The Classical Hollywood Cinema - Softcover

Bordwell, David; Staiger, Janet; Thompson, Kristin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415003830 ISBN 13: 9780415003834

Publisher: Routledge, 1988

Synopsis

'A dense, challenging and important book.' Philip French Observer

'At the very least, this blockbuster is probably the best single volume history of Hollywood we're likely to get for a very long time.' Paul Kerr City Limits

'Persuasively argued, the book is also packed with facts, figures and photographs.' Nigel Andrews Financial Times

Acclaimed for their breakthrough approach, Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson analyze the basic conditions of American film-making as a historical institution and consider to what extent Hollywood film production constitutes a systematic enterprise, in both its style and its business operations.

Despite differences of director, genre or studio, most Hollywood films operate within a set of shared assumptions about how a film should look and sound. Such assumptions are neither natural nor inevitable; but because classical-style films have been the type most widely seen, they have come to be accepted as the 'norm' of film-making and viewing.

The authors show how these classical conventions were formulated and standardized, and how they responded to the arrival of sound, colour, widescreen ratios and stereophonic sound. They argue that each new technological development has served a function within an existing narrational system.

The authors also examine how the Hollywood cinema standardized the film-making process itself. They describe how, over the course of its history, Hollywood developed distinct modes of production in a constant search for maximum efficiency, predictability and novelty.

Set apart by its combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this book is the standard work on the classical Hollywood cinema style of film-making from the silent era to the 1960s. Now available in paperback, it is a 'must' for film students, lecturers and all those seriously interested in the development of the film industry.

About this title

Book Description:

How films are conceived,planned, and produced leaves a mark upon the films, directly and structurally. The relations between film style and mode of production are, according to the authors, reciprocal and mutually influencing. The authors trace such topics as style, economics, and technology over time, demonstrating how significant changes occurrred in Hollywood from the earliest days through the sixties.

About the Author:

David Bordwell is Professor of Film at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and head of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

Janet Staiger is Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at New York University.

Kristin Thompson is Honorary Fellow at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0415003830
• ISBN 13: 9780415003834
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 652