Two to get you started:
Film Art: An Introduction by Bordwell & Thompson
Living Cinema by Louis Marcorelles
Wow, Film Art is pricey! But, hey, free CD. ;)
Thank you.
To begin:
André Bazin, What is Cinema?
Later:
Try Sergei Eisenstein, perhaps not so light, but a true masterpiece..
If you search on Amazon’s marketplace for Film Art (many different editions available) you can pick up the paperback for spare change (i.e. 22/23 cents) plus shipping! No free CD with those ones, though :)
I’m currently reading Gilles Deleuze’s “Cinema 1: The Movement-Image” and “Cinema 2: The Time-image”
Admittedly they are VERY VERY dense and hard to get through if you’re not a big philosophy/theory reader – hard enough even if you are. But I was also given the book “Deleuze on Cinema” by Ronald Bogue and it really is like having a ledger or key to unlocking Deleuze’s writing – it makes the effort completely worth it because Deleuze is someone that will COMPLETELY change the way you can look at film.
I second Mladen’s suggestion for Sergei Eistenstein and I also suggest reading some interviews with Andrei Tarkovsky, many of which can be found online. If you wanna try him in book form, I recommend reading “Sculpting in Time: Tarkovsky The Great Russian Filmaker Discusses His Art” or Andrei Tarkovsky: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) by John Gianvito
Concepts in Film Theory by Dudley Andrew.
Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
Key text on ideology in film up to the mid 20th century.
Bruce Kawin Mindscreen
In this book he puts forth the theory that a film can be told from the first person. The examples he uses are Bergman’s Persona and Shame and Godard’s (impenetrable film) Two or Three Things I Know About Her.
The Power of Movies by Colin McGinn
Definitely one of my greatest influences in terms of how I break down a film’s image and the choices made. It really changes your perspective entirely and actually looks at films through a neurological iris.
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/13/004023.php
It’s my bible.
Robert Stam: Film Theory: An Introduction
Robert Stam, et al: New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics: Structuralism, Poststructuralism, and Beyond
E. Ann Kaplan (ed): Feminism and Film: An Anthology
Christian Metz: Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema; The Imaginary Signifier: Psychoanalysis and the Cinema
Andre Bazin: What is Cinema
Jean Mitry: The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema
David Bordwell: Narration in the Fiction Film
Barthes: :La Chambre Claire (not exactly about film, but still relevant and beautiful)
More advanced psycho stuff that I am told is passe, but I still find relevant:
Copjec: Imagine There’s No Woman: Ethics and Sublimation
Anything by Kaja Silverman
Ill look for some more…
Zizek: Everything you Always Wanted to Know about Lacan but Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock.
Wollen: Signs and Meaning
Sitney: Visionary Filmmakers
Cavell: A World Viewed
Cavell: Pursuits of Happiness (philosophical readings of “remarriage comedies” and screwball comedies)
I’m sorry but most Film theory books are rubbish and are filled with jargonic nonsense. The only good ones I know are Robert Bresson’s Notes on Cinematography, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Sculpting in Time, and Carl Dreyers Essay Notes on my Metier which should be included in the Carl Dreyer Boxset that Criterion released not too long ago. Many of those so called “film books” made by smarky professors aren’t going to get you anywhere, you need to watch films…let them be your teacher…
Of course for the technical knowledge, obviously go to school…
Jean Pierre Geuens: Film Production Theory. Basically, don’t read, or rather don’t over-read. Write and do. And watch. School? Meh. Chris Doyle is self-taught.
If you’re interested in reading some of what sounds more like intelligent conversation, I suggest picking up some books by Sam Rhodie. His books are very easy to comprehend because of their conversational tone, even if they do double back on themselves at times. The information and conclusions drawn about different directors are very interesting. I don’t know if you’d say he was writing “theory” per se, but they’re interesting just the same. One of his essays was published with the recent Criterion release of Salo.
ChampionshipVinyl
Hey, all.
I’ve been writing about film for a few years (nothing professional) and want to broaden my understanding. I come to you fine peple looking for advice on film theory books. I’ve had little to no education in film theory, so I’d like to start light and work my way up.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! :)
P.S. I apologize if this is already covered somewhere, but my initial search yielded no results.