Providing a comprehensive introduction to film studies, this book addresses techniques and terminology used in production and criticism. It emphasizes thinking and writing critically and effectively about film. Organized in three parts, the authors focus on the fundamentals of film analysis before moving on to more complex topics. Parts I and II teach students to recognize how the components of film-narrative, mise en scene, cinematography, editing, and sound-work together to produce meaning within an individual film text. Part III introduces readers to interpretive frameworks that treat cinema as a cultural institution. This section encourages readers to move beyond textual analysis and consider the relationship between film and culture. Readers learn to form sophisticated arguments about film in cultural, historical, and economic contexts.