Scope

College Library has many resources relevant to research in film studies. We have listed some recommended titles from our collection here. We have also included links to Internet resources. Some are licensed to the UW and some are free to all.

Overview

General | Reviews | Awards | Ethnic Groups in Film | International | American | Biography | Reference Databases

General

 

Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.5 V6 5539 1998

Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide
College Library Open Book Collection: PN 1993 L462

Magill's Cinema Annual
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.3 M34

The New York Times Guide to the Best 1000 Movies Ever Made
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995 C343 1999

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever ( "The Complete Guide to Movies on Videocassette and DVD")
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1992.95 V534 2004

Reviews

Film Review Index
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995 F463 1986

Awards

Movie Awards: the Ultimate, Unofficial Guide to the Oscars, Golden Globes, Critics' Guild, and Indie Honors
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.92 O53 2001

75 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.92 O82 2003

Oscar Stars from A to Z
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993 92 PS 1998

Ethnic Groups in Film

Blacks in American Films and Television: An Encyclopedia
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995.9 N4 B58 1988

Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995.9 N4 S2 1995

Hispanics in Hollywood: An Encyclopedia of Film and Television
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995.9 H47 R49 1994

The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1995.9 M56 M85 2003

International Film

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1997.8 I58 1990

Variety International Film Guide
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.3 I545

American Film

The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.5 U6 S539 1998

Guide to American Cinema, 1965-1995
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1993.5 U6 C87 1998

Biography

The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
College Library Reference Collection: PN 1998.2 T49 2002

Reference Databases

American Film Institute Catalog 1893-1950 and 1961-1970 (not updated)
The American Film Institute Catalog is a comprehensive resource for the study of American film. The searchable database contains citations to more than 14,000 films, covering 1893 through 1970, minus 1951-1960 (AFI is currently working on the fifties volume). Catalog entries give release and copyright dates; genre; information on technical processes; full credits for writing, directing, cast, production staff, production and distribution vehicles, literary and stage sources, lyricists and composers; plot summaries; production history; remakes; and censorship issues.

Internet Movie Database 1892 - to date (updates vary)
The Internet Movie Database is a searchable or browsable collection of detailed information about more than 200,000 movies, including cast, director, filming locations, plot, production, and more. The database is searchable by title, actor, character, quote, awards, and plot. There is biographical information about more than 400,000 actors and actresses and nearly 40,000 directors. Basic instructions for Internet Movie Database

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

Hitchcock and Vertigo
Cary Grant
All About Eve
Maya Deren and avant garde Bordwell and Hong Kong and cinema*
censor* and production code and hollywood

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

Film & Television Literature Index (FTLI) 1988 - to date (updated twice monthly)
FTLI indexes 300 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and another 300 periodicals selectively. Articles, film reviews, and book reviews from are included from both scholarly and popular film and TV sources. Also called Film Literature Index. Basic instructions for FTLI

Film Index International 1900 - to date (updated semiannually)
Film Index International includes information on more than 100,000 films and 40,000 individuals from 170+ countries. Basic instructions for Film Index International

Humanities Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 scholarly journals on archaeology, classical studies, art, film, folklore, history, journalism, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion. Basic instructions for Humanities Full Text

International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA FULL TEXT) 1864 - to date (updated quarterly)
IIPA Full Text covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry, including dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic and more. It draws its current content from more than 200 scholarly and popular performing arts periodicals, and indexes a variety of documents such as biographical profiles, conference papers, obituaries, interviews, discographies, reviews and events. Currently 25 of the 200 periodicals contain full-text articles. Although the majority of titles begin in 1998, 46 important journals have been added retrospectively, some back to 1864. Basic instructions for International Index to the Performing Arts

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Core Journal List

UW Madison holds more than 500 film-related journals on campus. In addition, many of these are available electronically to people associated with the UW. Access via MadCat or Electronic Journal List.

American Film
Black Camera
Black Film Review
Call and Post
Cinema Journal
Film Comment
Film Criticism
Film Culture
Film History
Film Quarterly
Films in Review
Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television
Journal of Film and Video
Journal of Popular Film and Television
Literature Film Quarterly
Millennium film journal
Post Script: Essays in Film and the Humanities
Quarterly Review of Film and Video
Screen
Sight and Sound
Spectator
Variety
Video Magazine
Video Review
Videography
Wide Angle

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on films, directors, actors and actresses, and genres can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"film style"
"film noir"
"film criticism"
"Western films"
"film genres"
"Alfred Hitchcock"
"Maltese Falcon (Motion Picture)"
cinema? and Hollywood
(documentar? or nonfiction) and film and theor?

All of these searches can be limited to College Library to see available titles.

Internet Sites

The Academy Awards Official Database
http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/
Find winners and nominees in every category.

All-Movie Guide
http://www.allmovie.com/
Synopses and ratings.

Box Office Guru
http://www.boxofficeguru.com
Box Office Guru is a site devoted to following the financial performance of movies in the film industry. The Weekend Box Office column summarizes the releases for each weekend with in-depth analysis and projections.

The British Film Institute
http://www.bfi.org.uk/
The BFI is a comprehensive site offering subject bibliographies and information for "Media Students," as well as the most current issue of Sight and Sound.

Librarian's Index to the Internet: Motion Pictures
http://www.lii.org/pub/topic/film
A portal site that lists directories and databases and subject-specific sites.

Metacritic
http://www.metacritic.com
A movie review site that provides a cross-section of reviews.

Movie Review Query Engine
http://www.mrqe.com/
International reviews (in many languages) for current and classic films.

Rotten Tomatoes
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Provides links to reviews of movies with a brief summary quote of the review and rating. Also useful are links to trailers and official movie sites.

Upcoming Movies
http://www.upcomingmovies.com
This site provides previews of the movies being released in the coming months. Each preview gives cast, crew, and plot information, and includes commentary and thoughts on what the movie might be like.

Online Film Journals (free)

Bright Lights Film Journal
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/
Bright Lights Film Journal is a popular-academic hybrid of movie analysis, history, and commentary, looking at classic and commercial, independent, and international film from a wide range of vantage points from the aesthetic to the political.

Film-Philosophy
http://www.film-philosophy.com
Journal and discussion area, also an extensive list of online journals and writings.

Framework: Journal of Cinema and Media
http://www.frameworkonline.com
Focus on international cinema.

Images: a Journal of Film and Popular Culture
http://www.imagesjournal.com
Focus on "older" films.

Scope
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/
Focus on film theory.

Senses of Cinema
http://www.sensesofcinema.com
An online journal from Australia catering to a wide audience; it offers a searchable archives of past issues, as well as helpful links to other Internet film resources.

Organizations

American Film Institute
http://www.afi.com/
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington D.C. 20566, USA
Phone: (213) 856-7706

The British Film Institute
http://www.bfi.org.uk/index.html
Stephen Street Office / BFI National Library
British Film Institute
21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN, UK
Phone: +44 (0)20 7255 1444