Film
Reference Sources: Encyclopedias & Writing Handbooks
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film
A comprehensive and accessible introduction to film and film studies, covering such aspects as production, national traditions, studios, genres, critical theory and
film history.
Also available in print at the E.J. Pratt Library in the reference collection on the main floor.
Encyclopedia of Early Cinema
A wealth of information on early cinema history, with coverage of the techniques and equipment of film production, profiles of the pioneering directors and producers,
analysis of individual films, the rapid growth of distinct film genres, and the emergence of the movie star.
Also available in print in the reference collection.
Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film
Entries examine individual films and the careers of individual film makers. They also provide overview articles of national and regional documentary film
history, explaining concepts and themes in the study of documentary film, the techniques used in making films, and the institutions that support their production,
appreciation, and preservation.
Also available in print in the reference collection.
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Cinema and Media Studies
A bibliography is a list of the books of an author or publisher, or on a specific subject. Oxford Bibliographies, compiled by scholars and
librarians, contain extensive lists of annotated titles on many topics within the study of virtue ethics and moral theory. It is a great way to find authoritative sources
that are recognized as influential within the discipline.
Each subject contains an extensive introduction (which provides an overview of the topic) as well as a list of annotated titles of books, arranged by category.
Periodical Indexes
Film & Television Literature Index
Includes full-text film and television journals, international periodicals, monographs, yearbooks, conference papers and other scholarly and popular sources in film and
television studies.
FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals
Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF) Databases offers in-depth coverage of the world’s foremost academic and popular film journals from 1972 to the
present.
ProQuest
Includes key film databases such as the AFI Catalog, the International Index to Performing Arts, and the Film Index International.
Digital Collections
Criterion on Demand
Full-length films (including recent releases) that can be streamed online from major producers, such as Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Mongrel Media, Sony Pictures
Classics, Alliance Films, Miramax Films, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate Films, as well as a smaller number of independent producers. The current title selection, continually
updated, includes 1920 classics, new releases, foreign films, literary adaptations, documentaries, animated titles, and independent features.
Current Affairs in Video
Includes documentaries covering immigration and border studies, Middle East studies, urban studies, politicial science, globalization, human rights, and related topics.
Silent Film Online
The films included in the collection represents the basis of modern cinematic technique. It
contains full-length, high-quality silent features, serials, and shorts from the 1890s to the 1930s.
Film Studies Handbooks
Corrigan, Timothy, and Graham Corrigan. A Short Guide to Writing About Film.
Pearson Education, Inc., 2015.
Both an introduction to film study and a practical writing guide, this brief text introduces students to major film theories as well as film terminology, enabling them to
write more thoughtfully and critically.
Petrie, Dennis W., and Joseph M. Boggs. The Art of Watching Films.
McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Introduces the formal elements and production process of films, and helps students analytically view and understand films within their historical, cultural and social
contexts.
Spadoni, Robert. A Pocket Guide to Analyzing Films. University of California
Press, 2014.
This book moves systematically through the elements that make up most films, focusing on aspects of the art of cinema that are common across history and national cinemas.
The author also explains ways to find patterns and meaning in films through such concepts as motifs, development, and motivation.
Additional Research Resources &
Online Video Collections
University of Toronto Media Commons (on the third floor of the John P. Robarts Library) has an audio-visual collection currently holding more than 15-thousand titles: DVDs, videos, 16mm films, audiocassettes and various other formats.
The reference collection of includes books, indexes and periodicals. Additional online video resources are listed on the library’s web site.
Other major research resources in the field of Cinema and Film Studies are listed on the University of Toronto Libraries website.
created by: Colin Deinhardt & Agatha Barc | updated: 2 October 2019