Understanding the Film : An Introduction to Film Appreciation

Rating:
Summary: A captivating look at the art and history of film.
Review: Every once in a while a classroom textbook will capture the attention and cause a student to read beyond the chapter assigned. Understanding the Film is one of those books. Its many quotes and anecdotal passages, along with its profiles of well known people in the film industry, would have me engrossed before I'd realize that what I was "supposed" to be reading was on the other end of the book.

WARNING TO STUDENTS: If you browse this book, you'll never make it to your assigned reading.

The authors, Bone and Johnson, cover every aspect of film, from the people who make movies to the people who review them to the people who go to see them. The chapters are digestible segments outlining each element of the film experience, yet overlap enough to give the whole thing unity.

As a budding filmmaker, I particularly enjoyed the profiles, which were the first person accounts of actors, directors, special effects artists, and other industry professionals. Cutting through the Hollywood mystique, which has long made the movie business seem inaccessible to us mere mortals, the profiles allow us to see that there are real people behind the hype - people with dreams and aspirations that we can identify with.

What didn't I like? Not much. The book did get off to a tedious start. In showing that film was "big business", the first chapter seemed like an endless string of statistics and figures. And, as with most textbooks, I thought it was a little pricey. I paid $35 at the university book store (I should have shopped Amazon), which is a little high for a paperback.

All said, I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in movies and the film industry.

Rating:
Summary: A captivating look at the art and history of film.
Review: Every once in a while a classroom textbook will capture the attention and cause a student to read beyond the chapter assigned. Understanding the Film is one of those books. Its many quotes and anecdotal passages, along with its profiles of well known people in the film industry, would have me engrossed before I'd realize that what I was "supposed" to be reading was on the other end of the book.

WARNING TO STUDENTS: If you browse this book, you'll never make it to your assigned reading.

The authors, Bone and Johnson, cover every aspect of film, from the people who make movies to the people who review them to the people who go to see them. The chapters are digestible segments outlining each element of the film experience, yet overlap enough to give the whole thing unity.

As a budding filmmaker, I particularly enjoyed the profiles, which were the first person accounts of actors, directors, special effects artists, and other industry professionals. Cutting through the Hollywood mystique, which has long made the movie business seem inaccessible to us mere mortals, the profiles allow us to see that there are real people behind the hype - people with dreams and aspirations that we can identify with.

What didn't I like? Not much. The book did get off to a tedious start. In showing that film was "big business", the first chapter seemed like an endless string of statistics and figures. And, as with most textbooks, I thought it was a little pricey. I paid $35 at the university book store (I should have shopped Amazon), which is a little high for a paperback.

All said, I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in movies and the film industry.

Rating:
Summary: Very useful
Review: When I prepared to introduce film appreciation to my 9th graders, I found this book a good teacher resource. It not only gives a comprehensive overview of all aspects of the film industry (history, production and editing techniques, profiles of actors, directors, producers, film reviews and studies, list of good films, etc), but also provides compellings reasons for why film should be studied in the classroom. Movies are indeed the novel of 21st century, and this book is helpful for understanding why.