Introduction to Film Studies

Introduction to Film Studies is a comprehensive leading textbook for students of cinema. This completely revised and updated fourth edition guides students through the  key issues and concepts in film studies, traces the historical development of film and introduces some of the worlds key national cinemas. A range of theories and theorists are presented from Formalism to Feminism, from Eisenstein to Deleuze. Each chapter is written by a subject specialist, including four new authors, and a wide range of films are analysed and discussed. It is  lavishly illustrated with over 123 film stills and production shots, many of them in colour. Reviewed widely by teachers in the field and with a foreword by Bill Nichols, it will be essential reading for any introductory student of film, media studies or the visual arts worldwide.

Key features of the fourth edition are: 

• full coverage of important topics for introductory level
• updated coverage of a wide range of concepts, theories and issues in film studies
• in-depth discussion of the contemporary film industry
• new chapters on Rediscovering Film; Ethnicity, Race and Cinema; Documentary; Film, Form and Narrative; British Cinema; Approaches to Cinematic Authorship
• new case studies on films such as Bamboozled, Wild Strawberries, Run Lola Run, Grey Gardens, Grizzly Man, Boys Don't Cry, Love Actually, and many others
• marginal key terms, notes, cross-referencing 
• suggestions for further reading, further viewing and a comprehensive glossary and bibliography
• website resources including updated popular case studies from previous editions, a chapter on German Cinema and links to supporting sites

Individual chapters introduce: Rediscovering Film Studies · The Industrial Contexts of Film Production · Film Form and Narrative · Approaches to Cinematic Authorship · Genre, Theory and Hollywood Cinema; Stardom and Hollywood Cinema · Spectator, Audience and Response · The Documentary Form · The Language of Animation · Gender and Film · Lesbian and Gay Cinema · Ethnicity, Race and Cinema - African American Film · British Cinema · Indian Cinema ·Soviet Montage Cinema of the 1920s · French New Wave

Contributors include: Chris Darke, Lalitha Gopalan, Terri Francis, Chris Jones, Mark Joyce, Searle Kochberg, Lawrence Napper, Jill Nelmes, Patrick Phillips, Suzanne Speidel, Paul Ward, Paul Watson, Paul Wells.

Jill Nelmes is a senior lecturer at the University of East London. Her research interests include gender and film and screenwriting. She recently spent two years studying screenwriting at UCLA and working in the film industry in Los Angeles.