Film studies is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than it is with exploring the narrative, artistic, cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.[1] In searching for these social-ideological values, film studies takes a series of critical approaches for the analysis of production, theoretical framework, context, and creation.[2] Also, in studying film, possible careers include critic or production. Overall the study of film continues to grow, as does the industry on which it focuses.
Film studies as an academic discipline emerged in the twentieth century, decades after the invention of motion pictures. Not to be confused with the technical aspects of film production, film studies exists only with the creation of film theory—which approaches film critically as an art—and the writing of film historiography. Because the modern film became an invention and industry only in the late nineteenth century, a generation of film producers and directors existed significantly before the academic analysis that followed in later generations.
Early film schools focused on the production and subjective critique of film rather than on the critical approaches, history and theory used to study academically. Since the time film was created, the concept of film studies as a whole grew to analyze the formal aspects of film as they were created. Established in 1919 the Moscow Film School was the first school in the world to focus on film. In the United States the USC School of Cinematic Arts, established in 1929, was the first cinematic based school, which was created in agreement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They were also the first to offer a major in film in 1932 but without the distinctions that are assumed in film studies. Universities began to implement different forms of cinema related curriculum without, however, the division between the abstract and practical approaches.
The Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg (i.e. German Film Academy Babelsberg) was founded in the Third Reich in 1938. Among the lecturers were e.g. Willi Forst and Heinrich George. To complete the studies at the Academy a student was expected to create his own film.
A movement away from Hollywood productions in the 1950s turned cinema into a more artistic independent endeavor. It was the creation of the auteur theory, which asserted film as the director's vision and art, that prompted film studies to become truly considered academically worldwide in the 1960s. In 1965, film critic Robin Wood, in his writings on Alfred Hitchcock, declared that Hitchcock's films contained the same complexities of Shakespeare's plays.[3] Similarly, French director Jean Luc Godard, a contributor to the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, wrote: "Jerry Lewis [...] is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. [...] Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films".[4] With stable enrollment, proper budgets and interest in all humanities numerous universities contained the ability to offer distinct film studies programs.
As the global community of filmmakers and scholars grew, the analysis of film developed into an academic discipline. This was helped in part by large donations from successful commercial filmmakers, who helped fund film studies departments in universities. An example is George Lucas' US$175 million donation to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006.[5]
Today film studies exists worldwide as a discipline with specific schools dedicated to it. The aspects of film studies have grown to encompass numerous methods for teaching history, culture and society. Many liberal arts colleges and universities contain courses specifically geared toward the analysis of film.[6] Also exemplifying the increased diversity of film studies is the fact that high schools across the United States offer classes on film theory. Many programs conjoin film studies with media and television studies, taking knowledge from all parts of visual production in the approach. With the growing technologies such as 3-D film and YouTube, films are now concretely used to teach a reflection of culture and art around the world as a primary medium. Due to the ever-growing dynamic of film studies, a wide variety of curricula have emerged for analysis of critical approaches used in film.[7] Although each institution has the power to form the study material, students are usually expected to grasp a knowledge of conceptual shifts in film, a vocabulary for the analysis of film form and style, a sense of ideological dimensions of film, and an awareness of extra textual domains and possible direction of film in the future.[8] Universities offer their students a course in the field of film analysis to critically engage with the production of films which also allows the students to take part in research and seminars of specialized topics to enhance their critical abilities.[9]
The curriculum of tertiary level film studies programs often include but are not limited to:
Introduction to film studies
Modes of film studies
Close analysis of film
History of film/media
Analysis with emphasis
Attention to time period
Attention to regional creation
Attention to genre
Attention to creators
Methods of film production
With diverse courses that make up for film studies majors or minors come to exist within schools.[10][11][12]
United States film studies
In the United States, universities offer courses specifically toward film studies, and schools committed to minor/major programs.
Currently 144 different tertiary institutions nationwide offer a major program in film studies.[6] This number continues to grow each year with new interest in the film studies discipline. Institutions offering film degrees as part of their arts or communications curriculum differ from institutions with a dedicated film program. The curriculum is in no way limited to films made in the United States; a wide variety of films can be analyzed.
With the American film industry generating by far the highest global box office returns and second worldwide only to India in terms of number of filmgoers and number of productions, the attraction for film studies is high. To obtain a degree in the United States, a person is likely to pursue careers in the production of film, especially directing and producing films.[13] Often classes in the United States will combine new forms of media, such as television or new media, in combination with film study.[14] Those who study film want to be able to analyze the numerous films released in the United States every year in a more academic setting, or to understand the history of cinema as an art form. Films can reflect the culture of the period not only in the United States but around the world.
World film studies
Film studies throughout the world exist in over 20 countries. Due to the high cost of film production developing countries are left out of the film industry especially in the academic setting. Despite this fact more prosperous countries have the ability to study film in all the aspects of film studies. Discourse in film can be found in the schools around the world; often, international attention to the aesthetics of film emerge from film festivals. For example, the Cannes Film Festival is the most prestigious in the world.[15] Though this discourse revolves around the film industry and promotion and does not exist within an academic school setting, numerous aspects of analysis and critical approaches are taken into account on this international stage.
^ abGibson, Pamela Church; Dyer, Richard; Kaplan, E. Ann; Willemen, Paul, eds. (2000). "Introduction". Film Studies: Critical Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–8. ISBN0-19-874280-0. OCLC 42835361.
^Sikov, Ed. 2010. "Introduction." Pp. 1–4 in Film Studies: An Introduction. New York: Columbia UP. Print. Google Books
^Grant, Barry Keith. Film Study in the Undergraduate Curriculum. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1983.15. Print.
^Jim Hillier, ed. (1987). Cahiers du Cinema 1960–1968 New Wave, New Cinema, Re-evalutating Hollywood (Godard in interview with Jacques Bontemps, Jean-Louis Comolli, Michel Delahaye, and Jean Narboni). Harvard University Press. p. 295. ISBN9780674090651.
^Abramowitz, Rachel (2010). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
^ ab. Collegeboard.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
^Grieveson, Lee. "Cinema Studies." Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke UP, 2008. 67. Print.
^Dix, Andrew. Beginning Film Studies. Manchester UP. 2-14. Print.Google Books
^Amsterdam, Universiteit van (2 July 2019). "Film Studies (Media Studies) - GSH - University of Amsterdam". gsh.uva.nl. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^"Film Studies Program". Yale University. 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
^"Film and Media Studies". Georgetown University. 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
^. University of Southern California. 2010. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
^Polan, Dana, and Haidee Wasson. "Young Art, Old Colleges." Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke UP, 2008. Print.
^"History of Film Studies in the United States and at Berkeley." Film Studies. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. <. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.>.
^Dargis, Manohla. "Cannes International Film Festival". The New York Times.
Further reading
Bergan, Ronald. Film. New York: DK Pub., 2006.
Dix, Andrew. Beginning Film Studies. Manchester UP.
Grant, Barry Keith. Film Study in the Undergraduate Curriculum. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1983.
Osborne, Richard. Film Theory for Beginners. London, Zidane Press. 2016.
Polan, Dana, and Haidee Wasson. "Young Art, Old Colleges." Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke UP, 2008.
Polan, Dana. Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film (UC Press, 2007)
Sikov, Ed. Film Studies: an Introduction. New York: Columbia UP
Stam, Robert. Film Theory: an Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000.
Villarejo, Amy. Film Studies: the Basics. London: Routledge, 2007.
External links
Wikiversity has learning resources about Film studies
FILMdrippink.com - Database providing academic & journalist texts about film & TV 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Main website for the Berkeley film studies 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Main website for USC School of Cinematic Arts
Main website for the Los Angeles Film School
Main website for the NYFA Film School
Film Studies in New Delhi, India
Film Connections in Washington D.C.
Website dedicated to the introduction to film art
List of the Top US Film Schools
Screensite listing of college film programs
June 11, 2023
film, studies, academic, discipline, that, deals, with, various, theoretical, historical, critical, approaches, cinema, form, medium, sometimes, subsumed, within, media, studies, often, compared, television, studies, film, screening, room, georgetown, universi. Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical historical and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies 1 Film screening room at Georgetown University Washington D C Film studies is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than it is with exploring the narrative artistic cultural economic and political implications of the cinema 1 In searching for these social ideological values film studies takes a series of critical approaches for the analysis of production theoretical framework context and creation 2 Also in studying film possible careers include critic or production Overall the study of film continues to grow as does the industry on which it focuses Academic journals publishing film studies work include Sight amp Sound Film Comment Film International CineAction Screen Journal of Cinema and Media Studies Film Quarterly and Journal of Film and Video Contents 1 History 2 Approaches to film studies 3 Modern film studies 3 1 Common curriculum 3 2 United States film studies 3 3 World film studies 4 Prominent scholars 5 Academic journals 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksHistory EditFilm studies as an academic discipline emerged in the twentieth century decades after the invention of motion pictures Not to be confused with the technical aspects of film production film studies exists only with the creation of film theory which approaches film critically as an art and the writing of film historiography Because the modern film became an invention and industry only in the late nineteenth century a generation of film producers and directors existed significantly before the academic analysis that followed in later generations Early film schools focused on the production and subjective critique of film rather than on the critical approaches history and theory used to study academically Since the time film was created the concept of film studies as a whole grew to analyze the formal aspects of film as they were created Established in 1919 the Moscow Film School was the first school in the world to focus on film In the United States the USC School of Cinematic Arts established in 1929 was the first cinematic based school which was created in agreement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences They were also the first to offer a major in film in 1932 but without the distinctions that are assumed in film studies Universities began to implement different forms of cinema related curriculum without however the division between the abstract and practical approaches The Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg i e German Film Academy Babelsberg was founded in the Third Reich in 1938 Among the lecturers were e g Willi Forst and Heinrich George To complete the studies at the Academy a student was expected to create his own film A movement away from Hollywood productions in the 1950s turned cinema into a more artistic independent endeavor It was the creation of the auteur theory which asserted film as the director s vision and art that prompted film studies to become truly considered academically worldwide in the 1960s In 1965 film critic Robin Wood in his writings on Alfred Hitchcock declared that Hitchcock s films contained the same complexities of Shakespeare s plays 3 Similarly French director Jean Luc Godard a contributor to the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinema wrote Jerry Lewis is the only one in Hollywood doing something different the only one who isn t falling in with the established categories the norms the principles Lewis is the only one today who s making courageous films 4 With stable enrollment proper budgets and interest in all humanities numerous universities contained the ability to offer distinct film studies programs As the global community of filmmakers and scholars grew the analysis of film developed into an academic discipline This was helped in part by large donations from successful commercial filmmakers who helped fund film studies departments in universities An example is George Lucas US 175 million donation to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006 5 Approaches to film studies EditMain article Film theory Analytic Cognitive film theory Historical poetics Linguistic film theory Neoformalism Classical Formalist film theory Continental Feminist film theory Film semiotics Marxist film theory Psychoanalytic film theory Screen theory Structuralist film theory Criticism Auteur theory Schreiber theoryModern film studies EditToday film studies exists worldwide as a discipline with specific schools dedicated to it The aspects of film studies have grown to encompass numerous methods for teaching history culture and society Many liberal arts colleges and universities contain courses specifically geared toward the analysis of film 6 Also exemplifying the increased diversity of film studies is the fact that high schools across the United States offer classes on film theory Many programs conjoin film studies with media and television studies taking knowledge from all parts of visual production in the approach With the growing technologies such as 3 D film and YouTube films are now concretely used to teach a reflection of culture and art around the world as a primary medium Due to the ever growing dynamic of film studies a wide variety of curricula have emerged for analysis of critical approaches used in film 7 Although each institution has the power to form the study material students are usually expected to grasp a knowledge of conceptual shifts in film a vocabulary for the analysis of film form and style a sense of ideological dimensions of film and an awareness of extra textual domains and possible direction of film in the future 8 Universities offer their students a course in the field of film analysis to critically engage with the production of films which also allows the students to take part in research and seminars of specialized topics to enhance their critical abilities 9 Common curriculum Edit See also List of film schools and List of film schools in the United States The curriculum of tertiary level film studies programs often include but are not limited to Introduction to film studies Modes of film studies Close analysis of film History of film media Analysis with emphasisAttention to time period Attention to regional creation Attention to genre Attention to creatorsMethods of film productionWith diverse courses that make up for film studies majors or minors come to exist within schools 10 11 12 United States film studies Edit In the United States universities offer courses specifically toward film studies and schools committed to minor major programs Currently 144 different tertiary institutions nationwide offer a major program in film studies 6 This number continues to grow each year with new interest in the film studies discipline Institutions offering film degrees as part of their arts or communications curriculum differ from institutions with a dedicated film program The curriculum is in no way limited to films made in the United States a wide variety of films can be analyzed With the American film industry generating by far the highest global box office returns and second worldwide only to India in terms of number of filmgoers and number of productions the attraction for film studies is high To obtain a degree in the United States a person is likely to pursue careers in the production of film especially directing and producing films 13 Often classes in the United States will combine new forms of media such as television or new media in combination with film study 14 Those who study film want to be able to analyze the numerous films released in the United States every year in a more academic setting or to understand the history of cinema as an art form Films can reflect the culture of the period not only in the United States but around the world World film studies Edit Film studies throughout the world exist in over 20 countries Due to the high cost of film production developing countries are left out of the film industry especially in the academic setting Despite this fact more prosperous countries have the ability to study film in all the aspects of film studies Discourse in film can be found in the schools around the world often international attention to the aesthetics of film emerge from film festivals For example the Cannes Film Festival is the most prestigious in the world 15 Though this discourse revolves around the film industry and promotion and does not exist within an academic school setting numerous aspects of analysis and critical approaches are taken into account on this international stage Prominent scholars EditHugo Munsterberg Ricciotto Canudo Germaine Dulac Bela Balazs Siegfried Kracauer Vsevolod Pudovkin Jean Epstein Sergei Eisenstein Lev Kuleshov Jean Mitry Rudolf Arnheim Paul Rotha Andre Bazin Alexandre Astruc Gilles Deleuze Stanley Cavell Andrew Sarris Jean Louis Baudry Christian Metz Francois Truffaut Robin Wood Noel Burch Raymond Durgnat E Ann Kaplan Jeanine Basinger Teresa de Lauretis Peter Wollen Richard Barsam Teshome Gabriel Raymond Bellour Molly Haskell Marsha Kinder Vivian Sobchack Claire Johnston Laura Mulvey Robert Stam James Naremore Bill Nichols James Monaco Jacques Aumont Pam Cook Peter Bondanella Barbara Creed Jonathan Rosenbaum Thomas Elsaesser Serge Daney Hamid Naficy Richard Dyer Ian Christie Dudley Andrew Annette Kuhn Janet Staiger Linda Williams Noel Carroll Francesco Casetti David Bordwell Michel Chion B Ruby Rich Slavoj Zizek Colin MacCabe Kristin Thompson Mary Ann Doane Elizabeth Cowie Jonathan Beller Geoff Andrew Adrian Martin David Kipen Mark CousinsAcademic journals EditMain article List of film journals Cinema Journal Film Quarterly Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television Journal of Film and Video Journal of Popular Film amp Television New Review of Film and Television Studies Screen The Velvet Light Trap Television amp New MediaSee also Edit Film portalCinemeducation the use of film in medical education Cinephilia Film genre Filmmaking Glossary of motion picture terms Experimental film Fictional film History of film Philosophy of film Outline of filmReferences Edit a b Gibson Pamela Church Dyer Richard Kaplan E Ann Willemen Paul eds 2000 Introduction Film Studies Critical Approaches Oxford Oxford University Press pp 1 8 ISBN 0 19 874280 0 OCLC 42835361 Sikov Ed 2010 Introduction Pp 1 4 in Film Studies An Introduction New York Columbia UP Print Google Books Grant Barry Keith Film Study in the Undergraduate Curriculum New York Modern Language Association of America 1983 15 Print Jim Hillier ed 1987 Cahiers du Cinema 1960 1968 New Wave New Cinema Re evalutating Hollywood Godard in interview with Jacques Bontemps Jean Louis Comolli Michel Delahaye and Jean Narboni Harvard University Press p 295 ISBN 9780674090651 Abramowitz Rachel 2010 LA s Screen Gems Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 24 January 2010 Retrieved 18 October 2010 a b Major Film Studies Collegeboard com 2010 Archived from the original on 19 March 2012 Retrieved 18 October 2010 Grieveson Lee Cinema Studies Inventing Film Studies Durham Duke UP 2008 67 Print Dix Andrew Beginning Film Studies Manchester UP 2 14 Print Google Books Amsterdam Universiteit van 2 July 2019 Film Studies Media Studies GSH University of Amsterdam gsh uva nl Retrieved 7 February 2019 Film Studies Program Yale University 2010 Retrieved 25 October 2010 Film and Media Studies Georgetown University 2010 Retrieved 25 October 2010 USC School of Cinematic Arts University of Southern California 2010 Archived from the original on 18 June 2010 Retrieved 25 October 2010 Polan Dana and Haidee Wasson Young Art Old Colleges Inventing Film Studies Durham Duke UP 2008 Print History of Film Studies in the United States and at Berkeley Film Studies Web 11 Nov 2010 lt Film Studies Archived from the original on 24 August 2010 Retrieved 11 November 2010 gt Dargis Manohla Cannes International Film Festival The New York Times Further reading EditBergan Ronald Film New York DK Pub 2006 Dix Andrew Beginning Film Studies Manchester UP Grant Barry Keith Film Study in the Undergraduate Curriculum New York Modern Language Association of America 1983 Osborne Richard Film Theory for Beginners London Zidane Press 2016 Polan Dana and Haidee Wasson Young Art Old Colleges Inventing Film Studies Durham Duke UP 2008 Polan Dana Scenes of Instruction The Beginnings of the U S Study of Film UC Press 2007 Sikov Ed Film Studies an Introduction New York Columbia UP Stam Robert Film Theory an Introduction Malden MA Blackwell 2000 Villarejo Amy Film Studies the Basics London Routledge 2007 External links Edit Wikiversity has learning resources about Film studies FILMdrippink com Database providing academic amp journalist texts about film amp TV Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine Main website for the Berkeley film studies Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine Main website for USC School of Cinematic Arts Main website for the Los Angeles Film School Main website for the NYFA Film School Film Studies in New Delhi India Film Connections in Washington D C Website dedicated to the introduction to film art List of the Top US Film Schools Screensite listing of college film programs Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Film studies amp oldid 1155938193, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
