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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | 791.43 Dixon, W. 2008 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The history of international cinema is now available in a concise, conveniently sized, and affordable volume. Succinct yet comprehensive, A Short History of Film provides an accessible overview of the major movements, directors, studios, and genres from the 1880s to the present. More than 250 rare stills and illustrations accompany the text, bringing readers face to face with many of the key players and films that have marked the industry.
Beginning with precursors of what we call moving pictures, Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster lead a fast-paced tour through the invention of the kinetoscope, the introduction of sound and color between the two world wars, and ultimately the computer generated imagery of the present day. They detail significant periods in world cinema, including the early major industries in Europe, the dominance of the Hollywood studio system in the 1930s and 1940s, and the French New Wave of the 1960s. Special attention is also given to small independent efforts in developing nations and the corresponding more personal independent film movement that briefly flourished in the United States, the significant filmmakers of all nations, censorship and regulation and how they have affected production everywhere, and a wide range of studios and genres. Along the way, the authors take great care to incorporate the stories of women and other minority filmmakers who have often been overlooked in other texts.
Compact and easily readable, this is the best one-stop source for the history of world film available to students, teachers, and general audiences alike.
Summary
The history of international cinema is now available in a concise, conveniently sized, and affordable volume. Succinct yet comprehensive, A Short History of Film provides an accessible overview of the major movements, directors, studios, and genres from the 1880s to the present. More than 250 rare stills and illustrations accompany the text, bringing readers face to face with many of the key players and films that have marked the industry.
Beginning with precursors of what we call moving pictures, Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster lead a fast-paced tour through the invention of the kinetoscope, the introduction of sound and color between the two world wars, and ultimately the computer generated imagery of the present day. They detail significant periods in world cinema, including the early major industries in Europe, the dominance of the Hollywood studio system in the 1930s and 1940s, and the French New Wave of the 1960s. Special attention is also given to small independent efforts in developing nations and the corresponding more personal independent film movement that briefly flourished in the United States, the significant filmmakers of all nations, censorship and regulation and how they have affected production everywhere, and a wide range of studios and genres. Along the way, the authors take great care to incorporate the stories of women and other minority filmmakers who have often been overlooked in other texts.
Compact and easily readable, this is the best one-stop source for the history of world film available to students, teachers, and general audiences alike.
Author Notes
Wheeler Winston Dixon is the James Ryan Endowed Professor of Film Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Film Talk: Directors at Work (Rutgers University Press).
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster is a professor in the department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is the author of Class-Passing: Social Mobility in Film and Popular Culture and the co-editor (with Wheeler Winston Dixon) of Experimental Cinema: The Film Reader.
Reviews (3)
Choice Review
Dixon and Foster's third edition of A Short History of Film (first edition, CH, Aug'08, 45-6669) provides a comprehensive (but surface-level) 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. Like many such resources, A Short History of Film is a bit dry and skips over information (because it is a short history of film), but it is certainly a good enough read for those who are just starting to learn more about the silver screen. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, students in technical programs, general readers. --Douglas Charles MacLeod, SUNY Cobleskill
Choice Review
With the goal of offering "a fast paced tour" of movie history, Dixon and Foster (both, Univ. of Nebraska and coeditors of the Quarterly Journal of Film and Video) have produced a study in the tradition of Paul Rotha's The Film till Now (1930; 3rd ed., 1960). The authors touch all the bases--they address new trends in international moviemaking, technologies, and critical theory and the emergence of new national and ethnic cinemas--and relate film history to social history (the latter augmented by a witty, useful time line: e.g., the year l900 lists quantum theory, Freud, the Brownie camera, the Boxer Rebellion, and "the hamburger" as benchmarks). 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. This work could be improved only by the addition of a listing of film archives and databases (e.g., American Film Institute catalogs, Internet Movie Database , and so on). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers. T. Cripps emeritus, Morgan State University
Library Journal Review
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. Dixon (James Ryan Endowed Professor of Film Studies, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Film Talk: Directors at Work) and Foster (English, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Class-Passing: Social Mobility in Film and Popular Culture) discuss the technical innovations that moved the art form forward, and their lucid descriptions of often complicated concepts convey the excitement of innovation in mechanical as well as creative processes. 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.--Christian Zabriskie, Queens Borough P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.