American Cinema, 1890-1909

American Cinema, 1890-1909
Author: André Gaudreault
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2009
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0813544432

The essays in American Cinema 1890-1909 explore and define how the making of motion pictures flowered into an industry that would finally become the central entertainment institution of the world. Beginning with all the early types of pictures that moved, this volume tells the story of the invention and consolidation of the various processes that gave rise to what we now call "cinema."

American Cinema of the 1910s

American Cinema of the 1910s
Author: Charlie Keil
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2009
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0813544459

It was during the teens that filmmaking truly came into its own. Notably, the migration of studios to the West Coast established a connection between moviemaking and the exoticism of Hollywood. The essays in American Cinema of the 1910s explore the rapid developments of the decade that began with D. W. Griffith's unrivaled one-reelers. By mid-decade, multi-reel feature films were profoundly reshaping the industry and deluxe theaters were built to attract the broadest possible audience. Stars like Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks became vitally important and companies began writing high-profile contracts to secure them. With the outbreak of World War I, the political, economic, and industrial groundwork was laid for American cinema's global dominance. By the end of the decade, filmmaking had become a true industry, complete with vertical integration, efficient specialization and standardization of practices, and self-regulatory agencies.

The End of Cinema?

The End of Cinema?
Author: André Gaudreault
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2015-04-14
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 023153938X

Is a film watched on a video screen still cinema? Have digital compositing, motion capture, and other advanced technologies remade or obliterated the craft? Rooted in their hypothesis of the "double birth of media," André Gaudreault and Philippe Marion take a positive look at cinema's ongoing digital revolution and reaffirm its central place in a rapidly expanding media landscape. The authors begin with an overview of the extreme positions held by opposing camps in the debate over cinema: the "digitalphobes" who lament the implosion of cinema and the "digitalphiles" who celebrate its new, vital incarnation. Throughout, they remind readers that cinema has never been a static medium but a series of processes and transformations powering a dynamic art. From their perspective, the digital revolution is the eighth major crisis in the history of motion pictures, with more disruptions to come. Brokering a peace among all sides, Gaudreault and Marion emphasize the cultural practice of cinema over rigid claims on its identity, moving toward a common conception of cinema to better understand where it is headed next.

American Cinema of the 1920s

American Cinema of the 1920s
Author: Lucy Fischer
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2009-04-15
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0813547156

During the 1920s, sound revolutionized the motion picture industry and cinema continued as one of the most significant and popular forms of mass entertainment in the world. Film studios were transformed into major corporations, hiring a host of craftsmen and technicians including cinematographers, editors, screenwriters, and set designers. The birth of the star system supported the meteoric rise and celebrity status of actors including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, and Rudolph Valentino while black performers (relegated to "race films") appeared infrequently in mainstream movies. The classic Hollywood film style was perfected and significant film genres were established: the melodrama, western, historical epic, and romantic comedy, along with slapstick, science fiction, and fantasy. In ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1920s examines the film industry's continued growth and prosperity while focusing on important themes of the era.

American Cinema of the 1990s

American Cinema of the 1990s
Author: Chris Holmlund
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2008
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0813543665

Films discussed include Terminator 2, The matrix, Home alone, Jurassic Park, Pulp fiction, Boys don't cry, Toy story and Clueless.

Film and Attraction

Film and Attraction
Author: André Gaudreault
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2011
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0252078055

An important reexamination of early film history, translated from the French for the first time.

American Cinema of the 1940s

American Cinema of the 1940s
Author: Wheeler W. Dixon
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 0813537002

The 1940s was a watershed decade for American cinema and the nation. Shaking off the grim legacy of the Depression, Hollywood launched an unprecedented wave of production, generating some of its most memorable classics. Featuring essays by a group of respected film scholars and historians, American Cinema of the 1940s brings this dynamic and turbulent decade to life with such films as Citizen Kane, Rebecca, The Lady Eve, Sergeant York, How Green Was My Valley, Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, The Road to Morocco, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Kiss of Death, Force of Evil, Caught, and Apology for Murder. Illustrated with many rare stills and filled with provocative insights, the volume will appeal to students, teachers, and to all those interested in cultural history and American film of the twentieth century.

American Cinema of the 1970s

American Cinema of the 1970s
Author: Lester D. Friedman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2007
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0813540232

A smug glance at the seventies—the so-called "Me Decade"—unveils a kaleidoscope of big hair, blaring music, and broken politics—all easy targets for satire, cynicism, and ultimately even nostalgia. The contributors to this volume look beyond the strobe lights to reveal how profoundly the seventies have influenced American life and how the films of that decade represent a peak moment in cinema history. Bringing together ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1970s examines the range of films that marked the decade, including Jaws, Rocky, Love Story, Shaft, Dirty Harry, The Godfather, Deliverance, The Exorcist, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Apocalypse Now.

American Cinema of the 2000s

American Cinema of the 2000s
Author: Timothy Corrigan
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2012-04-15
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0813553237

The decade from 2000 to 2009 is framed, at one end, by the traumatic catastrophe of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and, at the other, by the election of the first African American president of the United States. In between, the United States and the world witnessed the rapid expansion of new media and the Internet, such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina, political uprisings around the world, and a massive meltdown of world economies. Amid these crises and revolutions, American films responded in multiple ways, sometimes directly reflecting these turbulent times, and sometimes indirectly couching history in traditional genres and stories. In American Cinema of the 2000s, essays from ten top film scholars examine such popular series as the groundbreaking Matrix films and the gripping adventures of former CIA covert operative Jason Bourne; new, offbeat films like Juno; and the resurgence of documentaries like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Each essay demonstrates the complex ways in which American culture and American cinema are bound together in subtle and challenging ways.

American Cinema of the 1950s

American Cinema of the 1950s
Author: Murray Pomerance
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2005
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780813536736

Bringing together original essays by ten respected scholars in the field, American Cinema of the 1950s explores the impact of the cultural environment of this decade on film, and the impact of film on the American cultural milieu. Contributors examine the signature films of the decade, including From Here to Eternity, Sunset Blvd., Singin' in the Rain, Shane, Rear Window, and Rebel Without a Cause, as well as lesser-known but equally compelling films, such as Dial 1119, Mystery Street, Suddenly, Summer Stock, The Last Hunt, and many others.