Cinema Is a Cat

Cinema Is a Cat
Author: Daisuke Miyao
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2019-10-31
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0824881346

Watching movies every night at home with his cats, film scholar and cat lover Daisuke Miyao noticed how frequently cats turned up on screen. They made brief appearances (think of Mafia boss Marlon Brando gently stroking a cat in a scene from The Godfather); their looks provided inspiration to film creators (Avatar); they even held major roles (The Lion King). In Cinema Is a Cat, Miyao uses the fascinating relationship between cats and cinema to offer a uniquely appealing introduction to film studies. Cats are representational subjects in the nine films explored in this book, and each chapter juxtaposes a feline characteristic—their love of dark places, their “star” quality—with discussion of the theories and histories of cinema. The opening chapters explore three basic elements of the language of cinema: framing, lighting, and editing. Subsequent chapters examine the contexts in which films are made, exhibited, and viewed. Miyao covers the major theoretical and methodological concepts of film studies—auteurism, realism, genre, feminist film theory, stardom, national cinema, and modernity theory—exploring fundamental questions. Who is the author of a film? How does a film connect to reality? What connections does one film have to other films? Who is represented in a film and how? How is a film viewed differently by people of different cultural and social backgrounds? How is a film located in history? His focus on the innate qualities of cats—acting like prima donnas, born of mixed blood, devoted to the chase—offers a memorable and appealing approach to the study of film. How to read audio-visual materials aesthetically and culturally is of limitless value in a world where we are constantly surrounded by moving images—television, video, YouTube, streaming, GPS, and virtual reality. Cinema Is a Cat offers an accessible, user-friendly approach that will deepen viewers’ appreciation of movies, from Hollywood classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and To Catch a Thief, to Japanese period dramas like Samurai Cat. The book will be attractive to a wide audience of students and scholars, movie devotees, and cat lovers.

Cinema Is a Cat

Cinema Is a Cat
Author: Daisuke Miyao
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2019-10-31
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0824879694

Watching movies every night at home with his cats, film scholar and cat lover Daisuke Miyao noticed how frequently cats turned up on screen. They made brief appearances (think of Mafia boss Marlon Brando gently stroking a cat in a scene from The Godfather); their looks provided inspiration to film creators (Avatar); they even held major roles (The Lion King). In Cinema Is a Cat, Miyao uses the fascinating relationship between cats and cinema to offer a uniquely appealing introduction to film studies. Cats are representational subjects in the nine films explored in this book, and each chapter juxtaposes a feline characteristic—their love of dark places, their “star” quality—with discussion of the theories and histories of cinema. The opening chapters explore three basic elements of the language of cinema: framing, lighting, and editing. Subsequent chapters examine the contexts in which films are made, exhibited, and viewed. Miyao covers the major theoretical and methodological concepts of film studies—auteurism, realism, genre, feminist film theory, stardom, national cinema, and modernity theory—exploring fundamental questions. Who is the author of a film? How does a film connect to reality? What connections does one film have to other films? Who is represented in a film and how? How is a film viewed differently by people of different cultural and social backgrounds? How is a film located in history? His focus on the innate qualities of cats—acting like prima donnas, born of mixed blood, devoted to the chase—offers a memorable and appealing approach to the study of film. How to read audio-visual materials aesthetically and culturally is of limitless value in a world where we are constantly surrounded by moving images—television, video, YouTube, streaming, GPS, and virtual reality. Cinema Is a Cat offers an accessible, user-friendly approach that will deepen viewers’ appreciation of movies, from Hollywood classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and To Catch a Thief, to Japanese period dramas like Samurai Cat. The book will be attractive to a wide audience of students and scholars, movie devotees, and cat lovers.

Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide

Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide
Author: Bryan Senn
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 699
Release: 2024-10-16
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476619026

About 2,500 genre films are entered under more than 100 subject headings, ranging from abominable snowmen through dreamkillers, rats, and time travel, to zombies, with a brief essay on each topic: development, highlights, and trends. Each film entry shows year of release, distribution company, country of origin, director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, cast credits, plot synopsis and critical commentary.

Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema

Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema
Author: Peter Hutchings
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2017-11-22
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1538102447

Horror is one of the most enduring and controversial of all cinematic genres. Horror films range from subtle and poetic to graphic and gory, but what links them together is their ability to frighten, disturb, shock, provoke, delight, irritate, and amuse audiences. Horror’s capacity to take the form of our evolving fears and anxieties has ensured not only its notoriety but also its long-term survival and international popularity. This second edition has been comprehensively updated to capture all that is important and exciting about the horror genre as it exists today. Its new entries feature the creative personalities who have developed innovative forms of horror, and recent major films and cycles of films that ensure horror’s continuing popularity and significance. In addition, many of the other entries have been expanded to include reference to the contemporary scene, giving a clear picture of how horror cinema is constantly renewing and transforming itself. The Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema traces the development of the genre from its beginnings to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries. The entries cover all major movie villains, including Frankenstein and his monsters, the vampire, the werewolf, the mummy, the zombie, the ghost and the serial killer; film directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, make-up artists, special-effects technicians, and composers who have helped shape horror history; significant production companies; major films that are milestones in the development of the horror genre; and different national traditions in horror cinema – as well as popular themes, formats, conventions, and cycles.

Otherness in Hollywood Cinema

Otherness in Hollywood Cinema
Author: Michael Richardson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2010-06-17
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0826463118

In Otherness in Hollywood Cinema, Michael Richardson argues that the Hollywood system has been the only national cinema with the resources and inclination to explore images of others through stories set in exotic and faraway places. He traces many of the ways in which Hollywood has constructed otherness, and discusses the extent to which those images have persisted and conditioned today's understanding. Hollywood was from the beginning teeming with people who had experienced cultural displacement. Coaxing the finest talents from around the world and needing to produce films with an almost universal appeal, Hollywood confounded American insularity while simultaneously presenting a vision of ‘America' to the world. The book examines a range of genres from the perspective of otherness, including the Western, film noir, and zombie movies. Films discussed include Birth of a Nation, The New World, The Searchers, King Kong, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Jaws, and Dead Man. Erudite and highly informed, this is a sweeping survey of how the American film industry has portrayed the foreign and the exotic.

The A to Z of Horror Cinema

The A to Z of Horror Cinema
Author: Peter Hutchings
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2009-09-02
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0810870509

Horror is one of the most enduring and controversial of all cinematic genres. Horror films range from the subtle and the poetic to the graphic and the gory but what links them all is their ability to frighten, disturb, shock, provoke, delight, irritate, amuse, and bemuse audiences. Horror's capacity to serve as an outlet to capture the changing patterns of our fears and anxieties has ensured not only its notoriety but also its long-term survival and its international popularity. Above all, however, it is the audience's continual desire to experience new frights and evermore-horrifying sights that continue to make films like The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, Ringu, and The Shining captivate viewers. The A to Z of Horror Cinema traces the development of horror cinema from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries. Entries cover all the major movie villains, including Frankenstein and his monster, the vampire, the werewolf, the mummy, the zombie, the ghost, and the serial killer; the film directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, make-up artists, special effects technicians, and composers who have helped to shape horror history; significant production companies and the major films that have come to stand as milestones in the development of the horror genre; and the different national traditions in horror cinema as well as horror's most popular themes, formats, conventions, and cycles.

Animal Life and the Moving Image

Animal Life and the Moving Image
Author: Michael Lawrence
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-07-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1838714383

From the proto-cinematic sequencing of animal motion in the nineteenth century to the ubiquity of animal videos online, the histories of animal life and the moving image are enigmatically interlocked. Animal Life and the Moving Image is the first collection of essays to offer a sustained focus on the relations between screen cultures and non-human animals. The volume brings together some of the most important and influential writers working on the non-human animal's significance for cultures and theories of the moving image. It offers innovative analyses of the representation of animals across a wide range of documentary, fiction, mainstream and avant-garde practices, from early cinema to contemporary user-generated media. Individual chapters consider King Kong, The Birds, The Misfits, The Cove, Grizzly Man and Microcosmos, the work of Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Bresson, Malcolm Le Grice, Peter Greenaway, Carolee Schneemann and Isabella Rossellini, and YouTube stars Christian the lion and Maru the cat.

Directors in British and Irish Cinema

Directors in British and Irish Cinema
Author: Robert Murphy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 672
Release: 2019-07-25
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1838715339

A guide to directors who have worked in the British and Irish film industries between 1895 and 2005. Each of its 980 entries on individuals directors gives a resume of the director's career, evaluates their achievements and provides a complete filmography. It is useful for those interested in film-making in Britain and Ireland.

Cinema Plays

Cinema Plays
Author: Eustace Hale Ball
Publisher:
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1920
Genre: Motion picture plays
ISBN:

The A to Z of German Cinema

The A to Z of German Cinema
Author: Robert C. Reimer
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2010-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1461731860

German film is diverse and multi-faceted; its history includes five distinct German governments (Wilhelmine Germany, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Democratic Republic), two national industries (Germany and Austria), and a myriad of styles and production methods. Paradoxically, the political disruptions that have produced these distinct film eras, as well as the natural inclination of artists to rebel and create new styles, allow for the construction of a narrative of German film. While the disjuncture generates distinct points of separation, it also highlights continuities between the ruptures. Outlining the richness of German film, The A to Z of German Cinema covers mainstream, alternative, and experimental film from 1895 to the present through a chronology, introductory essay, appendix of the 100 most significant German films, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on directors, actors, films, cinematographers, composers, producers, and major historical events that greatly affected the direction and development of German cinema. The book's broad canvas will lead students and scholars of cinema to appreciate the complex nature of German film.