Poetics of Cinema

<p>Bringing together twenty-five years of work on what he has called the "historical poetics of cinema," David Bordwell presents an extended analysis of a key question for film studies: how are films made, in particular historical contexts, in order to achieve certain effects? For Bordwell, films are <em>made</em> things, existing within <em>historical </em>contexts, and aim to create determinate <em>effects</em>. Beginning with this central thesis, Bordwell works out a full understanding of how films channel and recast cultural influences for their cinematic purposes. With more than five hundred film stills, <em>Poetics of Cinema</em> is a must-have for any student of cinema. </p> Introduction; Part 1 Questions of Theory; Chapter 1 Poetics of Cinema; Chapter 2 Convention, Construction, and Cinematic Vision; Part 2 Studies in Narrative; Chapter 3 Three Dimensions of Film Narrative; Chapter 4 Cognition and Comprehension; Chapter 5 The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice; Chapter 6 Film Futures; Chapter 7 Mutual Friends and Chronologies of Chance; Part 3 Studies in Style; Chapter 8 Cinecerity; Chapter 9 Taking Things to Extremes; Chapter 10 CinemaScope; Chapter 11 Who Blinked First?; Chapter 12 Visual Style in Japanese Cinema, 1925–1945; Chapter 13 A Cinema of Flourishes; Chapter 14 Aesthetics in Action; Chapter 15 Richness Through Imperfection;