Becoming Film Literate
The Art and Craft of Motion Pictures
Vincent LoBrutto
ISBN:
0-275-98144-4
ISBN-13:
978-0-275-98144-0
404 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication:
3/30/2005
Discount Price:
$25.98
Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability:
In Stock
Media Type:
Hardcover
Trim Size:
6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Reviews:
-
To introduce students to the basic tools of cinema, LoBrutto (editing, production design and cinema studies, School of Visual Arts) uses 50 landmark films as illustrations of concepts such as production design, cinematography, sound, narrative structure and genres. Readers learn about film authorship, for example, in a discussion of Citizen Kane and multiplot narrative in a chapter on Nashville. LoBrutto includes a glossary and suggestions for further viewing or reading.
—Reference & Research Book News/Art Book News Annual
August 2005
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This book has merit as an introduction to the science and language of cinema.
—PublishersWeekly.com
March 28, 2005
Description:
Though movies have remained our foremost cultural pastime for over 100 years, many of us still know very little about the tools used to create them. In this groundbreaking new book, Vincent LoBrutto provides an enjoyable and accessible education in the art of cinema: using 50 landmark films spanning the history of the medium, LoBrutto illustrates such important concepts as editing, production design, cinematography, sound, screen acting, narrative structure, and various genres, nationalities, and film eras. Each concept is illustrated by the selection of a film that epitomizes its use, so that readers will learn about film authorship in Citizen Kane, multiplot narrative in Nashville, widescreen filmmaking in Rebel without a Cause, and screen violence in The Wild Bunch. Explaining the various tricks of the moviemaking trade, Becoming Film Literate offers a crash course in cinema, one designed to give even the novice reader a solid introduction to this complex and multifaceted medium.
Though movies have remained our foremost cultural pastime for over 100 years, many of us still know very little about the tools used to create them. In this groundbreaking new book, Vincent LoBrutto provides an enjoyable and accessible education in the art of cinema: using 50 landmark films spanning the history of the medium, LoBrutto illustrates such important concepts as editing, production design, cinematography, sound, screen acting, narrative structure, and various genres, nationalities, and film eras. Each concept is illustrated by the selection of a film that epitomizes its use, so that readers will learn about film authorship in Citizen Kane, multiplot narrative in Nashville, widescreen filmmaking in Rebel without a Cause, and screen violence in The Wild Bunch.
Providing a unique opportunity to become acquainted with important movies and the elements of their greatness, Becoming Film Literate offers a crash course in cinema, one designed to give even the novice reader a solid introduction to this complex and multifaceted medium.
Table of Contents:
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Acknowledgments
Introduction
Non-Linear Storytelling: Amores Perros
Transformation of the American Comedy: Annie Hall
Tableau Narrative Structure and Sound Design: Apocalypse Now
The Body as Cinematic Landscape: L'Avventura
Editing: Russian Montage: The Battleship Potemkin
Italian Neorealism: The Bicycle Thief
Production Design: Blade Runner
Dream State: Blue Velvet
The Period Film as Mirror for the Present: Bonnie and Clyde
Expressionism in Cinema: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Classical Hollywood Film Style: Cassablanca
Surrealism in Cinema: Un Chien Andalou
The Authorial Voice: Citizen Kane
Shot Structure: The Crowd
Thematic Unity: The Decalogue
Mythopoetic Film: Dog Star Man
Political Objectives through Cinematic Storytelling: Do the Right Thing
Film Noir: Double Idemnity
The Personal Film: 8 1/2
Animation and Music: Fantasia
An American Musical: 42nd Street
New York Filmmaking: The French Connection
Period Comedy: The General
Parallel Storytelling: Intolerance
French New Wave: Jules and Jim
The Epic: Lawrence of Arabia
The Political Thriller: The Manchurian Candidate
Self-Referential Cinema: Man with the Movie Camera
Architecture in Production Design: Metropolis
Roots of Documentary Film: Nanook of the North
Multiplot, Multicharacter Narrative: Nashville
Method Acting: On the Waterfront
The Close Up: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Dark Side of American Cinema: Psycho
Subtext in Personal Expression: Raging Bull
Multiple Point-of-View Narrative: Rashomon
Widescreen Filmmaking: Rebel without a Cause
Camera Movement as Metaphor: LaRonde
Mise-en-Scene: Rules of the Game
Direct Cinema: Salesman
The Freudian Western: The Searchers
Defining Theme, Metaphor, and Character through Color, Texture, and Environmental Design: Se7en
Symbolism in the Cinema: The Seventh Seal
Art of the B-Movie: Shock Corridor
Digital Filmmaking: Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Birth of a Nonfiction Film Style: The Thin Blue Line
Experimental Narrative: 2001: A Space Odyssey
The Essay Film: Weekend
Screen Violence as Metaphor: The Wild Bunch
Independent Filmmaking: A Woman Under the Influence
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the Author:
Vincent LoBrutto is an instructor of editing, production design, and cinema studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is the author of Stanley Kubrick: A Biography, as well as such books as Selected Takes: Film Editors on Editing (Praeger, 1991), By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers (Praeger, 1992), and The Encyclopedia of American Independent Filmmaking (Greenwood, 2002). A member of American Cinema Editors, LoBrutto is the assistant editor of CinemaEditor and a contributing author to American Cinematographer and Films in Review.
LCC Class:
791
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