ABSTRACT

Doing Film Studies examines what it really means to study film, encouraging the reader to question the dominant theories as well as understanding the key approaches to cinema. This book provides an overview of the construction of film studies - including its history and evolution - and examines the application of theories to film texts. Important questions discussed include:

  • Why does film studies need a canon?
  • What is the relationship between authorship and genre theory?
  • What is screen theory?
  • How do we read a film text?
  • Why is the concept of the spectator important to film?
  • How is film involved in national identity?
  • What is meant by a ‘film industry’?

Aimed at students in their final year of secondary education or beginning their degrees, Doing Film Studies equips the reader with the tools needed in approaching the study of film.

part |9 pages

Part I What We Watch And What We Study

chapter |7 pages

1 The Canon in Practice

part |53 pages

Part II The History Of Film Studies

chapter |13 pages

3 The History of the Canon

The Development (and Deconstruction) of the Film Studies Canon

chapter |13 pages

4 Key Approaches

Genre Theory

chapter |9 pages

5 Competing Approaches

Screen Theory

part |40 pages

Part III Studying The Film Text

part |45 pages

Part IV Film As A Contemporary Discipline

chapter |8 pages

9 Creative Engagement

chapter |10 pages

10 Film and Identity

chapter |13 pages

12 Film as Industry