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Understanding Movies, 10/E
Louis Giannetti, Case Western Reserve University, Professor Emeritus

ISBN-10: 0131890980
ISBN-13: 9780131890985

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2005
Format: Paper; 592 pp
Published: 03/24/2004

For undergraduate courses in Introduction to Film, Introduction to Cinema, and Film Appreciation.

Understanding Movies is the best selling film text on the market!

Designed to help students analyze movies with precision and technical sophistication, this book focuses on formalism—how the languages of the film (e.g., camera work, editing, lighting, story, photography, etc.) create meaning. Building on the same principle of organization as previous editions—structuring chapters around the elements of film—the new edition of this best seller offers a lavish use of color, printed on high-quality paper and has been updated to integrate recent films, developments in filmmaking, and personalities in the field. A CD-ROM of interviews with filmmakers is available in a special value package.

NEW - Four Color Design—This text has been redesigned to better highlight models of modern filmmaking.
- Presents students with a visually inventive design, with over 70 full-color photos spread throughout the text, including shots from such recent films as The Matrix, Almost Famous, Jackass the movie, and Black Hawk Down.

NEW - Market leading Technology Package—Free student CD-ROM with video case studies—An updated Companion Website with animations, and video clips from interviews with movie professionals and access to Research Navigator for access to New York Times film reviews.
- Provides students with real world perspectives on film and filmmaking and offers students outside resources, critiques and visualizations.

NEW - Detailed captions accompany most of the hundreds of photos—From such well-known movies as The Lord of the Rings, Mystic River, Moulin Rouge, Traffic, Chicago, X2: X-Men United, and many others.
- Provides students with a visually appealing text containing publicity photos of superior technical resolution.

NEW - In Chapter 1—New section on contemporary special effects and computer generated imagery (CGI), and how this new technology revolutionized filmmaking.
- Supplies students with the most updated information on new developments in film technology.

NEW - Material on the classic era of Hollywood studios—Including sections on such famous costume designers as MGM's Adiran and Paramount's Edith Head.

Updated! Contemporary film profiles—On Halle Berry, Kathy Bates, Steven Spielberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Williams, Ice Cube, and many others.
- Gives students the inside scoop on some of today's “hottest” stars.

Updated! Wide assortment of ethnically-diverse examples—Including new material on the Islamic cinema, especially the important new cinema on Iran, and other new sections on how racism in America affected the careers of such Africa-American artists as Paul Robeson, Hattie McDaniel, and Lena Horne.
- Forms a well-rounded study by exposing students to a broad, varied, and unique collection of films and perspectives.

Final capstone chapter—Concludes text by recapping the main ideas of the previous chapters and applying them to a single movie, Citizen Kane.
- Students can use this chapter as a template or rough model for their own analytical termpapers

Four Color Design—This text has been redesigned to better highlight models of modern filmmaking.
- Presents students with a visually inventive design, with over 70 full-color photos spread throughout the text, including shots from such recent films as The Matrix, Almost Famous, Jackass the movie, and Black Hawk Down.

Market leading Technology Package—Free student CD-ROM with video case studies—An updated Companion Website with animations, and video clips from interviews with movie professionals and access to Research Navigator for access to New York Times film reviews.
- Provides students with real world perspectives on film and filmmaking and offers students outside resources, critiques and visualizations.

Detailed captions accompany most of the hundreds of photos—From such well-known movies as The Lord of the Rings, Mystic River, Moulin Rouge, Traffic, Chicago, X2: X-Men United, and many others.
- Provides students with a visually appealing text containing publicity photos of superior technical resolution.

In Chapter 1—New section on contemporary special effects and computer generated imagery (CGI), and how this new technology revolutionized filmmaking.
- Supplies students with the most updated information on new developments in film technology.

Material on the classic era of Hollywood studios—Including sections on such famous costume designers as MGM's Adiran and Paramount's Edith Head.

(NOTE: Each chapter begins with an Overview and concludes with a Further Reading section and Chapter Ending Questions.)

1. Photography.

Realism and Formalism. The Shots. The Angles. Light and Dark. Color. Lenses, Filters, Stocks, The Special Effects. The Cinematographer.

2. Mise en Scène.

The Frame. Composition and Design. Territorial Space. Proxemic Patterns. Open and Closed Forms.

3. Movement.

Kinetics. The Moving Camera. Mechanical Distortions of Movement.

4. Editing.

Continuity. D.W. Griffith and Classical Cutting. Soviet Montage and the Formalist Tradition. André Bazin and the Tradition of Realism. Hitchcock's North by Northwest: Storyboard Version.

5. Sound.

Historical Background. Sound Effects. Music. Musicals. Spoken Language.

6. Acting.

Stage and Screen Acting. The American Star System. Styles of Acting. Casting.

7. Drama.

Time, Space, and Language. The Director. Settings and Décor. Costumes and Makeup.

8. Story.

Narratology. The Spectator. The Classical Paradigm. Realistic Narratives. Formalistic Narratives. Nonfictional Narratives. Genre and Myth.

9. Writing.

The Screenwriter. The Screenplay. North by Northwest: Reading Version. Figurative Comparisons. Point of View. Literary Adaptations.

10. Ideology.

The Left-Center-Right Model. Culture, Religion, and Ethnicity. Feminism. Gay Liberation. Tone.

11. Critique (formerly Theory).

Types of Critiques. Theories of Realism. Formalist Film Theories. The Auteur Theory. Eclectic and Synthetic Approaches. Structuralism and Semiology. Historiography.

12. Synthesis: Citizen Kane .

Photography. Mise en Scène. Movement. Editing. Sound. Acting. Drama. Story. Writing. Ideology. Critique.

Glossary.

Index.

Introduction to Film (Literature & Creative Writing)
Introduction to Film (Mass Communication / Public Relations / Film)

Understanding Movies, 12/E
Giannetti
©2011 | Longman | Paper; 576 pp | Instock
ISBN-10: 0205737544 | ISBN-13: 9780205737543
Net price: $70.05 (What's this?)Brief Description

For undergraduate courses in Introduction to Film, Introduction to Cinema, and Film Appreciation.

This Twelfth Edition of Understanding Movies provides valuable insight into how movies communicate and convey meaning to their audiences through a unique network of language systems and techniques. In a readable, accessible, and sometimes humorous manner, Understanding Movies engages students in the fascinating language of film and helps further their appreciation and understanding of why and how movie watchers respond as they do to different films.

Organized around elements of film, the Twelfth Edition of this market leading text provides students with a new way of looking at films that are familiar to them through contemporary coverage and a visually engaging presentation.
Understanding Movies, 11/E
Giannetti
©2008 | Longman | Paper; 624 pp | Instock
ISBN-10: 0132336995 | ISBN-13: 9780132336994
Suggested retail price: $96.20 Net price: $72.15 (What's this?)Brief Description

For undergraduate courses in Introduction to Film, Introduction to Cinema, and Film Appreciation.

This contemporary, best-selling text is designed to help students analyze movies with precision and technical sophistication.

Designed to help students analyze movies with precision and technical sophistication, Understanding Movies focuses on formalism—how the languages of the film (e.g., camera work, editing, lighting, story, photography, etc.) create meaning. Building on the same principle of organization as previous editions—structuring chapters around the elements of film—the new edition of this best seller offers a lavish use of color, printed on high-quality paper and has been updated to integrate recent films, developments in filmmaking, and personalities in the field.

Reviews
Author Bios

"Giannetti's book is invaluable for anyone who wants a deeper appreciation of the movies. Drawing on a lifetime of wisdom, he explains clearly and passionately how the movies work, and why. I have used earlier editions of this classic work for years, recommend it constantly and welcome this latest edition." — Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper

Louis Giannetti is a Professor Emeritus of English and Film at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He has taught courses in film, literature, writing, drama, and humanities. He has published many articles, both popular and scholarly, on political subjects, literature, and drama. In addition to being a professional film critic for several years, he has, written about movies for such scholarly journals as Literature/Film Quarterly, The Western Humanities Review, and Film Criticism. Professor Giannetti is also the author of a book on cinema theory. GODARD AND OTHERS: ESSAYS ON FILM FORM, published in both Britain and the United States. Professor Giannetti's other books include MASTERS OF THE AMERICAN CINEMA (Prentice Hall, 1981), a survey of American fiction films from the perspective of eighteen key figures. FLASHBACK: A BRIEF HISTORY OF FILM, FOURTH EDITION (Prentice Hall, 2001), written with Scott Eyman, is a history organized by decade, outlining the major events, trends, and important filmmakers and their work, with emphasis on the American cinema. Both books are copiously illustrated. UNDERSTANDING MOVIES has been a best-selling text in all its previous editions, widely used in the United States and in such countries as Australia, Britain, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand. South Africa, and Japan. It has been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Hebrew. Professor Giannetti is the father of two daughters, Christina and Francesca. He lives in Shaker Heights, where lie spends an inordinate amount of time tending his Japanese-style garden.

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ISBN-10: 0131891014 | ISBN-13: 9780131891012

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Companion Website - Giannetti, 10/E
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©2005 | Longman | On-line Supplement | Instock
ISBN-10: 0131891014 | ISBN-13: 9780131891012

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