Film Studies :: Library Resources for Communication Studies

Library Resources for Communication Studies

Film Studies

Introduction

This guide serves as a guide to assist faculty, students, and librarians in locating materials in the area of film studies. Film studies is a very broad and interdisciplinary field and there are many resources, both academic and non-academic, that may be used.

Suggested Subject Keywords

The following is a short list of Library of Congress subject headings that will be helpful when performing a subject search on film studies. Motion pictures is the standard subject heading for film (use Moving pictures for print materials before 1978). Consult with the Library of Congress Subject Headings for more headings.

For film, genre usually takes the form "Genre" films

Documentary films
Documentary films
Feature films
Film Noir
Foreign films
Musical films
Silent films

Themes take the form "Theme" in motion pictures or on television

African Americans in motion pictures
United States—in motion pictures
Youth in motion pictures

Film as it relates to the outside world takes the form "society" and motion pictures or motion pictures and "society"

Homosexuality and motion pictures
Women and motion pictures

Form

Motion pictures—Bibliography
Motion pictures—Dictionaries

Place

Motion pictures—California
Motion pictures—Italy

Production

Motion pictures—Art direction
Motion pictures—Editing

Relation to society

Motion pictures—Censorship
Motion pictures—Influence

Study

Animated Films—History and Criticism
Motion pictures—Plots, Themes, etc
Motion pictures—Reviews

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Reference Materials

The American Film Institute Desk Reference, by Melinda Corey, George Ochoa, and Gene Brown, New York: DK, 2002. ISBN 0789489341

American Film Institute. Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, executive editor, Kenneth W. Munden, R.R. Bowker, 1971-. ISBN 0835204405. Available online by subscription from Chadwyck-Healey as the AFI Catalog: American Film Institute Catalog
Vendor: http://afi.chadwyck.com

The Complete Film Dictionary (2 ed), by Ira Konigsberg, New York: Penguin Reference, 1997. ISBN 0670100099

The Film Encyclopedia, by Ephraim Katz, HarperResource, 2001. ISBN 0062737554

Filmmakers Dictionary, by Ralph S. Singleton and James A. Conrad, Lone Eagle, 2000. ISBN 1580650228

Film and Television: A Guide to the Reference Literature, by Mark Emmons, Libraries Unlimited, 2006. ISBN 1563089149

The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (4th ed), St. James Press, 2000- ISBN 155862449X

International Motion Picture Almanac, Quigley Publications, 1956- ISSN 0074-7084

Language of Cinema, by Kevin Jackson, Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0415920493

Magill's Survey of Cinema--English Language Films, First Series, by Frank Magill, Patricia King Hanson, and Stephen L. Hanson, 1980. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1980. ISBN 0893562254

Magill's Survey of Cinema--English Language Films, Second Series, by Frank Magill, Stephen L. Hanson, and Patricia King Hanson, 1981. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1981. ISBN 0893562300

Magill’s Cinema Annual, Salem Press, 1982- ISSN 0739-2141

Video Source Book, National Video Clearinghouse, 1979-. ISSN 0748-0881

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Periodical Databases/Indexes

Icon Key: = Paid access = Free access = Available electronically = Available in print

Best Bets:

Film Literature Index 1973-current Paid Access and Free Access Available electronically
This is a periodical index to the international literature of film, television and video. Geared for the specialist, or general reader knowledgeable in film/TV. It is supported by the University at Albany- SUNY. Currently available in print on a subscription basis; a retrospective, fully searchable online version (1976-2001) is currently available for free.
Site: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp

Film & Television Literature Index 1970s-current Paid Access Available electronically
EBSCO has developed a new database that indexes and abstracts 300 film and television journals comprehensively and 300 more selectively. Coverage extends back to the 1970s for select titles. Includes extensive full-text.
Site: http://www.ebscohost.com/

International Film Archive (FIAF), 1972-current. Paid Access Available electronically Available in print
Includes International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-present) and International Index to Television Periodicals (1979-present). Offers in-depth coverage of 300 of the world’s foremost academic and popular film and television journals. Divided into three areas: general subjects, individual films, and biographies. This is a good source for European films. Available online from Ovid/SilverPlatter. International Index to Film Periodicals is also available in print from R.R. Bowker
Vendor site: http://www.fiafnet.org/
Vendor site: http://www.ovid.com/site/products/index.jsp?top=2

Retrospective Index to Film Periodicals, 1930-1971 Paid Access Available in Print
EBSCO has developed a new database that indexes and abstracts 300 film and television journals comprehensively and 300 more selectively. Coverage extends back to the 1970s for select titles. Includes extensive full-text.
Site: http://www.ebscohost.com/

Additional Useful Databases:

Alternative Press Index, 1969- Quarterly, with annual cumulation. Paid Access Available electronically
Indexes alternative and radical periodicals. Good resource for articles on social change and censorship. Available through Biblioline.
Vendor site: http://www.altpress.org/

Art Index (Full Text and Art Index Retrospective), 1929- Paid Access Available electronically
Art Index covers Western and non-Western art, feminist art, contemporary art, art criticism, costumes, textiles, and crafts. Art Index is international in scope. Art Index offers full text, abtracts and indexes. ISSN: 0004-3222
Vendor site: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/login.jhtml

Arts and Humanities Citation Index, 1976- Semiannual. Paid Access Available electronically
Periodical index which includes citation index, source and corporate index, permuterm subject index. Also includes guide and journal lists. Available through ISI.
Vendor site: http://www.isiwebofknowledge.com

International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) Paid Access Available electronically
IIPA indexes and abstracts performing arts periodicals, including several dozen film journals.
Vendor site: http://iipa.chadwyck.com/

MLA International Bibliography, 1963-. Paid Access Available electronically
This is an index produced by the Modern Language Association. Subjects included are literature, language, linguistics, literary theory and criticism, folklore and dramatic arts. Coverage is international and over 4,400 journals are indexed. Available through EBSCOHost.
Vendor site: http://search.epnet.com

Reader’s Guide Full Text, 2002- Paid Access Available electronically
Comprehensive index of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada. Available through WilsonWeb.
Vendor site: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/login.jhtml

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Web Sites

All Movie Guide: AMG
http://www.allmovie.com/
Credits for 220,000 films plus 25,000 biographies.

Filmbug
http://www.filmbug.com/
Biographies for more than 10,000 actors and filmmakers.

Film Festivals
http://www.filmfestivals.com/
The premier portal site for film festivals from around the world.

IndieFilms
http://www.indiefilms.com/bag/filmfest.htm
Website which lists the independent film festivals in the United States and abroad. The website is geared to filmmakers but is also useful for film aficionados.

IndieWIRE
http://www.indiewire.com
Website for independent filmmakers and film aficionados. Focuses on updates on independent film projects, breaking news and in-depth coverage. Has a very good section on world cinema. Also has an email ‘zine which offers daily updates on indie film news.

The Internet Movie Database: IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/
The premier film portal site offers credits for over 370,000 films and 300,000 biographical records, as well as news, movie show times, ratings, and much more.

Motion Picture Licensing Corporation
http://www.mplc.com/
An independent copyright licensing service. The MPLC is exclusively authorized by many major Hollywood film studios and production companies to provide “umbrella licenses” to non-profit organizations for public performance of DVDs and videos.

National Film Board of Canada
http://www.nfb.ca/
The public agency that produces and distributes films and other works that reflect Canada to the Canadians and the world. The NFB was created in 1939. The NFB has over 6,000 English original productions and over 4,500 French productions.

National Film Preservation Foundation
http://www.loc.gov/film/arch.html
Website for the non-profit, independent National Film Preservation Foundation. http://www.filmpreservation.org/ Provides links to the Public Moving Image Archives and Research Centers:

U.S. Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov/
Provides informational publication on copyright, application forms, latest updates on copyright laws and licensing, and copyright registration.

Variety
http://www.variety.com/
Premier source for entertainment news. Comprehensive website for the film, television and music industry. Some of the features of Variety are the reviews, “hot topics” and obituaries.

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Associations & Organizations

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
http://www.oscar.com/
The professional and honorary organization of the film industry. The academy has over 6,000 members. Its website features links to the Academy Awards, the Margaret Herrick Library, the Academy Film Archive, grants, awards, and the indexes to the motion picture credits.

American Federation of Film Producers
http://filmfederation.net/
Professional organization of film producers. Membership is worldwide.

American Screenwriters Association
http://www.asascreenwriters.com/aboutasa.shtml
Professional organization for screenwriters. The ASA is quot;committed to the international support and advancement of screenwriters.quot;

American Film Institute
http://www.afi.com/
The AFI is a national organization that is dedicated to advancing and preserving film, television and other moving images. The AFI website is a good source for educational opportunities and jobs in the film industry.

Screen Actors Guild
http://www.sag.org
Labor union for actors founded in 1933. The SAG negotiates equitable compensation, working conditions and benefits for actors. The organization provides direction for new actors, health plan, and workshops and seminars.

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Journals & Trade Publications

Note: For title changes consult a serials directory such as Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory.

Cahiers du Cinema ISSN 0008-011X
Academic/Scholarly. Editions de l'Etoile. 1951-current
Major French film review periodical. Monthly
Publisher site: http://www.cahiersducinema.com

Camera Obscura E-ISSN 1529-1510, Print ISSN 0270-5346
Academic/Scholarly. Camera Obscura Collective, Berkeley, CA. 1976-current
Scholarly journal on feminism, film, visual media, and film theory. Published three times a year. Available through Project Muse.
Vendor site: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/co/

Cinema Journal ISSN 0009-7101
Academic/Scholarly. University of Texas Press. 1961-current
Publishes "essays on a wide variety of subjects from diverse methodological perspectives" in cinema. Quarterly
Site: http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/journals/jcj.html

Cineste ISSN 00099-7004
Academic/Scholarly.
Considered one of the best periodicals about film. It is an independent publication which focuses on the politics, culture and art of film. It is known for its in-depth interviews. Quarterly
Site: http://www.cineaste.com/

Film & History: an Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies ISSN 0360-3695
Academic/Scholarly. Historians Film Committee. 1970-current
Publishes articles on the "impact of motion pictures on our society." Semi-Annually
Site: http://www.h-net.org/~filmhis/

Film Comment ISSN 0015-119X
Trade. Film Society of Lincoln Center. 1962-current
Publishes film criticism on film as art, medium, and part of society. Bi-monthly
Site: http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/fcm.htm

Film Criticism ISSN 0163-5069
Academic/Scholarly. Allegheny College. 1976-current
Publishes articles by "film historican, theorists, and critics representing many different disciplines, cultures, and critical perspectives.". 3 times a year
Site: http://filmcriticism.allegheny.edu

Film History: An International Journal ISSN 0892-2160
Academic/Scholarly. Indiana University Press. 1987-current
Publishes articles on the "historical development of the motion picture and the social, technological, and economic context in which this has occurred.". Quarterly
Site: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/film_history/

Film Quarterly ISSN 0015-1386
Academic/Scholarly. University of California Press. 1958-current
Film Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic film journal. Film Quarterly features articles and essays on film history and theory, and the impact of film on culture and society. Quarterly
Site: http://www.ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=fq

Films in Review ISSN 0015-1688
Trade. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Oldest film publication in the United States. 1951-current
Print edition (National Board of Motion Pictures, Inc.) 1951-1997. Became available online in 1997 (Then and There Media LLC).
http://www.filmsinreview.com/

Journal of Popular Film and Television ISSN 0195-6051
Academic/Scholarly. Heldref Publications. 1971-current
Uses popular culture methodology to study film and television. Quarterly
Site: http://www.heldref.org/jpft.php

Quarterly Review of Film and Video (QRFV) Print ISSN 1050-9208, E-ISSN 1543-5326
Academic/Scholarly. Routledge. 1989-current
Scope is interdisciplinary and international. Publishes historical, theoretical, and critical essays in the fields of film, video, and digital imagery. Features book reviews and interviews. 5 times a year
Site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10509208.html

Sight and Sound ISSN 0037-4806
Trade. British Film Institute. 1932-current
Scope is international and interdisciplinary. Good source for film reviews. Special feature of Sight and Sound is the top ten films chosen by the top film critics which is updated every ten years. Monthly
Site: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound

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Archives, Research Centers, Special Collections

Louis B. Mayer Library, American Film Institute, LosAngeles, California.
http://www.afi.com/about/library.aspx
Founded in 1969, has extensive collections in the areas of moving pictures, television, video, cable, and satellite. Holdings include over 10,000 books, and over 6,000 motion picture scripts.

Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California.
http://www.oscars.org/mhl/
The MHL was founded in 1927 and specializes in collections on motion picture history, biographies, and motion picture production. One of the important collections is the Academy Film Archive which includes over 7 million photographs and over 9,000 scripts.

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, California.
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/pfa_programs/
The PFA holds film festival program notes, press kits and almost 100 movie directors’ notes and materials. Good source for world cinema. The Pacific Film Archive offers screenings of international cinema and videos.

Motion Picture & Television Reading Room, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/
The largest collection in the United States of all genres and forms of sound recordings, and moving pictures. Some of the earliest recordings and motion pictures registered for copyright are held in the MOPIC. Descriptive records are available for some of the earliest motion pictures produced on nitrate film. Several hundred of the earliest films are available through the American Memory Online collection.

Insight: Collections and Research Centre, National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
http://www.nmpft.org.uk/insight/home.asp
Extensive collection on photography, film and television. Insight focuses on British filmmaking. The collection includes filmmaking equipment, film posters, Bollywood posters, and timelines on the progress of film production over the years.

UCLA Film and Television Archives, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu
This is the nation’s second largest collection of media materials and the largest of any university in the world. The collection holds over 220,000 television and motion picture titles. The FTA holds many of the major motion picture production companies films and many independent films.

Wisconsin Center for Film and Research, Wisconsin State Historical Society/University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wcftr/
The WCFR holdings include materials on film, television, theater, and radio. Over 2 million photo stills and 15,000 films are held in the collection. The Wisconsin Center for Film and Research also holds most of the corporate records for United Artists.

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Film Reviews

Metacritic
http://www.metacritic.com/
Gathers movie reviews written by critics from up to 41 different newspapers and combines them into one score.

Movie Review Query Engine: MRQE
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup/
Stewart Clamen has developed the premier site for finding the full range of movie reviews available on the Internet, including over 600,000 articles from online newspapers, magazines, and movie sites reviewing over 60,000 films.

New York Times Film Reviews, 1970-current. Paid Print Subscription Available electronically
Includes film reviews published in the NYT, may be searched by genre, critic, and country of origin. Critics picks are noted. All New York Times reviews are available online from 1983 to present. A selection of reviews from 1929 to 1983 are also available.
Vendor site: http://movies.nytimes.com/ref/movies/reviews/index.html

Rotten Tomatoes
http://rottentomatoes.com/
Features consensus opinions of professional critics.

Variety’s Film Reviews
http://www.variety.com/
Film reviews, box office listings, etc. Subscription fee.

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Original content by: Felice E. Maciejewski
Created: February 2004
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Updated by: Mark Emmons