The Language of Film

About this book

"Becoming an effective filmmaker involves being deliberately mindful of the structures and conventions that allow film to communicate meaning to a global audience. The Language of Film explores complex topics such as semiotics, narrative, intertextuality, ideology and the aesthetics of film in a clear and straightforward style, enabling you to apply these ideas and techniques to your own analysis or film-making. With full-colour film stills, in-depth case studies and a wide range of practical exercises, The Language of Film will help you to make the transition from consumer to practitioner - from someone who just responds to the language of film, to someone who actively uses it. In the second edition, a new chapter examines how sound contributes to narrative and space to tell stories, create imaginary worlds and shape the realist (and often non-realist) effect of cinema. Along with two case studies from the first edition, Seven (dir: David Fincher) and Citizen Kane (dir: Orson Welles), the second edition also includes five new case studies: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (dir: Ben Stiller), Dead Man's Shoes (dir: Shane Meadows), Hero (dir: Yimou Zhang), Berberian Sound Studio (d: Peter Strickland) and Psycho (d: Alfred Hitchcock)"--