Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The first and only history of motion picture style. The relation of film style to film technology. New methods for the formal analysis of films. A practical approach to film theory. The application of all this to the analysis and evaluation of the films of Max Ophuls. A complete rewrite of the first twenty-five years of film history.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• 1. Introduction (p. 1)
• 2. Old Film Theory, New Film Theory (p. 4)
• 3. The Interpreation of Films (p. 15)
• 4. French Film Theory Into English (p. 19)
• 5. Practical Film Theory (p. 23)
• 6. Theory With an American Accent (p. 28)
• 7. Film Style and Technology: 1895-1900 (p. 31)
• 8. Film Style and Technology: 1900-1906 (p. 40)
• 9. Film Style and Technology: 1907-1913 (p. 62)
• 10. Dramatic Construction From Stage to Film (p. 111)
• 11. Film Style and Technology: 1914-1919 (p. 114)
• 12. Statistical Style Analysis of Motion Pictures - Part 1 (p. 142)
• 13. Film Style and Technology: 1920-1926 (p. 148)
• 14. Film Style and Technology: 1926-1929 (p. 179)
• 15. Film Style and Technology in the Thirties (p. 195)
• 16. Statistical Style Analysis of Motion Pictures - Part 2 (p. 219)
• 17. Film Style and Technology in the Forties (p. 227)
• 18. Film Style and Technology in the Fifties (p. 241)
• 19. Film Style and Technology in the Sixties (p. 251)
• 20. Film Style and Technology in the Seventies (p. 269)
• 21. Film Style and Technology in the Eighties (p. 284)
• 22. Stylistic Analysis of the Films of Max Ophuls (p. 297)
• 23. Afterword (p. 316)
• 24. Bibliography (p. 317)
• 25. Technical Glossary and Index (p. 320)
• 26. Index of Film-Makers and Companies (p. 331)
• 27. Index of Film Titles (p. 338)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This expanded edition of Salt's widely used text on film style and technology (1st ed., London, 1983) now reaches into the 1970s and 1980s. It also adds much new material on the early years of film history. Though the interpretation of the impact of technology on individual films can never be definitive, and Salt's assumptions about the ideology supposedly inherent in certain technologies are open to question, the solid descriptions of everything from lenses, film stocks, and widescreen, to color processes, camera mounts, and sound systems are extremely valuable. The most overwhelming virtue of this extensive and thoughtful study is its practical approach to film theory--a field that has tended either to soar high above actual movies in a rarified atmosphere of jargon and metacriticism, or to reduce films to laughably simplistic formulas. This work is a blow struck for those who read books about film in order to enjoy and understand films better. Highly recommended at all academic levels. J. J. Jorgens; American University