The Film Experience: An Introduction

by Timothy Corrigan, Patricia White

In our culture, watching movies is a universal experience – but understanding film may not be. The Film Experience reaches out to students, connecting their experiences watching movies with better understanding and knowledge of the medium's full scope. And with its game-changing new video program in LaunchPad Solo (see below), this thoroughly updated new edition makes it easier than ever to link each student’s personal viewing to a greater overall understanding of film.

Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White’s classroom favorite is both authoritative and joyful about watching, analyzing, and understanding film. With clips from classic and contemporary films (Rear Window, Life of Pi, Moonrise Kingdom, Chinatown, and many others) plus hundreds of movie images and other graphics, the thoroughly revised new edition covers everything from editing to cinematography to narrative genres, all in a cultural context that reinforces why films and film study matter. The book's features—Form in Action, Film in Focus, and Concepts at Work —combine text, stills, and links to videos online to explore specific films, scenes, and trends in depth.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Art, Grad School, Media Tie In, Academic, School

544 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2004

Reviews

[Dessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s one final chapter that I didn’t read from this textbook but I’m close enough that I’m just gonna say I’ve read it. Honestly learned a lot from this book / the class that I TA’d that required me to read it. Cons: repetitive use of literal white nationalist propaganda film as examples of “effective film with a message”. Maybe… don’t???

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why must I read and re-read this every quarter????

[Filip Emanuel Stolpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing and fascinating read. A solid chunk of helpful information about film and the culture(s) surrounding it; most of it being useful for those aspiring to work with film to some extent, or just to watch film in a more intellectually stimulating way. The book's very broad and covers many aspects, so keep that in mind. You won't learn the actual practices like directing and writing screenplays, but you're provided with the rules and basics needed. Repetitive, which contributes to the learning process, yet the chapters could've been structured better in order to more entirely capture the different historical periods without fragmentation.

[Lovely Fortune · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Intro to Film

Definitely something I'll likely have to keep reading throughout the rest of my studies, from the sections we read, this was a pretty great way for those interested in the mechanics and history of film to immerse themselves in the subject.

[Katerina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Film Experience is a textbook introduction to movie watching and reviewing. It serves its purpose/

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read that brings forth a lot of compelling information about film, and the film experience at large. A lot of it is very introductory, but there's still a lot of insight to be found.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book for teaching Intro to Film Studies. It's concise and engaging and new editions keep flexing for great range of films, people, and approaches!

[Hmmm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for helping me add 300 films to my to-watch list that just got a million times harder to clear grrrrrrrrr

[Thomas Neville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy moly uni is rough

[Brian Cham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my textbook for film studies in university. It was pretty comprehensive and the illustrations were helpful. The case studies also served as a good example, even if they were very typical selections for academia.

[Mills College Library]

791.43 C8254 2004

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for one of my film classes this last quarter. It was really interesting to learn more about film techniques and how to analyze film. It was a lot of help for the class!

[Vasili Birlidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, expansive primer on film studies and film theory. Read for ENG 2300 - Film Analysis with Ms. Glosser (second year, University of Florida, Fall 2014).

[skylar lokota · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introductory textbook! I understood concepts immediately, and my professor made everything very clear.