What Is Cinema: or When is a Movie More Than Just a Movie Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library
What Kinds of Images Move? Cinema aka THE MOVIESCinema aka THE MOVIES: Nationality Genres: Sci Fi, Gangster, Film Noir, Musicals, Westerns, pornography…etc. Eras Styles Directors Actors Audiences
What Kinds of Images Move? Documentaries Slick and produced - rough/cinema verité Educational / Instructional films/video Promotional films (selling/explaining a program, product, institution, etc.) Newsreels Propaganda Primary Source Materials: raw footage; reality footage Amateur films (home movies)
TV: Network, Cable Programming (from sitcoms to sports) News Commercials/Infomercials What Kinds of Images Move?
Cinema aka THE MOVIES: What Is Cinema? Entertainment and BusinessEntertainment and Business ArtArt HistoryHistory Movies as History; History & the MoviesMovies as History; History & the Movies Movies as snapshotMovies as snapshot Movie as Mirror -- as social & psychological “text”Movie as Mirror -- as social & psychological “text”
Non-theatrical Film and Video Documentaries Primary Source Materials Amateur films The Camera is NEVER Objective! No Matter How Subtle or Artfully Concealed: There is ALWAYS a Point of View
Examples: Non-Theatrical Film & Video: Documenting the Present and Past Film as Weapon: Propaganda Film and TV as Chronicle Newsreels Broadcast News Primary Source Footage Amateur Film/Video
How Do I Find This Stuff for My Research? Media Resources Center Web Resources Listing of Holdings Bibliographies Links to related sites For documentary materials, try PathfinderPathfinder For Movies: Use books, articles, Filmographies to identify movies on a topic American Film Institute Catalog British Film Institute Catalog