Since the very first days of cinema, audiences have marveled at the special effects imagery presented on movie screens. While long relegated to the margins of film studies, special effects have recently become the object of a burgeoning field of scholarship. With the emergence of a digital cinema, and the development of computerized visual effects, film theorists and historians have been reconsidering the traditional accounts of cinematic representation, recognising the important role of special effects. Understood as a constituent part of the cinema, special effects are a major technical but also aesthetic component of filmmaking and an important part of the experience for the audience. In this volume, new directions are charted for the exploration of this indispensable aspect of the cinematic experience. Each of the essays in this collection offers new insight into the theoretical and historical study of special effects. The contributors address the many aspects of special effects, from a variety of perspectives, considering them as a conceptual problem, recounting the history of specific special effects techniques, and analysing notable effects films.

Legendary director, actor, author, and provocateur Werner Herzog has incalculably influenced contemporary cinema for decades. Until now there has been no sustained effort to gather and present a variety of diverse philosophical approaches to his films and to the thinking behind their creation. The Philosophy of Werner Herzog, edited by M. Blake Wilson and Christopher Turner, collects fourteen essays by professional philosophers and film theorists from around the globe, who explore the famed German auteur's notions of "ecstatic truth" as opposed to "accountants' truth," his conception of nature and its penchant for "overwhelming and collective murder," his controversial film production techniques, his debts to his philosophical and aesthetic forebears, and finally, his pointed objections to his would-be critics--including, among others, the contributors to this book themselves. By probing how Herzog's thinking behind the camera is revealed in the action he captures in front of it, The Philosophy of Werner Herzog shines new light upon the images and dialog we see and hear on the screen by enriching our appreciation of a prolific--yet enigmatic--film artist.

"An excellent collection of provocative and compelling debates, expertly and elegantly arranged. Essays new and old form a dynamic and accessible portrait of ideas foundational to contemporary thinking about film. This book is sure to inspire."

Haidee Wasson, Concordia University, Montreal

"Marc Furstenau retraces the most important issues in film theory, and makes them interact with the current debate on cinema and post-cinema. A historical legacy becomes a living source - and the site of a passionate debate."

Francesco Casetti, Catholic University of Milan and Yale University.

The Film Theory Reader brings together a range of key theoretical texts, organized thematically to emphasise the development of specific critical concepts and theoretical models in the field of film theory.

Each section presents well-known or significant texts, which have introduced a particularly influential concept, followed by texts that have developed or extended the concept, or that have offered explicit critiques or arguments against the original model. The collection thus represents and reproduces the debates and arguments that have shaped the theoretical landscape of film studies, guiding the reader through the complex terrain of theoretical debate, and offering suggestions for further reading and research.

An Introduction from the editor contextualises the essays and provides a logical guide to the book, clarifying the links between articles and tracing the development of key arguments. The notes to the Introduction include extensive references, for readers to explore and further their own studies, as they are guided through the history of debate in film theory. ?

"An excellent collection of provocative and compelling debates, expertly and elegantly arranged. Essays new and old form a dynamic and accessible portrait of ideas foundational to contemporary thinking about film. This book is sure to inspire."

Haidee Wasson, Concordia University, Montreal

"Marc Furstenau retraces the most important issues in film theory, and makes them interact with the current debate on cinema and post-cinema. A historical legacy becomes a living source - and the site of a passionate debate."

Francesco Casetti, Catholic University of Milan and Yale University.

The Film Theory Reader brings together a range of key theoretical texts, organized thematically to emphasise the development of specific critical concepts and theoretical models in the field of film theory.

Each section presents well-known or significant texts, which have introduced a particularly influential concept, followed by texts that have developed or extended the concept, or that have offered explicit critiques or arguments against the original model. The collection thus represents and reproduces the debates and arguments that have shaped the theoretical landscape of film studies, guiding the reader through the complex terrain of theoretical debate, and offering suggestions for further reading and research.

An Introduction from the editor contextualises the essays and provides a logical guide to the book, clarifying the links between articles and tracing the development of key arguments. The notes to the Introduction include extensive references, for readers to explore and further their own studies, as they are guided through the history of debate in film theory.