Encyclopedia of Early Cinema - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415234409 ISBN 13: 9780415234405

Publisher: Routledge, 2004

Synopsis

This encyclopedia presents a wealth of information on early cinema history, with coverage of the techniques and equipment of film production, profiles of the pioneering directors and producers, analysis of individual films and the rapid growth of distinct film genres, and the emergence of something the world had never seen before - the movie star.

The work also focuses on how the nature of film exhibition changed as the industry grew, and how the public's reception to films also changed. The pre-cinema period is closely examined to show those mass-cultural forms and practices - such as music hall and vaudeville - from within which cinema was to emerge.

A perfect companion for any student of early cinema and film studies.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Abel is director of the Graduate Certificate Program in Film and Video Studies at the University of Michigan. His essays have appeared in dozens of journals and been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. Along with several of those essays, four of his books have won national or international awards. Recently he began research on a new project, Trash Twins: Moving Pictures and Newspapers in the USA, 1911-1914.

From Booklist:

Covering the 1890s to the mid-1910s, this work focuses on the period during which filmmaking progressed from the early flickering moving images that lasted only a matter of seconds to multiple-reel, feature films running more than an hour. By offering an international perspective and encompassing not only the production aspects of early motion pictures but also their distribution, exhibition, and reception, this work fills a gap in the reference literature on film.

Contributed by Abel, a film professor at the University of Michigan, and a team of nearly 140 scholars, the alphabetically arranged entries include key figures; technical innovations; film companies; kinds of films (Comedy, Newsreels, Polar expedition films); aspects of film production (Costume, Lighting, Sound effects); historical overviews of early cinema in specific countries; film publications; and related social and cultural institutions, practices, and concerns. Of the more than 950 entries, approximately 560 treat inventors, directors, producers, scriptwriters, actors and actresses, and other people involved in filmmaking. Most entries for individuals are relatively brief (between 100 to 200 words), but particularly significant figures, such as Charles Chaplin and Thomas Edison, receive treatments ranging from 450 to 1,000 words. Articles in other categories, for instance, those on specific film genres and national cinemas, often span several pages. Especially notable are the essays on individual countries, which reflect how quickly the technologies for making and showing motion pictures spread to diverse locations throughout the world, such as Cuba, New Zealand, and Vietnam. All entries are signed, and many provide bibliographic references.

Additional features include an extensive general bibliography of sources pertaining to early cinema and 132 black-and-white photographs and other illustrations. Liberal use of cross-references, a thematic guide that arranges article headings into broad subject categories, and a commendably detailed index (which is essential for locating information on individual films since there are no entries for film titles) facilitate access.

Scholarly but not pedantic, this encyclopedia will be a valuable resource in larger academic and public libraries and other institutions that are developing comprehensive collections related to film studies. Unfortunately, its substantial price may prohibit its purchase in many instances. Marie Ellis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0415234409
• ISBN 13: 9780415234405
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 824
• Editor: Abel Richard