Studying Film

by Nathan Abrams, Ian A.F. Bell, Jan Udris

This accessible introduction to the study of film aims to stimulate students' enjoyment and understanding of a wide range of different types of film, and to give them an awareness of the nature of cinema as a medium, as an art form, and as a social and economic institution. Contemporary film
is seen in context by tracing its development from 1895 to the present, exploring film production in a variety of countries in a range of styles, and placing film next to other media.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Reference

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2001

About the author

Nathan Abrams is Professor in Film at Bangor University in Wales. He is founding co-editor of Jewish Film and New Media: An International Journal, as well as the author of The New Jew in Film: Exploring Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Cinema and Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual.

Reviews

[Nichola]

Had this on my shelf for ages and decided to read it before moving it on. It was an A level British textbook and seemed a bit scattershot for that purpose. The early chapters were about history, the middle section was a bit more about technical aspects, and the ending went a bit random and not useful. Glad to have completed it but wouldn't recommend as it was a bit dated (unsurprisingly).

[Penny]

I didn't actually read this book cover-to-cover. I read parts and skimmed parts. It seems comprehensive and think it would be a good textbook for a film studies class, where snippets of films were viewed and discusses as concepts were covered in the book. Reading it by myself, without having seen all the films that were used as examples ad with no opportunity to discuss the concepts with other people, I felt a bit overwhelmed.

[Bryn]

Adequate and concise.