For undergraduate courses in Introduction to Film, Introduction to Cinema, and Film Appreciation.

This contemporary, best-selling text is designed to help students analyze movies with precision and technical sophistication.

Designed to help students analyze movies with precision and technical sophistication, Understanding Movies focuses on formalism—how the languages of the film (e.g., camera work, editing, lighting, story, photography, etc.) create meaning. Building on the same principle of organization as previous editions—structuring chapters around the elements of film—the new edition of this best seller offers a lavish use of color, printed on high-quality paper and has been updated to integrate recent films, developments in filmmaking, and personalities in the field.