Product Description

Ranging from Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to Quentin Tarantino, from auteur theory to the Hollywood Blockbuster, Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts has firmly established itself as the essential guide for anyone interested in film. Now fully revised and updated for its third edition, the book includes new topical entries such as:
* action movies
* art direction
* blockbusters
* Bollywood
* exploitation cinema
* female masquerade.
Providing accessible and authoritative coverage of a comprehensive range of genres, movements, theories and production terms, Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts is a must-have guide to a fascinating area of study and arguably the greatest art form of modern times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #230860 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Review

Key Concepts in Cinema Studies by Susan Hayward must be one of the most useful books ever published on the always expanding subject of cinema studies ... Even if you are familiar with many of the terms you may find it valuable to go through all of them as Haywards perspective is amazingly thought-provoking and educative. - Film Waves, of the first edition

An ideal one-stop encyclopedia for students ... an authoritative and - more importantly - a highly accessible work. - Film Review, of the first edition

Indispensable book ... a more rounded aide to undergraduate discussion of cinema. - Sight and Sound, of the first edition

It is unquestionably both an extensive and valuable resource on all things cinematic. - M/C Reviews, Australia, of the first edition

A useful reference resource... Is it a worthwhile resource for a media library? Yes, of course. It will provide essential background for A Level film and media teachers and more able students. - Media Education Association Newsletter

Enthusiastically recommended for students of film, anyone seeking a career in the movie industry, and even seasoned professionals looking for an easy-to-use refresher reference. - Wisconsin Bookwatch

About the Author
Susan Hayward is Professor of French at the University of Exeter. Her recent publications include French National Cinema (second edition, Routledge, 2005) and Les Diaboliques (2005).

Customer Reviews

A succinct, thorough guide to film theory and technique
Routledge Key Guides are typically succinct, thorough, and extremely useful - and this is no exception. The articles cover a broad range of topics from simple editing techniques to sophisticated Lacanian theory. Hayward's tone is authoritative, but never pedantic. These entries are not excessively wordy and are thus useful to beginning film students, or even regular film buffs. That is not to say, however, that the book isn't useful to more advanced students. While most film students will probably own Bordwell's "Film Art", you may need to do a little digging before you find exactly what you need. This guide is very straightforward to use, so you never have to hunt around for, say, how the concept of "agency" relates to the cinema. This isn't really a replacement for a larger volume on film theory and technique, but it is a nice companion for easy access to lots of information.

The articles range from one paragraph for terms where a straightforward definition will suffice to 21 pages on psychoanalysis. Again, Hayward's goal is communication, not a dazzling display of erudition. Nothing against dense scholarly texts - this is just easily accessible by comparison.

The book is cross-indexed and each entry includes helpful tips for further reading. Add to that an extensive list of references, and three indices (films, names, and terms) and you've got a handy reference that you'll return to again and again. Whether you're trying to get a handle on the rapidly expanding world of film studies, or you're working on a paper and you need a quick reminder of what a "parallel reversal" is, this is worth picking up.

An encyclopedia-style A to Z guide of critical cinematic concepts
Now in its revised, updated, and expanded third edition Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts is an encyclopedia-style A to Z guide of critical cinematic concepts, from "action movies" and "art direction" to "Italian neo-realism", "lap- dissolve", "30-degree rule", "widescreen" and much more. Each accessibly-written entry summarizes the concept in an amount of text ranging from half a page to several pages, and a thorough bibliography, name index, and subject index encourage quick reference. Enthusiastically recommended for students of film, anyone seeking a career in the movie industry, and even seasoned professionals looking for an easy-to-use refresher reference.

Solid
A good book which gives an overveiw of the various topics of cinema. If you want to know what one of the ideas are, read this book. Great for writing papers in the sense that it is concise and accurate.

However, if you want a real in depth understanding of the topics covered, you'll need to look farther. This is a great starting place for any of hundreds of topics covered in the ook!