>Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 13:13:37 -0500
>To: "Ellene S. Phufas" <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Reagan Ross <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: suggestions
>In-Reply-To: <3AA6A9A0.8374.108257AA@localhost>
>References: <l03102801b6cc48596a4a@[139.57.144.142]>
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>As conveyed by many I too for the first couple of classes I taught used
the Bordwell and Thompson textbook, and I agree that it is easily the most
thorough out there (at least that I have read and I have looked at
several), but I have found that students really don't like it (based on
verbal feedback and a questionnaire I do at the end of the semester), not
really because it uses obscure films but rather because it is so painfully
dry, a criticism I share. That doesn't mean it isn't valuable and if I were
to teach a higher level film class I might go back to using it but for a
freshman course and the one that I teach, a 2000 level class with mostly
second year students and a few freshman and older students sprinkled in, I
have chosen to use Robert Kolker's _Film, Form, and Culture_, a nice
textbook that balances form and cultural studies. While I have some minor
grips with it, and while it certainly doesn't cover film form like the
Bordwell and Thompson book, it is a more interesting read and covers enough
for a beginning and/or elective class. Further the thing that in my opinion
makes this a really valuable textbook is its cd rom, a nice mixture of uses
of form from clips taken from a wide assortment of films, ranging from the
obscure, _Broken Blossoms_ to more mainstream fare. If you can get your
students to use it, and I finally had to attach a quiz to it to do so, it
can really be an invaluable tool to getting cinematic form across to them.
>
>Best,
>Reagan
>
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>At 09:35 PM 03/07/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>>I would appreciate any suggestions for a good Introduction to Film
>>textbook.  Thanks
>>Eleni Phufas
>>Ellene S. Phufas
>>Professor, English/History
>>ESL Coordinator
>>Chair, CITC, City Campus
>>Erie Community College
>>121 Ellicott Street
>>Buffalo, NY  14203
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>----
>>Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
>>http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite
>>

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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite