While not everyone would agree with Alfred Hitchcock's notorious remark that 'actors are cattle', there is little understanding of the work film actors do. Yet audience enthusiasm for, or dislike of, actors and their style of performance is a crucial part of the film-going experience. Screen Acting discusses the development of film acting, from the stylisation of the silent era, through the naturalism of Lee Strasberg's 'Method', to Mike Leigh's use of improvisation.
The contributors to this innovative volume explore the philosophies which have influenced acting in the movies and analyse the styles and techniques of individual filmmakers and performers, including Bette Davis, James Mason, Susan Sarandon and Morgan Freeman. There are also interviews with working actors: Ian Richardson discusses the relationship between theatre, film and television acting; Claire Rushbrook and Ron Cook discuss theri work with Mike Leigh, and Helen Shaver discusses her work with the critic Susan Knobloch.

Sequel to the hugely successful 1996 spin-off of the popular Sixties espionage series. Impossible Missions Force's Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is charged with tracking down renegade fellow agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who has stolen the only known supply of Bellophron - the antidote to man-made virus Chimera. Ethan enlists the help of Ambrose's ex-girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), and although the pair have fallen in love, Nyah agrees to return to Ambrose in order to gain information. However, Ambrose now intends to trigger off an epidemic of Chimera in order to sell Bellophron to the highest bidder, and when he becomes suspicious of Nyah decides to use her as a guinea pig.

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 collection expression. They examine the idea that many individuals, 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 it 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.