درآمدی بر مطالعات سینمایی

Film and Culture Series

by اد سیکوف, بشیر سیاح (Translator)

درآمدی بر مطالعات سینمایی همچون کتاب الفباست: آشنایی با سینما به زبان ساده، و مخاطبان آن تازه‌کارها هستند. در این کتاب، مسائل ساده بیان شده‌اند، به این معنا که اطلاعات عرضه‌شده سرراست‌اند و به کار همه‌ی دانشجویانی می‌آید که مشتاق فراگیری‌اند.
این کتاب درباره‌ی فیلم‌های سینمایی روایی است؛ فیلم‌هایی که داستان‌هایی خیالی را روایت می‌کنند و زمانی بین نود دقیقه تا سه یا سه ساعت و نیم دارند. تمرکز این کتاب بر جنبه‌هایی از فرم فیلم است: زبان انتقادی و فنی سینما و همچنین ابزار فرمی برای خلق معانی بیانگرانه به جریان می‌افتد.
درآمدی بر مطالعات سینمایی عناصر اساسی و مرسوم تحلیل فیلم را در بر می‌گیرد. از مفاهیم بیانگرانه در هر تصویر گرفته تا شیوه‌هایی که تصاویر به یکدیگر ارتباط پیدا می‌کنند؛ از ساختارهای روایی فیلم‌نامه‌ها گرفته تا اطلاعاتی پایه‌ای درباره‌ی فیلم‌برداری، جلوه‌های ویژه و صدا. فصل آخر راهنمای گام‌به‌گامی است برای نوشتن مقاله‌ای نهایی درباره‌ی هدفی که این کتاب به خاطرش نوشته شده است.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Art, Textbooks, Audiobook, College, Reference

291 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

Reviews

[Seyed Hashemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

جزو اولین کتاب‌هایی بود که چند سال پیش توی نقد سینما، نظریه فیلم و این‌جور صوبتا خوندم و چیز کامل و خوبی بود برای بحث‌های مقدماتی.

از نکات مثبت و خوب کتاب اینه که روی "نوشتن در مورد فیلم‌ها" خیلی تاکید داره. یعنی وقتی میاد در سه فصل و در سه وجه به میزان‌سن می‌پردازه، آخر هر فصل میاد و یه راهنما می‌ذاره که با این چیزهایی که از کتاب یادگرفتن چجوری می‌تونه در مورد یا فیلم حرف بزنی.


مفاد کتاب هم تقریبا کامله دیگه،
توی سه فصل اول به میزان سن، قاب‌بندی و حرکت دوربین می‌پردازه.
فصل چهارم: تدوین
فصل پنجم: صدا
فصل ششم: روایت
فصل هفتم: از فیلم‌نامه تا فیلم (مثلا همینکه این فصل توی کتاب هست خیلی ارزشمنده. واقعا فکر کردن به روندی که توی فیلم از یک فیلم‌نامهٔ بالقوه تبدیل به یک فیلم بالفعل می‌شه خیلی به فهم درست‌تر فیلم‌ها کمک می‌کنه.)
فصل هشتم: فیلم‌سازان
فصل نهم: نقش‌آفرینی
فصل دهم: ژانر
فصل یازدهم: جلوه‌های ویژه
فصل دوازدهم: کنار هم چیدن، چگونگی نوشتن مقاله‌ی 8الی10 صفحه‌ای در مورد فیلم‌ها


از نکات مثبت کتاب همینه که در عین نه‌چندان طولانی بودن، به صورت فراگیری به عناصر اصلی‌ای که در تحلیل یک فیلم باید مورد توجه آدم باشه می‌پرداخت و اون جمع‌بندی آخری که داشت در مورد مقاله نوشتن در باب فیلم‌ها کاری می‌کرد بتونی دوباره فیلمی رو که تکه تکه کردی به اجزا مختلف، دوباره به هم وصل کنی و تبدیل بشه به یک کل منسجم، مثل وقتی که بدون نظریه و شبیه آدم داشتی فیلم‌ات رو می‌دیدی.


اگه می‌خواید یه ذره جدی‌تر با جهان فیلم‌ها مواجهٔ بشید حتما کتاب خوبی برای شروع کار خواهد بود. من همیشه به خاطر اینکه داداشی دارم که مفصل سینمایی هستش و کالکشن کاملی از مثلا مجله فیلم (قبل از اون کودتای کذا!) داره و همیشه برنامه هفت (زمانی که دیدن داشت) رو می‌دید به نوعی همه این چیزهایی که تو این کتاب هست رو می‌دونستم، ولی هیچ وقت تا چند سال پیش که این کتاب رو خوندم به صورت مدون و منطقی باهاشون مواجه نشده بودم.


قطع به یقین، بدون دونستن این موارد فرمی/تکنیکی باز از فیلم‌ها لذت خواهید برد، ولی اگر بتونید با این موضوعات اندکی روی فیلم‌هایی که می‌بینید دقیق‌تر بشید می‌بینید که کلی حرف‌ برای زدن دارید و آدم‌ها در اغلب مواقع وقتی حرفی برای گفتن داشته باشن، موجودی شادتر هستند :)

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

Oh this took me back to when I had to read these kinds of books, except they were without the heavy American slant. I wouldn’t say that I was a novice when it came to film theory, as I studied a bit of it back in the day, but in saying that I still learned some really interesting things from this.

I met some terms and descriptions which I had never come across before, like Lexiconning: speeding up the standard 24 frames per second, which can shorten the film by around 6-7%. Diegesis: the world of film, all the story elements presented by the narrative, even if they aren’t actually seen or heard on screen. Music from an onscreen radio is diegetic, whereas the musical score is non-diegetic.

This is an accessible and helpful introduction which covers most relevant bases in a clear and satisfying way, Sikov sticks to his own advice with his emphasis on clarity and expresses his dislike of rambling pretentiousness and you also inadvertently get a list of film recommendations.

At the risk of being pedantic, there are some glaring typos that really should have been picked up, especially from someone who is a professional teacher writing a book on good writing?…Health Ledger and Chuck Pahlaniuk are just some examples.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Focuses on form and images, not content and ideas. Very textbooky, eg. advice on writing papers.

[Alborz Taheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

از آن دست کتاب‌های ساده‌ایی که در مورد کلیّاتی از تکنیک‌های سینمایی‌ست و برای شروع احتمالاً کتاب خوبی به حساب می‌اد.

[Malena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and easy to read. I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos on film analysis and had a pretty good grasp on everything in this textbook. This was helpful with terminology and with the history of the art form.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and accessible, even for people like me who simply enjoy reading about anything related to film and movies but have never formally studied the subject.

[Mike Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Film Studies: An Introduction begins with the assumption that all narrative films express some kind of meaning, presumably intentional on the part of the filmmakers. The purpose of this book, which is an introductory-level post-secondary text book in film studies, provides the basic concepts for analyzing a film's meaning and writing a term paper about it. I think it's important to understand that this is not a book about film criticism. That is, it's not about judging the artistic merit of a film, as a film critic might. It's about dissecting a film to understand what the filmmakers' artistic intent might have been.

Sikov covers a variety of topics, including mise-en-scene (the totality of everything that appears on screen), camera issues (angle, distance, movement, lighting), editing, sound, narrative structure, screenwriting, filmmakers (auteur theory), acting performance, genre, and special effects. The writing is clear and concise. Each chapter ends with an exercise you can perform on your own, where you analyze a shot or a sequence and write down your observations and findings.

Sikov includes a few anecdotes from mostly American films, but you don't need to have seen them to understand his points. He does provide a sample term paper about the film Fight Club that reveals some key plot points, so if you haven't seen Fight Club and want to, don't read that section!

[figuratifspiker · Rating 2 out of 5]

yıllar yıllar sonra, sinemayla olan sallantılı ilişkimin yeniden alevlendiği bugünlerde epeyce bir film izlemeye, utanmadan bir de bunları yorumlamaya başlamışken birdenbire dedim ki: madem yorumluyorum, "şurayı beğenmedim, burası olmamış, ı-ıh, yok," demekten biraz öteye gideyim de bari formel eleştirinin nasıl yapıldığına bir bakayım. eh, ileri seviye metinlere lambır lumbur girmektense temelden başlamak mantıklı göründü, ben de öyle yaptım.

fakat bu da çok temelmiş...

eyvallah, epeyce bir şey öğrendim: letterboxd'daki letterboxlamanın ne olduğunu öğrendim. kamera hareketlerini tanımlamak için kullanılan lingoyu biraz öğrendim. ideolojik yorumun neye benzediğine dair girizgâhıyla Wonder Womanın feminist perspektiften nasıl okunabileceğini anlattığı yerler özellikle ilgi çekiciydi; ayrıca, artık bir zahmet semiyotiğe sarmam gerektiğini, semantik/sentaktik ayrımına (Rick Altmandan, s148) dair yaptığı alıntıyla hatırlattı.

"ağğbi yani bu görüntü yönetmeni tamam da yani n'apıyor bu görüntü yönetmeni şimdi yani yaaa?" seviyesindeyseniz çok şey katacak bir kitap. bu işlerden az biraz anlıyorsanız kitap bu değil.

[Brenda DeMartini- Squires · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm looking for a short and inexpensive textbook for my course on film adaptation, and this sounded like a possibility. The author spends most of book giving extended definitions with examples of various technical aspects of film. In general, I thought the book was mostly a primer for writing about film in introductory courses. There are some excellent exercises designed to work their way into essay topics on elements of film like camera work, sound technology, editing, etc., and the annotated student essay at the end would be a useful example for student writers. I'm going to pass on it, though, because there is very little on screenwriting and adaptation, which is the focus of my class.

[Hugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very baseline book for film studies and film analysis. I had to read it for my film studies class and it definitely assisted in class discussion and helped expand my knowledge of the terminology of film. I think I will take away a lot of things from this book as I continue to delve into my film experience. A great stepping off point for anyone who wants to break into film analysis and it gives you things to consider about film you might have never thought of before.

[flms23]

A good primer for students interested in film. The book can be used for students to help them in film studies courses. The author takes a little while to get going and let his personality shine through. Chapters 8 (Filmmakers), 9 (Performance), and 10 (Genre) are the highlights where Sikov talks about auteurs, actors and gives examples of noir and neo-noir films, just to provide a few of the highlights. I would recommend this book, but specifically as a resource for students.

[Mohamed Adwi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read it to be film critic as much as I aimed to develop skill of a critical watching of movies and enhance my ability as recipient to cinema. I can say that this book was very helpful at achieving my aim.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best introductory book on the subject I've read (I've read many).
Will shift to this one as the basic text for my 12th grade film students. Sikov brings great clarity and logic (along with little jargon and little discussion of films students have not seen).

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exactly what you'd expect from an educational book. I cannot watch my series without analysing and thinking things like "hey that's a creative soundbridge" anymore.
Lack of actual pictures made theory sometimes hard to grasp.

[Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, about the thought process, that goes into, making film. The process of the shot, the narrative, and storyboarding, and connections, that echo through time, and reverbrate through memory. I will pick up a book on camera work next! Recommended.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great intro, but now I need more. This is a good primer for learning how to analyze film, but I'd be interested to get a bit more technical

[Cory Blystone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully explains film studies from an educational standpoint, and introduces how to critique a film using the correct wording.

[anjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can't remember when i started this but what a wonderfully detailed book

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome little book

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative read! Great way to introduce yourself to the basics for thinking more critically about the films you watch.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty straightforward introduction to film studies. I could do without the directions on how to write effective film theory papers, but I guess it’s not bad stuff to know either.

[JJ Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty informative read. As someone who only has a general interest in film studies, this is a great book for getting the main ideas without getting too bogged down in the minutiae.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book serves as a great introduction to narrative film analysis, and an easy way to get into film analysis without being overtly pretensious.

[Shawn Persinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 stars if you've never seen a movie.

I'm not kidding this book stops short of explaining: "To watch a movie at home, use a DVD player. Press eject to opening the disc tray...etc."

[Bo Kuhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes I did read this entire thing. No I did not need to.

[kyle b · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love studying film

[Kaylene Simmering · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breaks down mise-en-scene in a comprehensive way.

[Steen Ledet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly decent film studies textbook which paradoxically gets better by not having (too many) illustrations. The lack of illustrations makes the book more affordable, which is a good thing considering the price average for film textbooks.

Sikov's book is also concise and brief, which allows the teacher to add their own detail and their own examples, while the students won't feel drowned in readings. Of course, this reduces the amount of detail but that can at times be a good thing.

For non-film majors, this is a good book.

[Laura Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to film analysis and understanding. If you are already familiar with these aspects the book will be dull, otherwise it's an easy but informative book on basic film techniques.