Making Films in Contemporary Hollywood

Traditionally, film critics have concentrated on the director, seeing feature filmmaking as a form of individual expression. The authors challenge this view, arguing that filmmaking is a form of collective expression. They examine the idea that many including editors, cinematographers and sound designers, contribute to the making of a film, and argue that it is misleading to classify them as technicians. The authors consider is how money and power determines the structure within which all those involved with filmmaking work. And, in challenging the accepted view of the dynamics of filmmaking, the book raises questions about the nature of the feature film. Is it essentially a visual form? What place does sound have? How important is the script? Making Films in Contemporary Hollywood contains analysis, interviews and case studies of Chinatown, Jurassic Park and When Harry Met Sally, bringing a fresh perspective to the study of filmmaking that will be both informative and provocative for Media and Film Studies students at all levels.

Author Biography

Alan Lovell was formerly Senior Lecturer in Media, Journalism and Cultural Studies at Staffordshire University. His publications include Anarchist Cinema (Peace News, 1962) and Don Siegel (BFI, 1975). He has also worked as a director and writer for television, on many programmes, including Star, Traces Left, Are You Being Served Well? and The Black and White Pirate Show.

Gianluca Sergi is Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of The Dolby Era: Film Sound in Contemporary Hollywood (2004).