The Routledge Companion to Film Historyis an indispensable guide for anyone studying film history for the first time. The approach taken presents a substantial and readable overview of the field and provides students with a tool of reference that will be valuable throughout their studies.
The volume is divided into two parts. The first is a set of eleven essays that approaches film history around the following themes:
- History of the moving image
- Film as art and popular culture
- Production process
- Evolution of sound
- Alternative modes: experimental, documentary, animation
- Cultural difference
- Films relationship to history
The second is a critical dictionary that explains concepts, summarizes debates in film studies, defines technical terms, describes major periods and movements, and discusses historical situations and the film industry. The volume as a whole is designed as an active system of cross-references: readers of the essays are referred to dictionary entries (and vice versa) and both provide short bibliographies that encourage readers to investigate topics.
Editors introduction Part I: Film history: a thematic approach 1.Natural Magic: A Cultural history of Moving ImagesErkki Huhtamo 2. Film as popular culture Hilary Radner 3. Film as art Prakash Younger 4. The stages of the production process William Guynn 5. The evolution of sound in cinema Jay Beck 6. Experimental Cinema Wheeler Winston Dixon 7. Documentary film Brian Winston