A Short History of Film, Third Edition - Softcover

Dixon, Wheeler Winston; Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813595126 ISBN 13: 9780813595122

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2018

Synopsis

With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.  

About this title

About the Author

WHEELER WINSTON DIXON is the James Ryan Professor of Film Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the author of many books, including Black and White Cinema: A Short History (Rutgers University Press), and an internationally known experimental filmmaker.

GWENDOLYN AUDREY FOSTER is Willa Cather Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is coeditor of the book series Quick Takes: Movies and Popular Culture from Rutgers University Press, and the author of many books, articles, and experimental videos.
 

Review

"This is the film history book we've been waiting for" - David Sterritt, editor of Quarterly Review of Film and Video
 
"With the goal of offering 'a fast paced tour' of movie history, Dixon and Foster have produced a study in the tradition of Paul Rotha's The Film till Now. The authors touch all the bases--they address new trends in international movie making, technologies, and critical theory and the emergence of new national and ethnic cinemas--and relate film history to social history. Each new technique, style, school, trend, and newly visible ethnic or feminist group takes its place in the larger history, and Dixon and Foster make it all accessible to the neophyte reader without ever breaking the pace. Uncommonly well-reproduced stills and a topically organized bibliography enhance the discussion. Highly recommended." --Choice
 
"This excellent introduction stands out in a crowded field with its lively, accessible writing, broad coverage, and particular focus on traditionally marginalized figures in film history...the most striking aspect of the book is the coverage of women, African Americans, and Third World filmmakers, which strongly complements its solid coverage of American and European film. Illustrations abound, and even the best-versed cineaste will find new films to track down after reading the breezy, enthusiastic analysis in this book. Highly recommended for all collections, this text would also make an excellent textbook for introductory film-studies courses." --Library Journal, starred review

"A Short History of Film is a comprehensive and detailed overview of the last 100 years of international film history. It will prove to be a useful reference tool for all students of film, both in and out of the classroom." - Paula J. Massood, Brooklyn College, CUNY

"A new history of international film at an affordable price. Nothing like those text book prices for a change. Includes perspectives on women and minorities in film along with innovations in technology, genres, studios, and conglomerates." - Stephanie Ogle, Cinema Books

"A Short History of Film is the best 'one-stop shopping' volume on cinema history I have ever read. It offers not only thoroughness and concision, but also encourages meaningful browsing, as readers can pick and choose their topics of particular interest and then move on as desired." - Catherine Ritchie, Dallas Public Library

"Dixon and Foster's A Short History of Film provides an excellent starting point into the study of film history.  It is organized chronologically beginning with the inventions which allowed for film's creation like the Kinetoscope, the Cinematograph, and the magic lantern in the silent era, leading into the inventions of the era of sound, and finally ending with the computer-generated films of the contemporary world. 

Important events such as World War II and the Cold War, which greatly influenced the production and consumption of films, are given their own chapters or sections.  Furthermore, the significant eras of film history, according to film and cinema scholars, comprising French New Wave, Italian neo-realism, the Hollywood studio-system of the 1930s and 1940s, and worldwide independent film endeavors are incorporated. This book offers the major technological, cultural, political, social,and economic contexts of a broad spectrum of films and the people who made them.
        
While other works on the history of film tend to ignore of the work of women and those based outside of Europe or North America, Dixon and Foster's work remedies this problem by covering the conventional and the less-well known topics and figures such as Ida Lupino, Alice Guy, Ousmane Sembène and the role of film in Africa.  This thorough, yet concise work supplies its readers with nearly all the important people, inventions, and techniques which molded the production, analysis, and popularity of film.  A Short History of Film is a readily accessible read for anyone interested in cinema or film's history, and is especially valuable for the beginning film historian or the film studies undergraduate.  It is also useful for cultural historians using films as a lens for cultural analysis." - David Zintak, Middle Ground Journal

Selected as an Outstanding University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Usage, American Association of University Presses. Selected as a Most Significant University Press Title for undergraduates by Choice.

"Dixon and Foster's third edition of A Short History of Film provides a comprehensive  . . . understanding of the basics of cinematic history, starting from Eadweard Muybridge and ending with such contemporary works as The Hunger Games. The book progresses in chronological order, decade after decade,alternating chapters between American and what Americans would consider' foreign' cinema, an arrangement that makes the discussion regimented and easy to follow. One of the more important features is the focus on women directors who may not be well known to the general public; this makes the book timely and a welcome change from older film textbooks that are more implicitly biased." - Choice

Edition details

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0813595126
• ISBN 13: 9780813595122
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 524