Understand Film Studies: A Teach Yourself Guide

by Warren Buckland

An unpretentious guide for all those who want to learn to analyze, understand and evaluate films

"Film Studies: The Essentials" provides an overview of the key areas in film studies, including aesthetics, narrative, genre, documentary films and the secrets of film reviewing.

From Hitchcock and Tarantino to Spielberg and Bigelow, you will soon gain a critical understanding of legendary directors and the techniques and skills that are used to achieve certain cinematic effects.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Reference, Art, Media Tie In, Criticism, History

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Homa · Rating 3 out of 5]

برای اونهایی که به صورت تفننی قصد دارن با یک سری جزئیات سینما آشنا بشن و بتونن فیلم هایی که میبینن رو به صورت ابتدایی نقد و تفسیر کنن کتاب جامع و خوبیه.

[Iulian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive, detailed introductory read about films (even if it's 220 pages long), that not only explains visual and narrative techniques that are key ingredients in making a movie, like mise-en-scène, mise-en-shot, restricted narration, omniscient narration etc. - while the author explains among others, what elements should a well written review consist of - but on each chapter we find (and especially at the end of the book) further complex and rich advanced readings about films (books written by André Bazin for example).

We also discover sites that would enrich our understanding of how a film comes to form, from the direction, script and so on - while it's really important to judge a film as part of its specific genre too (french new wave, new hollywood, italian neorealism, german expressionism etc.), apart of just judging it by general and standard understandings on the "I like it/I didn't like it", "It was good/it was bad" opinion or that if it makes you soft, it must be a great film too...practically it may be the case, theoretically...not always.

[فاروق الفرشيشي · Rating 3 out of 5]

هناك قدر من الإفادة الحاصلة عموما. ولكنّ أهمّ ما يقدمه الكتاب هو البيبليوغرافيا الثمينة والخصبة.
من المهمّ على قارئ الكتاب أن يشاهد أهم الأفلام التي يأخذها نماذجا. وأخص بالذكر سايكو Psycho لهيتشكوك حيث يعود له في أكثر من مناسبة.

[Moti · Rating 5 out of 5]

عالی بود یه کتاب خوش فهم و روون که ترجمشم عالی بود .خیلی ساده و عالی و با مثال اصطلاحات و مقدمات علم سینما رو گفته توی شش فصل .من از تو نت پیداش کرده بودم و باورم نمیشه هنوز که همچین کتاب خوبی از آب در اومد

[Saeed Aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

حقیقتا یکی از بهترین کتابا برای شروعه مخصوصا ترتیب مطالبش با تکنیک و بعد روایت.نقد و تحلیل روایی عالی داره برای مالهالند درایو و پالپ فیکشن و بخصوص بخش بررسی ژانرش

[Ardavan Bayat · Rating 4 out of 5]

پایان خوانش: 1404.03.31
بیش از یک سال از آغاز این کتاب تا پایانش گذشت. زمان زیادی کتاب رو رها کرده‌بودم. نمی‌دونم چرا نمی‌تونستم بخونمش. خوشحالم که تمومش کردم. برگ‌های پایانی رو در پارکینگ و در بی‌برقی و انتظار خوندم. حقیقتا علاقه‌ای نداشتم نقد مرد عنکبوتی3 رو بخونم ولی صرفا چون آموزشی بود خوندمش.
در نهایت باید بگم کتاب خوب و آموزنده‌ای بود.


فهرست:
یک دقیقه فرصت دارید؟
مقدمه

1. زیبایی‌شناسی فیلم: فرمالیسم و رئالیسم
میزانسن
طراحی صحنه
میزانشات
صدا در فیلم
تحلیل نظری زیبایی‌شناسی فیلم

2. ساختار فیلم: روایت و روایت‌گری
ساختار روایت
روایت‌گری دانای محدود و روایت‌گری دانای کل

3. نگره‌ی مولف: کارگردان در جایگاه مولف
سرچشمه‌ی نگره‌ی مولف
سبک و درون‌مایه‌های فیلم‌های آلفرد هیچکاک
سینمای ویم وندرس
سینمای کاترین بیگلو
مولف در سینمای معاصر

4. ژانرهای سینمایی، معرف انواع فیلم‌ها
دشواری‌های مطالعه‌ی ژانرهای سینمایی
فیلم ژانر به‌مثابه‌ی اسطوره/نماد فرهنگی
مطالعات تازده در زمینه‌ی ملودرام
فیلم نوآر/فیلم سیاه
فیلم‌های علمی-تخیلی دهه‌ی 1950

5. سینمای غیرداستانی: پنج گونه فیلم مستند
مستند گزارشی
مستند مشاهده‌ای
مستند تعاملی
مستند بازنمایانه
مستند نمایشی

6. برخورد با فیلم‌ها: هنر و حرفه‌ی نقد و بررسی فیلم
چهار کارکرد نقد و بررسی فیلم‌ها
چهار رکن اصلی در نقد و بررسی فیلم‌ها
نقد فیلیپ فرنچ بر بیمار انگلیسی
ارزیابی فیلم‌ها
تحلیل چهار نقد و بررسی بر مرد عنکبوتی3

[Milky way · Rating 3 out of 5]

من به این‌ کتاب‌ دوتا تشکر بدهکارم. اول اینکه تونستم باهاش فیلم شب‌های روشن فرزاد موتمن رو تحلیل کنم و دوم اینکه باعث شد من با عجیب‌ترین فیلم زندگیم یعنی "جاده مالهالند" آشنا بشم و واااای هنوزم وقتی اسمش میاد مو به تنم سیخ میشه.
درباره کتاب می‌تونم بگم، اطلاعات و دید کلی خوبی رو برای نوشتن یه نقد فیلم بهمون می‌ده. میزانسن،میزان‌شات، ژانرها، مکاتب فرمالیسم ورئالیسم، روایت و روایتگری از جمله نکات مهم این کتاب هست که بهش پرداخته می‌شه. آثاری از هیچکاک و فیلم‌‌های مهم تاریخ سینما مثل همشهری کین، روانی، آرواره‌ها و خیلی چیزای دیگه رو به‌طور جز به جز بررسی می‌کنه و باعث آشنایی نسبی شما با سینمای کلاسیک می‌شه.
اما این کتاب به هیچ‌عنوان جامع نیست. بخش ژانر واقعا ناقصه و اطلاعات مکاتب هم بسیار سطحیه. جوری نیست که بعد از خوندنش بگید ایول من منتقد سینما شدم! اما برای شروع عالیه

[entie · Rating 2 out of 5]

đọc xong rồi mà ngán quá Khuê ơiii bữa nào cf trả cho hê hê~

[Amirhosein manzoori · Rating 4 out of 5]

اطلاعات ابتدایی در مورد فیلم و نقد فیلم . برای مبتدیان مناسب است

[Pinkapantherella · Rating 4 out of 5]

All cinephiles must read this. Film theory in a nutshell.

[Helin]

Sinemayı anlamanın temellerini oldukça kolay bir dille ve pek çok örnek üzerinden veren Buckland'ın kitabı, bu konuyla ilk defa tanışanların dahi keyifle okuyacağı bir kaynak. Bir başka artısı ise, her bölümün sonundaki okuma listeleri. Böylece daha derine inmek isteyenler için de yol haritası sunmuş. Sinemaya eleştirel bakış için iyi bir başlangıç kitabı.

[Farkhondeh Nazarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

بالاخره تموم شد!
برای شروع مطالعه سینمایی خوبه؛ اما اگه اندکی اطلاعات سینمایی دارین، هیچ چیز جدیدی به معلومات شما اضافه نمی کنه!

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little dry an academic but some cool stuff. gets a little stuck on the mise in scene and mise in shot stuff and to adapt a quote from Zappa "talking about movies is like dancing about architecture." so more images or storyboards I think would have been helpful. and it says these were adapted from lectures so he might have had a power point to show it all but I was bored reading through the shot by shot of different movies. the stuff on Hitchcock and the floating camera attaching itself to characters I've started seeing in other movies. the part on documentaries I found the most interesting as it was really talking about how a movie pushes an agenda regardless if it is "real life" or not. I didn't really get the "artistic" divide but that is because as this book classifies me as a formalist (if I remember correctly) and want to see the script more so then I want to see a work of art whose medium is a movie. the bit on how to write reviews was pretty good. my only complaint is that is for ppl looking to sell those reviews for a living. if I recommend something it is because I want you to see/read it and thus discover the plot for yourself, I don't need to spell it out for you.

[James Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction into thinking critically about films that went a lot deeper into theory than I expected. Loved the sections on narrative and narration as well as theory about film technique (formalist vs realist). The section about documentary filmmaking was nicely laid out, too. I didn’t like the section about auteur theory, as the author presents it like an accepted fact in all film circles and not the disputed and debated theory that it actually is.

[Saeed abedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

با این که کتاب واقعا مقدماتی است اما بسیار قابل احترام است مهم تر از همه اینکه از ابتدای سینما شروع میکند با یک مثال ساده فرق قصه گویی با گزارش و اهمیت تدوین را باز مینماید ( فیلم کفش فروش خوشحال اثر پورتر) بعد از آن است که سراغ فرم فیلم میرود درباره تدوین میزان شات و تفاوتش با میزانس میگوید و ظهور عمق دادن تصویر و بعد سراغ ژانر ها میرود با مثال های متعدد
کتاب صوتی را میتوانید به صورت رایگان از این پادکست بشنوید



https://castbox.fm/va/5642221

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to help me prepare for a class I am going to teach this upcoming semester, and it didn't help me much. Still, it was interesting to read about some important film movements and directors and the concept of the auteur and etc. I read this book a few weeks ago and now it has gone bloop bloop blooop out of my head.

[BJ Hal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars
A basic introduction to the different themes in film studies, from different ways of filming, director as auteur, different types of documentary filming, critiquing film etc. With plenty of references for deeper study.

[Marian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Largely unhelpful if you have any kind of history with media literacy and critique at all.

[Van Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sách phân tích các khía cạnh/ yếu tố để nghiên cứu phim. Nên đọc 👍

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've finally admitted to myself that filmmaking has a substantial influence on my artwork, so I have begun the process of learning the ins and outs of the medium. This book was a great introduction to the industry, which was exactly what I was looking for.

I appreciated the full range of coverage Buckland gave on the industry: it was primarily a focus on American and European films (not mentioning the Asian film industry), but he certainly gave a healthy survey of the two continents' film history. While I'd say that my knowledge (not so much experience) of the film industry has a fair amount of breadth to it, I certainly learned a lot and created a growing list of films and directors I need to investigate.

I absolutely poured through the chapter on film genre. For some reason, learning about genre conventions has always fascinated me; I think I just enjoy the prospect of learning from other stories within a genre as I develop my own take on it.

Admittedly, the book felt very much like a textbook (which, obviously, is exactly what it is), so there was much repetition and sections that were simply dull to me. But I for the most part enjoyed learning of industry terms and history.

For anyone looking to start the process of learning about film studies, this is a fantastic place to start. Don't expect much else from it, but I don't know why anyone would.

[M. Kirollos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative and well-written book on film studies for beginners. It covers a different subject in each chapter followed by references allowing readers to further pursue whichever film subject they find interesting, and while certainly not all the information would be new for a reader with a long interest in film, and the educational style adopted by the writer (re-iterating certain points several times, summarising main points at the end of each chapter) might not appeal to everyone, it is still worth reading and the easy and patient organised approach to explaining techniques and terminology is definitely helping.

The book starts with a discussion about the importance of film studies, then explains film elements and aesthetics (realism vs formalism), followed by film structure (narrative and narration). It then moves on to discuss the theory of auteurism, the concept of film genres, followed by a chapter on documentary film and its different types and finishes with the art of film reviewing, providing good examples in each chapter. I particulary found the extensive list of references for further reading after each chapter quite useful as well as the websites on critical scholarly analysis of film theories and philosophies. A much recommended book for beginners.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to how films work, from their narrative structure to set design and shot direction. It is probably best read alongside the works that it uses for examples, which include classics like North by Northwest, Breathless, and Mulholland Dr. Probably the perfect book for anyone who likes movies and wants to begin looking at them more critically, even if just to increase their own enjoyment.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than average introduction into film that covers significant ground, such as formalism and realism, narrative and narration, the director as auteur, genre films, documentaries and reviewing film. Buckland sometimes strays slightly off topic, but that's certainly forgivable. In a book this short, Buckland doesn't have time to go into any in-depth discussions, but he does provide a wealth of other resources (print and web) for those looking for more info. Recommended.

[Lloyd Hoshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource - a college coruse in a book. Any teacher who will be teaching the new Literature and Film class would benefit from reading this book, but it's a bit too advanced for a high school student.

[Sankar Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction from a great author. It is written for the beginner ans well as the expert. He explains the techniques so beautifully. A must for everyone interested in movies and wants to know how they are made

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry at times, but overall a fascinating introduction to basic film studies.

[Faye · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a long time to read this book. I would rush off to rent the movies suggested in the book. It was not well written but the information was interesting