A parody of film criticism, Gehring spoofs such watershed films as Psycho, Chinatown, The Wizard of Oz, and several others. Whether it is healthy or... not, it is sometimes good to step back and have fun with all the time we spend in the dark. Spoofing allows more laughter and maybe a modicum of insight about the films we love. If nothing else, it gives us something to talk about between the next double feature.

The 1930s are routinely considered sound film's greatest comedy era. Though this golden age encompassed various genres of laughter, clown comedy is the... most basic type. This work examines the Depression decade's most popular type of comedy-the clown, or personality comedian. Focusing upon the Depression era, the study filters its analysis through twelve memorable pictures. Each merits an individual chapter, in which it is critiqued. The films are deemed microcosmic representatives of the comic world and discussed in this context. While some of the comedians in this text have generated a great deal of previous analysis, funnymen like Joe E. Brown and Eddie Cantor are all but forgotten. Nevertheless, they were comedy legends in their time, and their legacy, as showcased in these movies, merits rediscovery by today's connoisseur of comedy. Even this book's more familiar figures, such as Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers, are often simply relegated to being recognizable pop culture icons whose work has been neglected in recent years. This book attempts to address these oversights and to re-expose the brilliance and ingenuity with which the screen clowns contributed a comic resiliency that was desperately needed during the Depression and can still be greatly appreciated today. The films discussed are City Lights (1931, Chaplin), The Kid From Spain (1932, Cantor), She Done Him Wrong (1933, Mae West), Duck Soup (1933, Marx Brothers), Sons of the Desert (1933, Laurel and Hardy), Judge Priest (1934, Will Rogers), It's a Gift (1934, W.C. Fields), Alibi Ike (1935, Brown), A Night at the Opera (1935, Marx Brothers), Modern Times (1936, Chaplin), Way Out West (1937, Laurel and Hardy), and The Cat and the Canary (1939, Bob Hope).

What exactly is film comedy and what is the basis for its widespread appeal? Film Comedy uses formal, socio-historical and industrial perspectives to... answer this question. What, for example, is the basis of the appeal of gross-out comedy in films such as There's Something About Mary and American Pie? What is the relationship between comedy and narrative, from early silent slapstick to the performance of actors such as Steve Martin and Jim Carrey? How has romantic comedy changed, or remained the same, from the 1930s to today? What happens when comedy is put to more serious ends in satire ranging from works produced under communism in Eastern Europe and Cuba to Hollywood features such as Bullworth and Wag the Dog? To what extent is comedy nation-specific? And what is the role of comic relief in Hollywood action movies and black comedy such as American Psycho and Man Bites Dog.

The first in the FilmCraft Series, this beautiful book covers the complex craft of cinematography through discussions with notable cinematographers,... like Vittorio Storaro and Christopher Doyle. With stills, photos from the sets, and in-depth exploration of both iconic and contemporary projects, from Psycho and the French New Wave classic The Week End to Chicago and Zhang Yimou's saga Hero. Get access to lauded professionals, who provide you with the perspective to think like the pros and create compelling visual stories. Apply the perspective you'll gain to your own work with practical tips, or just sit back and coast along this thoughtful, behind-the-scenes road.

Actors often say they only really assume the identity of their character when they have donned the costumes painstakingly created for them by the... costume designer. In this volume of the FilmCraft series of books, sixteen of the world's leading costume designers come together to share their inspiration and knowledge with the reader. They provide insights into the challenges of envisioning a character, working with budgets, and collaborating with production designers, actors and directors. Designers featured include Academy Award winners Aggie Guerard Rodgers, Janty Yates and Lindy Hemming.

The value of the editor's craft to a finished film cannot be underestimated, and it's no surprise that directors rely heavily on the same editor again... and again. This book employs stills and screenshots to show how an editor created a scene with the filmmaker and explores the complex relationship between a director who has just shot a movie and the editor who must complete the director's vision. Includes perspectives from Dylan Tichenor who has worked on Boogie Nights, Brokeback Mountain, There Will Be Blood and many others and Pietro Scalia, the great editor whose partners include Bertolucci, Van San, and Ridley Scott. Each book in the FilmCraft Series focuses on a specific aspect of the filmmaking process, presenting a visually strunning look at the subject through the eyes of notable professionals in each field. Each book offers deep insight into the working practices of the world's most distinguished professionals, covering their inspiration, collaboration, and work on set. Each professional has been interviewed exclusively, and goes into detail on specific scenes in their films to give concrete examples of their craft. The result is to provide readers with a fascinating inside look at the filmmaking art, and a wealth of knowledge that they can apply to their own work.

Hands down, the fastest way to get your filmmaking game up to speed! Easy-to-read text designed to increase your ability and confidence as a filmmaker... with each chapter. Whether you are an aspiring independent filmmaker, currently enrolled in film school, or an instructor of film and video related coursework, this book has something for everyone. Loaded with illustrations, up-to-date production terminology, and valuable industry insight, this edition also includes a valuable sample production forms section. Learn from the mistakes of others while picking up expert tips on avoiding some of the most common pitfalls encountered by beginning filmmakers. Film Crew focuses on the nuts and bolts of film and video productions, and helps take the mystery out of the movie making process. It bridges the gap between the craft of storytelling and the technical skills needed to bring a concept to life. Straight to the point, easy to follow, and great illustrations. Look inside this book and you will quickly learn: * The power of storytelling and how to develop your idea into a winning script. * Casting techniques and how choosing the right actors can make or break your project. * How to scout, select, and secure locations and learn to recognize what makes them “production friendly”. * Fundamentals of camera placement, frame composition, and setting up shots. * Ways to add maximum production value to any film or video project without breaking the budget. * Common mistakes often made by beginners that can easily be avoided and might just save your project.

This compilation from Film Culture magazine—the pioneering periodical in avant-garde film commentary—includes contributors like Charles... Boultenhouse, Erich von Stroheim, Michael McClure, Stan Brakhage, Annette Michelson, Arthur Miller, Dylan Thomas, Andrew Sarris, Rudolph Arnheim, Jonas Mekas, and Parker Tyler. This collection covers a range of topics in twentieth century cinema, from the Auteur Theory to the commercial cinema, from Orson Welles to Kenneth Anger.

The book uses extensive illustrations to explain how to create extended sequence shots, elaborate moving camera choreography, and tracking shots with... multiple story points.

Film Directing Fundamentals gives the novice director an organic methodology for realizing on the screen the full dramatic possibility of a screenplay.... Unique among directing books, this book provides clear-cut ways to translate a script to the screen. Using the script as a blueprint, the reader is led through specific techniques to analyze and translate its components into a visual story. A sample screenplay is included that explicates the techniques. The book assumes no knowledge and thus introduces basic concepts and terminology.Appropriate for screenwriters, aspiring directors and filmmakers, Film Directing Fundamentals helps filmmakers bring their story to life on screen.* Unique, focused approach to film directing that shows how to use the screenplay as a blueprint for rendering the script to the screen* Features new sections on Organizing Action in an Action Scene, and Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene, to complement the first two editions emphasis on Dramatic Scenes* Written by an author with 25+ years experience teaching directing and who has worked extensively in the film industry as a director, cameraman, editor, and producer in both documentary and dramatic/narrative films

In a film business increasingly transnational in its production arrangements and global in its scope, what space is there for culturally English... filmmaking? In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Higson demonstrates how a variety of Englishnesses have appeared on screen since 1990, and surveys the genres and production modes that have  captured those representations. He looks at the industrial circumstances of the film business in the UK, government film policy and the emergence of the UK Film Council. He examines several contemporary "English" dramas that embody the transnationalism of contemporary cinema, from Notting Hill to The Constant Gardener. He surveys the array of contemporary fiction that has been re-worked for the big screen, and the pervasive -- and successful -- Jane Austen adaptation business. Finally, he considers the period's diverse films about the English past, including big-budget, Hollywood-led action-adventure films about medieval heroes, intimate costume dramas of the modern past, such as Pride and Prejudice, and films about the very recent past, such as This is England.

As European colonies in Asia and Africa became independent nations, as the United States engaged in war in Southeast Asia and in covert operations in... South America, anthropologists questioned their interactions with their subjects and worried about the political consequences of government-supported research.  By 1970, some spoke of anthropology as “the child of Western imperialism” and as “scientific colonialism.”  Ironically, as the link between anthropology and colonialism became more widely accepted within the discipline, serious interest in examining the history of anthropology in colonial contexts diminished.    This volume is an effort to initiate a critical historical consideration of the varying “colonial situations” in which (and out of which) ethnographic knowledge essential to anthropology has been produced.  The essays comment on ethnographic work from the middle of the nineteenth century to nearly the end of the twentieth, in regions from Oceania through southeast Asia, the Andaman Islands, and southern Africa to North and South America.     The “colonial situations” also cover a broad range, from first contact through the establishment of colonial power, from District Officer administrations through white settler regimes, from internal colonialism to international mandates, from early “pacification” to wars of colonial liberation, from the expropriation of land to the defense of ecology.  The motivations and responses of the anthropologists discussed are equally varied:  the romantic resistance of Maclay and the complicity of Kubary in early colonialism; Malinowski’s salesmanship of academic anthropology; Speck’s advocacy of Indian land rights; Schneider’s grappling with the ambiguities of rapport; and Turner’s facilitation of Kaiapo cinematic activism.“Provides fresh insights for those who care about the history of science in general and that of anthropology in particular, and a valuable reference for professionals and graduate students.”—Choice“Among the most distinguished publications in anthropology, as well as in the history of social sciences.”—George Marcus, Anthropologica