Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1: Cultural contexts: watching, studying, and making movies -- Encountering film: from preproduction to exhibition -- History and historiography: Hollywood and beyond -- Part 2: Formal compositions: film scenes, shots, cuts, and sounds -- Mise-en-scène: exploring a material world -- Cinematography: framing what we see -- Editing: relating images -- Film sound: listening to the cinema -- Part 3: Organizational structures: from stories to genres -- Narrative films: telling stories -- Documentary films: representing the real -- Animation and experimental media: challenging form -- Movie genres: conventions, formulas, and audience expectations -- Part 4: Critical perspectives: reading and writing about film -- Reading about film: critical theories and methods -- Writing a film essay: observations, arguments, research, and analysis.

The Film Experience offers a comprehensive introduction to the art, language, industry, culture, and experience of the movies. Learn how formal elements like cinematography, editing, and sound can be used to analyze and interpret film as a whole. With superior tools for reading and writing about film, as well as unparalleled coverage of a diverse and inclusive range of filmmaking traditions, The Film Experience is the most robust introductory text on the market. The sixth edition brings a strong focus on film technology through expanded coverage of animation and a new Technology in Action feature that helps students understand the business and culture of film in historical context--back cover.