A history of the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, which discusses social and economic aspects of early film history.

In this vivid and accessible new account of the dawn of film in Britain, internationally respected film historian and curator Bryony Dixon introduces us to Britain's first cinematic pioneers – an eclectic mix of chemists, engineers, photography enthusiasts, fairground showmen and magicians – who in a few short years built a vibrant new industry. As she chronicles the emergence of the first embryonic film forms and genres, she reveals often surprising innovations, from cutting-edge science to ingeniously witty tricks and comedies, with filmmakers reflecting existing entertainment forms as well as advancing editing and cinematography in ways that shaped the art of film for many decades after. Dixon offers fresh insights by focusing on the films themselves – many of them only recently available to view – while building on the work of generations of scholars. In the process, Dixon makes a compelling case for the British filmmakers of the era as inventive and creative figures, every bit as influential as their more celebrated contemporaries in France and the US.

A history of the system, and a newly-compiled illustrated catalogue of Kinora reels.

The movie industry boomed in the twentieth century, and is still going strong today. However, the economics of movies has been curiously under explored until now. Innovative and informative, this accessible book, which includes contributions from some of the leading experts in the area, is a huge step forward in our understanding of this important topic.

From the earliest days of the cinema to the present, Shakespeare has offered a tempting bank of source material than the film industry has been happy to plunder. Shakespeare on Film deftly examines an extensive range of films that have emerged from the curious union of an iconic dramatist with a medium of mass appeal. The many films Buchanan studies are shown to be telling indicators of trends in Shakespearean performance interpretation, illuminating markers of developments in the film industry and culturally revealing about broader influences in the world beyond the movie theatre. As with other titles from the Inside Film series, the book is illustrated throughout with stills. Each chapter concludes with a list of suggested further reading in the field.

British cinema has been around from the very birth of motion pictures, from black-and-white to color, from talkies to sound, and now 3D, it has been making a major contribution to world cinema. Many of its actors and directors have stayed at home but others ventured abroad, like Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock. Today it is still going strong, the only real competition to Hollywood, turning out films which appeal not only to Brits, just think of Bridget Jones, while busily adding to franchises like James Bond and Harry Potter. So this Historical Dictionary of British Cinema has a lot of ground to cover. This it does with over 300 dictionary entries informing us about significant actors, producers and directors, outstanding films and serials, organizations and studios, different films genres from comedy to horror, and memorable films, among other things. Two appendixes provide lists of award-winners. Meanwhile, the chronology covers over a century of history. These parts provide the details, countless details, while the introduction offers the big story. And the extensive bibliography points toward other sources of information.

"Adaptations: Critical and Primary Sources is a three-volume reference resource that brings together over 80 landmark texts in adaptation studies. Volume One covers the history of adaptation studies, by plotting the 'prehistory' of the field, beginning with Vachel Lindsay's classic Art of the Moving Picture (1915), through Virginia Woolf's classic essay on 'The Cinema' through to some of the most important critical and theoretical interventions up until the 1990s when the area really emerges as a critical force in the academy. Volume Two collects essays from the last 25 years, showing how the scholarly legacy laid out in Volume One still has a profound impact on adaptation studies today, while charting the process of critical and theoretical maturation. This volume shows how adaptations studies has outgrown its contested place 'in the gap' of film and literary studies and how its interventions transcend disciplinary perspectives across the arts and humanities. Volume Three covers key case studies, such as Christine Geraghty's take on adapting Westerns, Ian Inglis' understanding of the transformation of music into movies, and Eckart Voigts' concept on Jane Austen and participatory culture. With topics ranging from the limitations of the novel to adapting stage to screen, contributions from a wide range of international scholars, film critics and novelists combine to make Adaptations: Critical and Primary Sources an original overview of critical debates today. Cartmell and Whelehan introduce each excerpt and offer a critical overview of the collected work, the rationale for its inclusion and suggestions for further reading."--