The Syntax of Film - A Glossary (Original English
Version)
This comprehensive yet concise glossary provides students with
relevant terms and concepts they might find useful when analyzing movie
sequences. It does not however, provide its own frame of (analytical)
reference which it should be embedded in (e.g. a narratological/transmedial
or whiteness/diversity studies approach). To facilitate this, efforts
have been made to make it compatible with Gérard Genette's ideas and
terminology. The entries are mainly taken from Ephraim Katz's The Film
Encyclopedia (2008) and James Monaco's The Dictionary of New
Media (1999). The glossary's structure is based Monaco's third chapter
"The Language of Film: Signs and Syntax" of his book How to Read a
Film (2000) stressing the second part of this chapter, hence the title.
Additions were made wherever this seemed to be necessary to meet the
requirements of the target audience. The result is a highly condensed
glossary based on two seminal works aimed at high school and undergraduate
students.
French Version
This version is based on the structure and layout of the original
English edition, thus facilitating its use in both (foreign) language
classrooms. Definitions are mainly taken from Marie-Thérèse Journot's Le
Vocabulaire du cinéma (2004) and Vincent Pinel's quasi-sequel,
Dictionnaire technique du cinéma (2008), which assures their
genuineness and results in a slightly more Eurocentric outlook on the
topic. In most cases however, information has been added and/or modified to
assure a high degree of consistency between the two versions.
General Note
The full digital edition features both versions, movie stills,
extracts from movies, diagrams, and samples from actual film productions
that illustrate most of the terms.
For information on how to obtain it (including the printed English edition)
please contact:
(for educational
purposes only)
Note: A printed version of the French glossary is available upon
request.