The Routledge Companion to Film History

The Routledge Companion to Film History is an indispensable guide for anyone studying film history for the first time. The approach taken presents a substantial and readable overview of the field and provides students with a tool of reference that will be valuable throughout their studies.
The volume is divided into two parts. The first is a set of eleven essays that approaches film history around the following themes:


History of the moving image


Film as art and popular culture


Production process


Evolution of sound


Alternative modes: experimental, documentary, animation


Cultural difference


Film’s relationship to history

The second is a critical dictionary that explains concepts, summarizes debates in film studies, defines technical terms, describes major periods and movements, and discusses historical situations and the film industry. The volume as a whole is designed as an active system of cross-references: readers of the essays are referred to dictionary entries (and vice versa) and both provide short bibliographies that encourage readers to investigate topics.

William Guynn is Emeritus Professor of Art (Cinema) at Sonoma State University, California. His previous publications include Writing History in Film (Routledge, 2006)

Editor’s introduction Part I: Film history: a thematic approach 1.Natural Magic: A Cultural history of Moving Images Erkki Huhtamo 2. Film as popular culture Hilary Radner 3. Film as art Prakash Younger 4. The stages of the production process William Guynn 5. The evolution of sound in cinema Jay Beck 6. Experimental Cinema Wheeler Winston Dixon 7. Documentary film Brian Winston 8.Animation Norman M. Klein 9. Filming difference David Desser 10.Making history through media Marcia Landy 11. Inscribing the historical: film texts in context Rosemarie Scullion Part II: A critical dictionary: history, theory, technique Bibliography Index