Understanding Movies

by Louis D. Giannetti

Helps readers understand how the many languages of film work together to create meaning. Louis Giannetti organizes Understanding Movies around the key elements of filmmaking, including cintematography, Mise en Scène, movement, editing, sound, acting, drama, casting, story, screenwriting, ideology, and theory. He synthesizes every element through a complete case study: Citizen Kane . This book's ideas are illuminated with hundreds of high-quality still photos, more than 70 in full color, taken from movies such as The Matrix, Almost Famous, jackass the movie, Chicago, Lord of the Rings, Mystic River, and Traffic. New in this edition: a full section on contemporary special effects and computer generated imagery (CGI); up-to-the-minute information on new developments in film technology; more coverage of recent films and filmmakers; more ethnic diversity (including new material on the Islamic cinema); and more lavish use of color and high-quality paper. An updated Companion Website contains animations, video clips from interviews with movie professionals, and Research Navigator access to New York Times film reviews. For everyone who wants to understand the artistry and meaning of the movies.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Art, Reference, Textbooks, School

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Louis D. Giannetti is a Professor Emeritus of English and Film at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He has taught courses in film, literature, writing, drama, and humanities. He has published many articles, both popular and scholarly, on political subjects, literature, and drama. In addition to being a professional film critic for several years, he has written about movies for such scholarly journals as Literature/Film Quarterly, The Western Humanities Review, and Film Criticism. Professor Giannetti is also the author of Goddard and Others: Essays on Film Form, published in both Britain and the United States and Masters of the American Cinema (Prentice Hall, 1981), a survey of American fiction films from the perspective of eighteen key figures. Flashback: A Brief History of Film, Sixth Edition (Allyn & Bacon, 2010), written with Scott Eyman, is a history organized by decade that outlines major events, trends, and important filmmakers and their work, with emphasis on the American cinema. Understanding Movies has been a best-selling text in all its previous editions, widely used in the United States and in such countries as Australia, Britain, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan. Dr. Giannetti is the father of two daughters, Christina and Francesca. He lives in Shaker Heights, where he spends an inordinate amount of time tending his Japanese-style garden, to make sure it keeps that natural look.

Reviews

[Hossein Bayat]

این کتاب اولین تجربه‌ی من از مطالعه‌ی کتاب در حوزه‌ی سینما بود. مطمئنم کتابیه که بارها قراره بهش برگردم. دوست دارم مثال‌هایی که در هر بخش زده رو بررسی کنم و فیلم‌ها رو باز ببینم تا محتوای کتاب رو بهتر بفهمم. دو فصل پایانی کتاب برام جایگاه ویژه‌ای داشت.

[يـٰس قرقوم · Rating 2 out of 5]

النسخة التي قمت بقرأتها مُلخّصة..
يُعتبر كتابًا جيّدًا في القبض على المعنى الأولي للسينما ورسم فكرة مبدئية عن مفهومها باختلاف أنواعها.

أيضًا حلّل الكتاب أعمال بعض المخرجين مثل أعمال المخرج الإنجليزي هتشكوك، والمخرج السويدي بيرجمان.. وواضح أيضًا أن الأعمال المطروحة هنا أغلبها ذات مدلول فلسفيّ أو نفسيّ

تطرّق أخيرًا -وبشكل سريع- عن عَلاقة الأدب بالسينما، كيف يتحول النص الروائي إلى نص سينمائي، وما الفرق الذي ينتج بينهما، وطبيعة الإلقاء التي يتلقاها الإنسان سواء كان قارئ أم مُشاهد.

[Bismillah · Rating 5 out of 5]

We spend 90 to 120 minutes every time we watch a movie but we do not always understand what differentiates a good movie from an average movie. I wanted to understand what goes into film making. I wanted to know the difference between topics such as screenplay, script, cinematography and the different genres in movies. I thought I was going to read two or three relevant books to acquire a good understanding about movies but this one single thick book has been more than enough for me! It’s comprehensive with detailed discussions about each aspect of movies. Examples and references from movies makes it easier to understand what the author is trying to say. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand movies.

[حسين عبدعلي · Rating 4 out of 5]

فهم السينما
لـ لوي دي جانيتي

على الرغم من علاقتي السيئة مع الكتب الإلكترونية، إلا أن كتاب "فهم السينما" لـ لوي دي جانيتي، من الكتب القليلة التي اضطررت لقرائتها بصيغة بي دي اف. الكتاب يفتح أفق السينما للمهتمين بالأفلام كصنّاع ومتلقين على حد سواء. الكاتب يقف عند مفاصل في الفعل السينمائي منها: التصوير/ الميزانسين/ الحركة/ المونتاج والصوت. مستعرضًا نماذج لأهم صنّاع السينما بالصورة وآليتهم اشتغالهم وطريقة تفكيرهم في تطويع هذه المفاصل من اجل صناعة الأفلام. من ثم؛ يذهب الكتاب بشكل نظري نحو الحديث حول: الفلم التسجيلي، الدراما، الأدب، والموجة الجديدة (الطليعية).

[Mohamed El seginy · Rating 4 out of 5]

غريب جداً بالنسبة ان الكتاب ده مش معروف ، مش عارف انا وقعت عليه ازّاي الحقيقة .. قريته PDF
الكتاب بيتكلّم بشكل غير مُستفيض عن علاقة السينما بالأدب ، وأساليب الاخراج في الوقت ده ، علي صِغَر حجمه كان كثيف جداً خُصوصاً في حديثه عن بيرجمان
الترجمة للأسف كانت سيّئة جداً ، بس أي مُتابع سينما بسيط هيفهم المقصود
كتاب حلو وقدّملي وجبة لذيذة

[jm · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times a bit basic, but overall exhaustive look at films and their elements. The many pictures make you wanna go and see more movies.

[Bryce Cristiano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough introduction to film but holy shit, Giannetti praises The Birth of a Nation way too much. With an insatiable proclivity, Giannetti somehow manages to find some excuse to bring up that film in almost every chapter.

[كريم الخالق · Rating 5 out of 5]

عظمة

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Gianetti provides an easy to understand, well organized compendium on the framework of film analysis using up to date, helpful examples. A must for film students or an accessible text for anyone wanting better language for their debates. ;)

[WaldenOgre · Rating 3 out of 5]

其实作者差不多也在书里说了，理解电影可以从美学欣赏、技术沿革、工业制度的安排和社会学背景这些不同的角度去切入。这本书差不多也是这么做的。问题是，它同时从这四点入手，于是好像哪一点都没讲得足够透彻或过瘾。

另外一个关键的问题，基本和作者无关，属于介质的先天缺陷：想要仅凭图文的形式来理解电影，确实是太困难了。电影毕竟还是一门流动影像的艺术，它的技艺和魅力难以靠剧照来复原，更难以通过图文来实现拆解和传授。

总之，读这样一本书，收获可谓不少，但缺憾或许更多吧。

[Prof.Abdulbassit Salman PhD]

هذا الكتاب يعد مصدر مهم جدا لطلاب السينما في اغلب الجامعات العربية ومنها كلية الفنون الجميلة بجامعة بغداد التي خرجت مئات الطلبة والمتخصصين بالسينما وكذلك الكفاءات من أصحاب شهادات الدكتوراه والماجستير، و80 % من الدراسات اعتمدت على كتاب فهم السينما بهذه الترجمة، ولم يشير أي من الطلبة والخريجين بان ترجمة هذا الكتاب غير جيدة، بل كانت ترجمة بهية للغاية لاسيما لمختصي السينما، وربما تكون عصية على غير السينمائي بحكم انها ترجمة تعتمد المسميات الأجنبية لا العربية لاسيما المصلحات العلمية التي لن تكون مفهومة لو ترجمت للعربية، من هنا فان الترجمة وجدناه سليمة جدا بل ومبسطة ويسيرة جدا خالية من أي مفردات عسيرة أو قاموسية غامضة، تخاطب العقل بشكل مباشر، أمينة في تعبيرها واستخداماتها، هذا الأمر ليس رأيا شخصيا بقدر ما هو آراء كل من تعاملت معهم بما في ذلك زملائي في معهد السينما بالجيزة بمصر، ولا أجد تفسير واضح للهجوم على مترجم هذا الكتاب، المرحوم الأستاذ المساعد جعفر علي خريج الولايات المتحدة في ستينات القرن واخرج أفلاما روائية سينمائية مهمة في العراق، وكان مؤسسا ورئيسا لقسم السينما بكلية الفنون الجميلة بالعراق.

[April Raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book on film theory and technique.

[Alborz Taheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

درس گفتارهایی از سینما - از تصویر تا تئوری های سینمایی - کتاب خوبی است از این نظر که دیدِ مختصر اما مفیدی نسبت به مقوله فرم در سینما می دهد .

[Ylenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recensione per: "La mia settimana con Marilyn" di Colin Clark

Un libricino molto breve che si legge in una giornata, ma che ho gustato moltissimo e che mi ha permesso di avere uno sguardo del tutto nuovo sulla vita e la persona di Marilyn Monroe.
Questo è il breve racconto di una settimana che l'allora ventenne Colin Clark passò a stretto contatto con l'attrice in Inghilterra, mentre stava girando il film "Il principe e la ballerina". Siamo nel 1956 e questa è la ricostruzione di pagine di diario che Colin Clark, all'epoca terzo assistente del grande attore Laurence Olivier, scrisse nell'arco di una settimana, in cui in modo più o meno casuale catturò l'attenzione della diva in uno dei tanti momenti in cui si sentiva particolarmente sola e senza amici, in un set inglese letteralmente spaccato in due fazioni (la sua e quella del suo collega Olivier con cui i rapporti erano molto difficili), già dipendente dalle sue pillole di sonniferi, in piena luna di miele con il terzo marito Arthur Miller che la lascia per recarsi giorni in Europa, e alle prese con una gravidanza di cui nessuno sapeva nulla, e che si concluderà con un triste aborto. In tutto questo i giorni passati in compagnia del giovane ed incredulo Colin saranno una ventata d'aria fresca per la donna dietro l'attrice, che vivrà insieme al ragazzo momenti di spensieratezza e di tenera confidenza, nonostante questa strana quanto improvvisa amicizia nell'arco di soli 7 giorni abbia creato un grandissimo putiferio tra le persone che li attorniavano, dal gelosissimo marito Arthur Miller al non meno possessivo Milton Greene ecc. Non vedo l'ora di vedere il film, perché sapere che quello che ho letto è successo davvero mi ha regalato diverse emozioni e mi ricorderò sempre con piacere di questa breve parentesi nella vita di questa donna senza tempo. Lettura super consigliata!

[Hosein.Abdollahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

نمیدانم دقیقا معیار یک مواجهه جدی چیست؟
اما تصور میکنم کتاب«شناخت سینما»اولین مواجهه جدی مطالعاتی من درباره هنر هفتم بود.
اصلا در درجه ای نیستم که نکته تخصصی درباره کتاب مطرح کنم یا آن را پیشنهاد کنم اما در سطح شخصی از خواندنش لذت بردم.
دو فصل آخر را بسیار دوست داشتم.
در فصل یکی مانده به آخر رابطه دوسویه ادبیات و سینما را توضیح م��دهد و در فصل آخر به خوبی دو تئوری مهم رئالیسم و اکسپرسیونیم در سینما را شرح میدهد.
من همه فیلم هایی که کتاب از آن ها مدد میجوید و برای انتقال بهتر مفاهیم مثال میزند را ندیده‌ام اما برخی را که دیده بودم برایم مفهوم به خوبی جا افتاد و به نظرم ایده بسیار خوبی را برای انتقال مفاهیم پیگیری میکند.
از آن دست کتاب هایی است که باید چندین بار به متن اصلی و یادداشت هایم مراجعه کنم.

[abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I TOOK INTRO TO FILM. I guess that was pretty obvious because I'm a film major. But it was so exciting to talk about movies. Like in school and not just for five minutes while other people don't care. The class was super easy and there were only like three other majors but I DONT CARE IT WAS A BLAST.
This textbook had too much personality for my taste. Also it was like 45% mini movie reviews when it captioned stuff with explanations. It tried to be super fun but honestly I don't have time to read all this. just give me the facts bro. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINISHED INTRO TO FILM IT'S OVER AHHHHHH COLLEGE

[Joe Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a general interest in film (which is why I took the class) and the terminology and movie back story have been interesting. The publisher has a decent amount of online study material and practice quizzes for each chapter that made the online Blackboard quizzes/tests fairly easy if you read the book.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was used as my college textbook for an introduction to film class. It breaks films down to their basic elements to teach the reader to look for things they may not have thought about before, like angles, shot composition, costumes, etc. It features many examples from both classic and modern films and is filled with images.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

After several years of effort, I’ve finally finished reading this book. Initially, I picked it up to learn English film terminology, but as I read further, I came to appreciate the author’s remarkable writing skills. The precise and efficient use of language truly showcases the strengths of English as an academic medium. This book is highly recommended, whether or not you’re studying film.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid introduction to the study of film, with lots of helpful photographs illustrating the author's points. While it's not a difficult book, it's also not for the casual reader, I would say: it's a book for students of film. I give it 3.5 stars.

[Cheila Vega · Rating 2 out of 5]

终于。作为入门手册当然恰当得宜，抛却严肃说理口吻而诉诸机敏谐趣之文字风格使得内容更加可感易读(都多得译者焦雄屏)，全彩/黑白插图也为书目篇章增色不少；但可惜，字里行间始终难掩作者厌女本性，他对女性身体色情的执迷令人愕然、哑然、喟然，最好的例证便是提及Monroe时所使用的诸如“她著名的胸部”“娇嫩脆弱又容易成为猎物”或“用性来达到目的”等粗鄙字眼——是啊，掌握话语权的高位者仅信笔涂鸦几出八卦传闻都市奇谈或依据自己的邪淫卑劣随意抛出几个下流名词，一个女人的一生就这样被框定命名了——也只有她，生前身后都在为这个无度荒谬的世界付出代价。Shame.

[Alex Trafton · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a movie buff and want to understand the visual language of film. Then this is informative.

[Jason Hu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rigid and uninspired classification of the film production, centered on the well documented Hollywood style of production.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative book, probably a textbook. I enjoyed reading it, but I wouldn't say that it's a real page-turner.

[Mixtape · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t know what to say other than this book flabbergasted me with its glaring oversights and— I dunno, what is the opposite of “progressive”? Because this book was it.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and well-organized review of film theory and important elements of film.

[Emily Muns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall just a great book with information about movies and insights into them I wouldn't have previously thought of.

[汪先生 · Rating 4 out of 5]

2018-01-29 13:49:03
电子版，补记，读了好几年才读完。从摄影、场面调度、摄影机运动、剪辑、声音、表演、戏剧、故事、编剧、意识形态、理论十一个专业角度来审视电影，其中《公民凯恩》是集十一个角度于一体的集大成技术影片。浅显易懂，适合电影爱好者，对电影专业可以有一个全面清晰的了解。

[Gennady Polonetsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to look a new way on the screen!