Looking at Movies
An Introduction to Film
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Looking at Movies, Second Edition, offers students everything they need to understand and appreciate film: a visually dynamic presentation, more help with film analysis than any other text, and a sophisticated and integrated media package featuring nearly four hours of moving-image content.
The text, DVDs, website, and writing guide package costs less than competing texts alone, making Looking at Movies an outstanding value for your students. Includes two DVDs, access to the student website, and a supplementary Writing About Movies guide.
The most visually dynamic text on the market
Looking at Movies’ four-color design is visually attractive and makes the book fun to read. Wherever possible, frame grabs are used for in-text illustration, rather than publicity stills. Two DVDs complement the text with nearly four hours of moving-image content, including tutorials filmed specifically for Looking at Movies and an anthology of twelve short films.
In addition, multimedia essays, including illustrations and sound, are available on the student website.
More help with film analysis than any other text
Every element of the Looking at Movies package features pedagogy to help students in their critical viewing and analytical writing. End-of-chapter materials include “Analyzing” sections and new “Screening Checklists” that guide students’ analysis. A new chapter—“Thinking About Movies, Theory, and Meaning”—expands on the first edition’s coverage of film theory, including more material on key theories, more applied readings, more information on genre-study and film history, and an end-of-chapter “Analyzing Movies” summary that helps students begin to apply theory in their own analyses. In addition, icons in the text alert students to short tutorials on the DVDs that illustrate key concepts, thus showing students how to look at movies analytically. And a new Writing About Movies guide—packaged free with every copy of the text and available on the student website—offers additional, practical advice for writing about film.
The most sophisticated, best-integrated media package available
Two DVDs and the Looking at Movies student website offer a wide array of multimedia content that is both visually dynamic and pedagogically useful. The DVDs feature full-screen video for both self-study and in-class presentation. Web and DVD icons in the book prompt students to explore the multimedia content when appropriate.
An outstanding value
The text, DVDs, website, and writing guide package costs only $50 net—less than competing texts alone. In addition, students have the option of purchasing for half the price of the print text an eBook version of Looking at Movies. The eBook includes the supplementary DVDs and full access to the student website.
A sophisticated, integrated media package
Film is a visual medium that calls for visual pedagogical aides. The Looking at Movies media package extends the text’s emphasis on analysis with film clips, frame sequences, short films, and animations. The student website features illustrated essays and review materials, and two supplementary DVDs feature nearly four hours of moving-image content for self-study or in-class presentation.
Looking at Movies DVDs
Two DVDs feature nearly four hours of moving-image content.
Disc 1 offers content corresponding to each chapter in the text, including:
- Film clips and frame sequences, with voiceover commentary by Dave Monahan (University of North Carolina, Wilmington). These short tutorials elaborate on key concepts in the text, helping students see what the text describes.
- Original footage produced exclusively for Looking at Movies. This footage provides brief overviews of the technical aspects of filmmaking: camera angles, moving-camera effects, and others.
Disc 2 includes an anthology of 12 short films, ranging from 5 to 30 minutes in length. These short films are entertaining examples of the form, as well as useful material for in-class activities or student analysis. Most of the films are accompanied by optional audio commentary from the directors recorded specifically for Looking at Movies.
Disc Contents
Disc 1: Tutorials
- Chapter 1
- The Lumière Brothers’ ”Actualitès“
- Fred Ott’s Sneeze
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Setting and Expressionism
- Lighting and Familiar Image
- Composing the Frame
- Chapter 4
- Seeing the Lighting
- Shot Types and Implied Proximity
- Camera Angles
- Point of View
- Zoom and Moving Camera Effects
- The Moving Camera
- Focal Length
- Chapter 5
- Persona and Performance
- Editing and Performance in Snapshot
- Chapter 6
- The Evolution of Editing
- The Kuleshov Experiment Experiment
- 180 Degree Rule
- Editing Techniques in Snapshot
- Chapter 7
Disc 2: Short Films
- Alright Love (2004), Samuli Valkama, color, 14 mins.
- Bartholomew’s Song (2005), Lowell Frank and Destin Daniel Cretton, color, 11 mins.
- The Big Charade (2003), Jesse McKeown, color, 5 mins.
- Gina, An Actress, Age 29 (2001), Paul Harrill, color, 22 mins.
- Hello (2005), Jonathan Nix, color, 7 mins.
- The Hill (2004), Deborah Chow, color, 12 mins.
- Kleingeld (1999), Marc-Andreas Bochert, color, 15 mins.
- Passengers (2005), Todd Walker, B&W, 8 mins.
- Short/Film (2004), Leo Burton, color, 5 mins.
- Snapshot (2005), Andrew Lund, color, 28 mins.
- Spam-Ku (2005), Steven Tsuchida, color, 5 mins.
- Super-8 Mom (2005), David Ellsworth, color, 5 mins.
Student Website
Like its parent text, the Looking at Movies student website is both visually appealing and pedagogically useful. Features include:
- 24 short illustrated essays—signaled in the text by web icons—provide further explorations of a wide range of topics that emphasize historical and cultural contexts and enrich students’ analytical work.
- Sample film analyses by Richard Barsam provide students with models for their own writing as well as essential background for screenings. Films include Bicycle Thieves, Chinatown, North by Northwest, Touch of Evil, The Piano, Breathless, and Apocalypse Now.
- Timelines illustrate the development of film and provide quick access to important information.
- The Writing About Movies guide by Karen Gocsik (Executive Director of the Writing Program at Dartmouth College) is included online in its entirety.
- Screening Checklists from the text can be printed and brought to screenings.
- Chapter outlines, self-grading quizzes, and a glossary facilitate study and review.
Instructor Resources
Visit the Norton Resource Library to download samples and materials for your course.
A fully integrated teaching package
- Test Bank in Microsoft Word, ExamView® Assessment Suite, BlackBoard, and WebCT formats, featuring nearly five hundred multiple-choice questions.
- Web-CT and BlackBoard Coursepacks. These ready-to-use coursepacks offer chapter overviews and learning objectives, quiz questions, streaming video of the DVD tutorials, questions on the DVD tutorials and short films, the test bank, and more.
- Over 130 questions on the DVD tutorials and DVD short films. Suitable for classroom discussion or for evaluation purposes, these questions guide students’ analysis of the short film clips and help them to understand the concepts described in the tutorials.
- Lecture PowerPoint slides with clicker questions; art and figures from the book in PowerPoint and JPEG formats
- Suggestions about how to incorporate the DVD into your classroom teaching
- Sample Syllabus
