Film: A Critical Introduction, Fourth Edition

Cinema is both an art form and a unique social and media institution: while moving pictures provide hours of pleasure and entertainment, they also deserve serious intellectual consideration. Film: A Critical Introduction, Fourth Edition is the perfect starter text for students of film studies and general readers who love movies, but who may not possess all the tools necessary for analyzing films and creating interpretive arguments.

This updated and expanded version illustrates film concepts in context and in-depth, addressing techniques and terminology used in both film production and criticism. With reference to 450 new and existing images, the authors discuss contemporary films and film studies scholarship, as well as recent developments in film production and exhibition, such as digital technologies and new modes of screen media. Key revisions to the fourth edition of the text were specifically made to emphasize on helping students translate their ideas about film into written analysis and criticism. The material helps readers to understand film techniques and terminology, highlights research skills and rhetorical strategies enabling students to build comprehensive, thoughtful interpretations of films in discussion and writing.

New features in the fourth edition:

- Expanded discussion of changing cultural and political contexts for film and media industries, including #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #OscarsSoWhite
- Updated examples drawing from both contemporary and classic films in every chapter highlight that film studies is a vibrant and growing field
- New closing chapter expands the book's theoretical framework, linking foundational concepts in cinema studies to innovative new scholarship in media and screen studies
- Thoroughly revised and updated discussions of auteur theory, the long-take aesthetic, ideology in the superhero film and more

About the Authors:

Maria Pramaggiore is Professor of Media Studies and Dean of Graduate Studies at Maynooth University in Co. Kildare, Ireland. Her publications explore topics in gender and sexuality, documentary, Irish film, and animal studies.

Tom Wallis has taught film and media studies at North Carolina State University and University College Dublin. He is part of the Communications team at the University of North Carolina System Office and serves on the Selection Committee for Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.