Film Studies: A Subject Guide
A note on Subject Headings
The TCNJ Catalog follows the practice of the Library of Congress in assigning subject headings. As yet there is no LC subject heading for "Film Studies". Subject headings in the area of film generally use either "motion pictures" or "film", but the structure of the headings is not consistent. Some headings begin with"motion picture", followed by a noun or phrase which it modifies (e.g. Motion picture plays). Some headings begin with Motion pictures (e.g. Motion pictures and history), some begin with another topic (e.g. Women and motion pictures). Headings with the term "film" generally begin with film used as an adjective (e.g. Film criticism). When film is used as a noun it is embedded in the heading, and appears in the plural (e.g. Feature films, Foreign Films, Horror Films, Silent Films, etc.). Please note also that a particular heading may be used to describe both films and books about film (e.g. Motion Pictures--Italy, which retrieves both Italian films and works on Italian film.)
Print Indexes at TCNJ
To locate print indexes in the catalog, use the subject heading "Motion pictures Periodicals Indexes". The library currently subscribes to three major indexes:
A good place to start your search for film criticism, analysis, or reviews is the quarterly Art Index (Reference Z5937 .A78). The library's holdings of Art Index date to 1929, making it an excellent source for historical research. From 1984 onward this resource can also be searched through WilsonWeb by selecting "Art Abstracts" (see below). In the print format, the primary index headings for locating scholarly film studies articles are:
- Motion picture audiences
- Motion picture criticism
You can also search for specific genres (e.g. "Film noir" or "Horror"), individual directors (e.g. "Campion, Jane") or specific forms of criticism (e.g. "Feminist motion picture criticism")
The indexing in Art Index can be quite specific. For example, in the January, 2004 issue, the index heading "Motorcycle gangs in motion pictures" lists the article "Sleazy Riders: Exploitation, 'Otherness' and Transgression in the 1960's Biker Movie," published in Journal of Popular Film and Television.
Another valuable resource is International Index to Film Periodicals: An Annotated Guide. (Reference PN1993 .I58). Entries are indexed by General Subjects, Individual Films, Biography, Director, and Author.
Finally, Film Literature Index (Reference PN1993 .F55) "provides the most comprehensive survey available of the entire spectrum of current periodical writing on film." In addition to over one thousand subject entries, articles are indexed under authors' names, screenwriters, performers, directors, cinematographers, professional societies and corporations. Film Literature Index has separate sections for film and television/video.
Print Periodicals at TCNJ
Print serials relevant to film studies can be located in our catalog using the subject heading "Motion pictures Periodicals." The library currently subscribes to
- Cineaste (published quarterly by Cineaste Publishers, Inc.)
- File Comment (published semi-monthly by the Film Society of Lincoln Center)
- Film Quarterly (published quarterly by the University of California Press )
- Journal of Popular Film and Television (published quarterly by the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation)
- Sight and Sound (published monthly by the British Film Institute)
All of these serials are indexed in Art Index, International Index to Film Periodicals: An Annotated Guide, and Film Literature Index (see above).
Film Reviews
A very useful resource for film reviews is the Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) website. This collates, by film, reviews available free over the web. Access is by title only www.mrqe.com
Another free web source is the "Internet Movie Data Base" The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) This database can be searched by film titles, people, characters, quotes, bios, and plots. Once you locate a film of interest, use the "external reviews" link of the left side to view a list of published reviews.
Other sources for film reviews and scholarly writing on film
Film reviews are also accessible in EbscoHost and WilsonWeb.
For EBSCOhost: Type the name of the film as a phrase and then add the word review. Example: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and review.
For Wilson Web: Type the name of the film as a phrase and then add the word reviews. Example: Y tu Mama tambien and review.
In Sociological Abstracts the term "films" can be used as a descriptor in combination with other terms. For example a search using the descriptor terms "films" AND "racism" yields over 60 results, including: "The Mulatta on Film: From Hollywood to the Mexican Revolution," in the journal Race and Class.
Foreign Films
West Library has a separate subject guide/finding aid for Foreign Films.
Books
African Americans
Manatu, Norma. African American women and sexuality in the cinema. McFarland, 2003. PN1995.9.N4 M28 2003
Massood, Paula J. Black city cinema : African American urban experiences in film. Temple University Press, 2003. On Order
Anthropology
A Bibliography of ethnographic films. Rolf Husmann ... [et al.]. Reference GN347 .B5 1992
MacDougall, David. Transcultural cinema. On Order
Media worlds: anthropology on new terrain, edited by Faye D. Ginsburg, Lila Abu-Lughod, and Brian Larkin. P94.6 .M426 2002
Audiences
The audience studies reader, edited by Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn. Copy Received.
Hollywood spectatorship: changing perceptions of cinema audiences, edited by Melvyn Stokes and Richard Maltby. PN1995.9.A8 H65 2001
Identifying Hollywood 's audiences: cultural identity and the movies, edited by Melvyn Stokes and Richard Maltby. PN1995.9.A8 I33 1999
Authorship
Authorship and film, edited by David A. Gerstner and Janet Staiger. PN1996 .A94 2003
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Halliwell, Leslie. Halliwell's film guide 2004. HarperResource, 2003. Copy received.
Parish, James Robert. The encyclopedia of ethnic groups in Hollywood. Facts on File, 2003. PN1995.9.M56 M85 2003
The American Film Institute desk reference. Reference PN1994 .A599 2002
Documentary film
Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: a history of the non-fiction film PN1995.9.D6 B37 1983
Feminist Criticism
Feminism and film, edited by E. Ann Kaplan. PN1995.9.W6 F448 2000
Feminist film theory: a reader, edited by Sue Thornham. PN1995.9.W6 F465 1999
Rich, B. Ruby. Chick flicks: theories and memories of the feminist film movement PN1995.9.W6 R47 1998
Film Editing
Orpen, Valerie. Film editing: the art of the expressive. Wallflower, 2003. Copy Received
Film noir
Dickos, Andrew. Street with no name: a history of the classic American film noir. University Press of Kentucky, 2002. PN1995.9.F54 D53 2002
Oliver,Kelly. Noir anxiety. University of Minnesota Press, 2003.
Film studies
Film studies: critical approaches, edited by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson. Oxford University Press, 2000. PN1994 .F439138 2000
The film studies reader, edited by Joanne Hollows, Peter Hutchings, and Mark Jancovich. Oxford University Press, 2000. PN1993.5.A1 F517 2000
An introduction to film studies, edited by Jill Nelmes. Routledge, 1999. PN1994 .I537 1999
The Oxford guide to film studies, edited by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson. Oxford University Press, 1998. PN1995 .O93 1998
Reinventing film studies, edited by Christine Gledhill and Linda Williams. Oxford University Press, 2000. PN1995 .R455 2000
Gay & Lesbian
The bent lens: a world guide to gay & lesbian film, edited by Lisa Daniel & Claire Jackson. Netlibrary eBook
Clum, John M. "He's all man": learning masculinity, gayness, and love from American movies. PN1995.9.M46 C49 2002
Murray, Raymond, Images in the dark: an encyclopedia of gay and lesbian film and video. Reference Collection PN1995.9.H55 M87 1994
Parish, James Robert. Gays and lesbians in mainstream cinema: plots, critiques, casts and credits for 272 theatrical and made-for-television Hollywood releases. Reference Collection PN1995.9.H55 P37 1993
Holocaust
Insdorf, Annette. Indelible shadows: film and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press, 2003. PN1995.9.H53 I57 2003
Israeli Film
Kronish, Amy. Israeli film: a reference guide. Praeger, 2003. Copy Received
Production
Introduction to documentary production. Wallflower, 2002. Copy Received
Reception
The film cultures reader, edited by Graeme Turner. PN1994 .F4384 2002
Hardwick, Lorna. Reception studies. PN98.R38 H37 2003
Silent Film
American silent film: discovering marginalized voices, edited by Gregg Bachman and Thomas J. Slater. Southern Illinois University Press, 2002.
