and discusses historical situations and the film industry. The volume as a whole is designed as an active system of cross-references: readers of the essays are referred to dictionary entries (and vice versa) and both provide short bibliographies that encourage readers to investigate topics.

'This guide provides a stimulating insight into fifty directors working today' - Tanya Jones, The Media Education Association

'The Routledge Companion to Film History has both breadth and enough depth to move beyond a more generalised and popularist approach to the topics within each chapter... An impressive addition to the film history 'library'.' - POV