World Famous Comics: Understanding Movies, 9th Edition
Understanding Movies, 9th Edition
By: Louis Giannetti Publisher: Prentice Hall Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Prentice Hall Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 556 Publication Date: June 21, 2001
Product Description: Designed to help movie watchers analyze films with precision and technical sophistication, this book focuses on formalism—how the forms of the film (e.g., camera work, editing, photography, etc.) create meaning. It sheds light on how television and movies communicate, and the complex network of language systems they use. Chapter topics cover recent developments from all aspects of cinema, contemporary films, personalities in the field, photography, movement, editing, sound, acting, drama, story writing, and theory. For movie critics and fans alike.
Fascinating Reading Analytical breakdown of the various aspects of creating movies. Editting, mise-en-scene, acting and more. This book opened my eyes to the individual parts that mesh together to create a great movie. It enriched my enjoyment of film and sharpened my taste for a good product.
Pull that movie apart And put it back together again. There are many good books on the market that specialize one or two aspects if films and/or the film industry. However this book "Understanding Movies" by Louis Giannnetti, takes you from near ground zero to a good understanding of such aspects as: Photography Mise en Scène (pronounced meez on sen, with the second syllable nasalized) Movement Editing Sound Acting Drama Story Literature Ideology Theory The films used for examples range from classics to contemporary. You will have seen most if not all of them. The author did not go off in some mission to describe some weird out of the way movie. This helps you focus on the subject being discussed.
A side benefit is that this book is a great picture book to remember your favorite movie and occasionally the one you missed.
An excellent resource for would-be filmmakers Giannetti's book is an excellent and very comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the art of filmmaking. Countless films (both classic and modern) from around the globe are dissected and illustrated throughout the book alongside each chapter's content, and I found the material as entertaining and interesting as it was informative. As a novice in the field, I learned plenty about the art of creating films and I gained a newfound respect for many popular and obscure titles. I applaud Giannetti for writing such a detailed, yet readable textbook and would recommend this book to all students, teachers, and general film enthusiasts.
An Excellent Analysis of Films What I like about this book is the way it's laid out for easy reading. The pictures are great memory refreshers of movies one may have seen and did not fully understand their rational and purpose. As a poet, I like the way it's linked with poetry and creative writing in many ways. One may also find several references to poetic style filtered through the book. The reading goes into details regarding the classification and various styles of films in the areas of realism, classicism and formalism. The principle regarding Mise en Scene was very interesting, especially the movies. The editing of shots from different angles make it clear as to why some films are disjointed and do not flow smoothly. Understanding how sound effects really bring movies to life over stage plays is an interesting process. The various styles of writing, storylines, ideology and drama are really strong areas in the text. This is an excellent book regarding the understanding of movies and their existing relationships to stage plays, musicals, and poetry. Other interesting books to read are: "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul" with the new Epulaeryu poetic form; "Everyday Miracles" by Margaret Okudo; "The Language of Poetry Forms" by Tree Good; and, "My Walk with Jesus" by Christina Jussaume.
The best and most clear introduction to the analysis of film Gianetti's classic textbook has been around for a long time, and gone through several printings and new editions. There's a reason for that: it is one of the best introductions to the analysis and appreciation of film that is around. This is the book I was assigned when I took my first film class ("Film as Humanities") in college, and it opened up my eyes to a whole range of elements that contribute to the making of film meaning. Now, a few editions later, I am still assigning the book for my introduction to film studies classes.
What makes it so useful is that Gianetti focuses a chapter each on all of the different components that contribute to the significance of the final film product. He has a chapter on photography -- that introduces vocabulary for describing the images of film, the lighting, the framing, and the way in which the arrangement of elements on screen can direct the eye of the viewer. He has other chapters on movement, composition, editing, acting, story, drama, sound, and ideology, among others.
A refreshing feature of the book, especially for an introductory level text, is that it does not make a sharp distinction between "art" films and "entertainment" flicks -- all of the elements he discusses apply to any films, and he illustrates them with copious examples from both the history of cinema and also from popular and accessible films of the last decade and even last year. At the same time, he is not timid about making judgments about films -- and giving his readers several tools for making critical judgments about what makes some films better than others.
A guiding theme of the book, that lends continuity to each of the chapters and to the book as a whole, is Gianetti's emphasis on a distinction between the "realist" and the "classicist" and the "formalist" tendencies in film. In his chapter on story, among other helpful analyses of narrative styles and the formation and development of genres of film storytelling, he also explains what one would expect from a realist approach to storytelling versus a classicist (i.e. mainstream Hollywood) style versus a formalist approach. He similarly discusses realist and formalist approaches to editing and composition and acting and sound. This basic distinction turns out to be the key to understanding a wide range of differences between approaches to film.
While he doesn't go into film theory directly, he points out where some of the critical ideas he raises have provoked controversy among film theorists, and he is able to capture clearly the key ideas that are debated by film theorists without in any way bogging the text down in jargon. He maintains througout an emphasis on what might be called first-level film analysis -- before we can apply theory to films, before we can reflect on the nature of film, or on the deeper meanings of films, we really do need to learn how to get clear about what is on the surface: what is happening on the screen and in the sound and in the story, and why. While there are other good introductory film books out there that focus on different aspects of film (like Bordwell's Film Art), I really can't imagine a better guide than Gianetti's to getting clear about what is there on the surface. Highly recommended for those interested in the nature of film.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
