Joakim Ake Nilsson
pressive qualities of the formal and narrative elements of film, which the authors address in the next two parts of the text. In Part Two, “Formal Compositions: Film Scenes, Shots, Cuts, and Sounds,” Corrigan and White examine the formal elements of film in detail, dedicating a chapter each to mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound. They clearly define and explain technical terms, using numerous examples and images from a range of national and historical films and film genres, including detailed discussions of mise-en-scène in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) and the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Battle Potemkin (1925), and the relationship between image and sound in Singin’ in the Rain (1952). In the “Concepts at Work” section that ends the chapter on film sound, the authors again prompt students to think critically about the relationship between sound and other formal and narrative elements of the film. As a suggested “Activity,” they ask students to “select a scene or sequence from a film that uses orchestral music” and then substitute another type of music or a song and reflect on ways in which “the changes redirect our understanding of the scene and its meaning” (209). Part Three, “Organizational Structures: From Stories to Genres,” dedicates one chapter, “Narrative Films: Telling Stories,” to discussing the narrative elements of film. Other chapters follow, focusing on documentary films and “Experimental Film and New Media.” The authors effectively outline each area of film. However, for instructors teaching a one quarter/semester class, it may be enough to discuss narrative film; documentary film has its own history and formal elements, and analyzing experimental film requires a strong knowledge of narrative film that the students are still developing. An important element of narrative film that the authors do not discuss is how stories, whether original or
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adapted, become screenplays, which are then turned into films. Screenwriters are only mentioned in a paragraph in Chapter One, and some instructors may feel that more attention should be paid to how the written word shapes the narrative and non-narrative elements of a film. The final chapter of Part Three addresses the history and elements of genre, and briefly outlines the features of six important genres: comedies, westerns, melodramas, musicals, horror films, and crime films. This is an effective choice, as the variety of genres will give students and instructors the opportunity to explore one or more of these genres in more detail. In discussing each genre, Corrigan and White describe key features and themes, as well as subgenres, such as Psychological versus Physical Horror films. They also challenge students to think more critically about what attracts viewers to a particular genre. They explain that “[c]omedies celebrate the harmony and resiliency of social life. Although many viewers associate comedies with laughs and humor, comedy is more fundamentally about social reconciliation and the triumph of the physical over the intellectual” (322). They describe the appeal of horror films as rooted in social and psychological catharsis: “horror films dramatize our personal and social terrors in their different forms, in effect allowing us to admit them and attempt to deal with them in an imaginary way and as part of a communal experience” (332). The authors provide an effective description of each genre, but also ask students to reflect on how films can cross between genres or can challenge genre conventions. Part Four, “Critical Perspectives: History, Methods, Writing,” will force instructors to make content and pedagogical choices based on the amount of content they think they can effectively ask student to engage with, and on the level of critical thinking skills their students possess. Chapter Ten, “History and Historiography: Hollywood and Beyond,” is a valiant attempt to cover, in forty pages,
