Chapter 13
Theorising about Film: How Movies Work
In This Chapter
Revealing the big ideas of film theory
Theorising film texts with Marxism
Using other academic disciplines to analyse films
I’m going to be upfront with you: film theory isn’t easy. Most theory involves outdated, jargon-laden language, and even after you decode the written style, the central concepts can be tricky to get your head around. Add to that the fact that many of the important film-theory books and articles take part in a philosophical conversation with other complex, jargon-heavy ideas that you’ve probably never heard of, and you have a recipe for giving up, throwing your film-theory book across the room and going to watch The Hunger Games movies on Netflix to work through your frustration. So, why bother?
As the saying goes, nothing good ever comes easy. Film theory can be difficult, but if you really want to understand how movies work, the effort is well worthwhile. Film theory aims to help answer the seriously big questions of film studies, such as: why do you enjoy watching films? Does a film reflect ...
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