The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960
- ISBN-10
- 1134988087
- ISBN-13
- 9781134988082
- Series
- The Classical Hollywood Cinema
- Category
- Social Science
- Pages
- 652
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2003-09-02
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Authors
- Kristin Thompson, David Bordwell, Janet Staiger
Description
'A dense, challenging and important book.' Philip French Observer 'At the very least, this blockbuster is probably the best single volume history of Hollywood we're likely to get for a very long time.' Paul Kerr City Limits 'Persuasively argued, the book is also packed with facts, figures and photographs.' Nigel Andrews Financial Times Acclaimed for their breakthrough approach, Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson analyze the basic conditions of American film-making as a historical institution and consider to what extent Hollywood film production constitutes a systematic enterprise, in both its style and its business operations. Despite differences of director, genre or studio, most Hollywood films operate within a set of shared assumptions about how a film should look and sound. Such assumptions are neither natural nor inevitable; but because classical-style films have been the type most widely seen, they have come to be accepted as the 'norm' of film-making and viewing. The authors show how these classical conventions were formulated and standardized, and how they responded to the arrival of sound, colour, widescreen ratios and stereophonic sound. They argue that each new technological development has served a function within an existing narrational system. The authors also examine how the Hollywood cinema standardized the film-making process itself. They describe how, over the course of its history, Hollywood developed distinct modes of production in a constant search for maximum efficiency, predictability and novelty. Set apart by its combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this book is the standard work on the classical Hollywood cinema style of film-making from the silent era to the 1960s. Now available in paperback, it is a 'must' for film students, lecturers and all those seriously interested in the development of the film industry.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2003-09-02
- 658 pages
- Paperback
- Routledge
-
- 1985
- 506 pages
- Paperback
- Psychology Press
-
- 1985
- 506 pages
- Paperback
- Columbia University Press
Similar books
-
The Classical Hollywood Reader
By Stephen NealeFirst Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
-
Death in Classical Hollywood Cinema
By B. HaginBoaz Hagin carries out a philosophical examination of the issue of death as it is represented and problematized in Hollywood cinema of the classical era (1920s-1950s) and in later mainstream films, looking at four major genres: the Western, ...
-
Post-Classical Hollywood: Film Industry, Style and Ideology since 1945
By Barry LangfordBarry Langford explains and interrogates the concept of "e;post-classical"e; Hollywood cinema - its coherence, its historical justification and how it can help or hinder our understanding of Hollywood from the forties to the present ...
-
The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960
By Kristin Thompson, David Bordwell, Janet StaigerHow films are conceived, planned, and produced leaves a mark upon the films, directly and structurally.
-
Classical Hollywood cinema: Point of view and communication
By James Zborowski31 C. Barr, Vertigo (London: BFI Publishing, 2002), p. 72. ... 33 Pye, 'Movies and point of view', p. 8. See n. ... 50 J. Gibbs, 'Filmmakers' choices', in D. Pye and J. Gibbs, Close-Up 01 (London: Wallflower Press, 2006), p. 5.
-
Classical Hollywood Narrative: The Paradigm Wars
By Jane GainesAn overview of film studies
-
The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960
By Kristin Thompson, David Bordwell, Janet StaigerHow films are conceived, planned, and produced leaves a mark upon the films, directly and structurally.
-
Classic Hollywood: Lifestyles and Film Styles of American Cinema, 1930-1960
By Veronica PravadelliD'Emilio, John, and Estelle B. Freedman. Intimate Matters. A History of Sexuality in America. 2nd ed. ... Velvet Light Trap 28 (1991): 73–85. Elsaesser, Thomas. “Film History as Social History: The Dieterle/Warner Brothers Bio-pic.
-
Classical Hollywood Film Cycles
By Zoe WallinThis book explores the ways in which Hollywood film cycles from the 1930s to the 1960s were shaped by their surrounding industrial contexts and market environments, to build an inclusive conception of the form, operation, and function of ...
-
Neo-Noir as Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema
By Robert Arnett... or in Robert Stam's words, those with “spectatorial competence,” recognize the meta-conversation and manipulation of characters, themes, and motifs in the service of a contemporary neo-noir film-viewing experience (211).