Course-Related Guide:
French Cinema
These links provide
information, texts, and other resources to serve as starting
points in your research on topics in French cinema. Suggestions
for additions to this list that might be particularly helpful for
classes or activities may be sent to
Benjamin Harris, the
library's liaison for the French Section of the Modern Languages.
General Resources
Use reference resources to help focus on a topic, develop keywords
for searching, and to locate subject-specific bibliographies.
The following resources are available in the library's reference
book collection in the Information Commons.
French Culture, 1900-1975 (DC 33.7 .F726
1995)
French Films, 1945-1993: a critical filmography... (PN
1993.5 F7B52 1996)
Film Encyclopedia (PN 1993.45 .K34 2001)
Bibliographie der franzosischen
Literaturwissenschaft (KLAPP) (Z 2171
.B56)
This bibliography of scholarly publications in French is
published each year and can be searched in three ways. You can
use the contents at the front of the volume to locate topics or
time periods and browse all of the literature assigned to that
section.
There are two indices in the back of the book.
The Index Rerum is a topical index; if you are looking
for articles about Jean Luc Godard, you would use the Index
Rerum. The Index Nominum is an index of
author's names. These are the authors of the books or articles
listed in the volume.
When you locate an article that seems useful in
one of these indices, you will use the entry number to locate a
citation for the article in the volume. These are not
page numbers.
When you have located a citation, you can then
use the library catalog or the Journals link at the library home
page to search for books and journals.
Magill's Survey of Cinema: foreign language films (PN
1993.45 .M335 1985)
Searching for Books and Book Chapters
Use the library catalog to search for books on
your topic. Conduct keyword searches on French film in
general, on specific films, or on directors. The following are
examples of books on French film in general that were located
using the library catalog:
Cinematic Muse: Critical Studies in the
history of French cinema (PN 1993.5 .F7T47)
Classic French Cinema: 1930-1960 (PN 1993.5 .F7C78
1993)
Contemporary French Cinema: an introduction (PN 1993.5
.F7A95 1996)
French Cinema: A Student's Guide (PN
1993.5 .F7P64 2002)
French Cinema Book (PN 1993.5 F7F72
2004)
French Cinema: From its Beginnings to the
Present (PN 1993.5 .F7L33 2002)
French National Cinema (PN 1993.5 .F7H39 1993)
Une Histoire du Cinéma Français (PN 1993.5 F7H58 2000)
The following titles were located by
conducting a keyword search using the names of different film
directors:
Cinema de Robert Bresson: de l'effect de
reel a l'effect de sublime (PN 1998.3 .B74P76)
Claude Chabrol (PN 1998.3 .C53A86
1999)
Enfants du Paradis: etude critique (PN
1997 .E633S45 1992)
Films of Jean Luc Godard: Seeing the
Invisible (PN 1998.3 .G63S73 1999)
Francois Truffaut (PN 1998.3 F78B34
1996)
French Cinema in the 1990s: Continuity
and Difference (PN 1993.5 F7F73
Sans Toit Ni Loi, d'Agnes Varda
(PN1997 .S1735P74 2003)
Note that the book French Cinema in the
1990s does not focus on a specific director. A fair number
of books listed in the catalog also include information about
chapter titles, as is the case with this text. To look for
chapter titles of a book in the library catalog, click on the
"Detailed Description" button.
Searching for Articles
Use databases to find journal articles, magazines articles, and
newspaper articles on your topic. The following databases may be
particularly helpful for this course. When you find useful
keywords in your search, make note of these and use the same
words and combinations of words in other search situations.
Academic Search Complete
Designed specifically for academic institutions, is the world's
most valuable and comprehensive scholarly,
multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300
full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed
journals. In addition to full text, this database offers
indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a
total of 10,900 publications including monographs, reports,
conference proceedings, etc.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
Index to over 400 journals related to communications and mass media,
with full text for over 200 journals.
Film Literature Index
This online searchable index is better than most commercial
databases with a focus on film. Searchers should note that
the index covers the years 1976-2001. Use this site to locate
citations for articles and search for the journals or books in
the library's online catalog.
MLA International Bibliography
Major citation index to critical scholarship
in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Some full-text articles.
This will probably be your best bet for locating articles in
French.
Journals
While researchers will use databases to search the contents of
journals such as these listed below, reviewing journals the
current contents of a journal related to a particular topic during
the writing and research process may assist a writer's
invention, arrangement, style, or delivery. The following
journals and more can be accessed by clicking on the
Journals link at the
library's homepage:
Cahiers du Cinéma (in print,
2002-present: PN 1993 .C25)
Cinema Journal (online, 1996-present)
Film and History (online, 2003-present)
Film Comment (online, 2002-present; in print,
1979-present: PN 1993 .F438)
Film Criticism (online, 1995-2005)
Studies in French Cinema (online, 2001-present)
Searching for Films
There are two ways to locate films available at
the library. You can browse titles in the film collection by
using the Videos, CDs, and DVDs link at the library homepage.
You can also search for films in Quest. To search for an item
in our film collection using Quest...
1. Go to the library homepage and click on
the Books and Media button.
2. Before searching, click on the "Limits" button on the lower
right side of the search box (just below the "Find Results In" menu
box).
3. You can then limit your search to items based on location;
in this case, "Videorecordings (Media)." You may also limit
your search by medium; in this case, "Videorecording."
4. Click the "Set Limits" button after making your selection
and you will be returned to the search screen. The results you
receive upon conducting your search will be limited to those types
of items you have selected.
Internet Resources
Internet resources should be evaluated before
they are included in a scholarly project. Web resources are not always
helpful to students and scholars because
(1) website addresses and contents change, making it difficult for a
reader to verify or refer to the source;
(2) websites are difficult to evaluate, often due to missing
information related to authority, currency, and accuracy;
(3) and website authors do not always use materials with
consideration to copyright law.
The following sites have been evaluated by your
Trinity librarian, but you should always consult with your instructor
before using web resources in your projects or essays.
BiFI
Catalog of the Bibliothèque du Film created collaboratively by the
Centre National de al Cinématographie, the Cinémathèque française
and FEMIS, the site also includes research guides and articles on
a broad range of cinema related topics.
Le Film Francais
Site featuring information and articles focusing on contemporary
French cinema and the film industry in France.
Film
International
This online equivalent of the print journal features both original
articles and selections from the print text. Topics range
from film analyses and reviews to research pieces on directors as
well as national cinemas.
Films de France
Site offers quick information on French films, actors, directors
and more. As the authority of the site is unknown,
researchers should verify information found here with a second
source and should disregard the "Essays" section.
KinoEye: New Perspectives on European Film
"Kinoeye aims to explore European film using a number of different
writing styles: film reviews, festival overviews, interviews with
directors or other industry players, career overviews, analytical
articles, reviews of recent VHS/DVD releases, book reviews and
book extracts, translated articles from other journals..."
Authors include scholars as well as journalists.
Masters of
Cinema
This surprisingly comprehensive and sophisticated site is the
product of the collaboration of several former film students
still interested in the medium, particularly in relation to
world cinema. The site features articles, a calendar of
DVD releases, and reviews of films being released (or
re-released). The site also links to several companion
sites focusing on the directors Bresson, Dreyer, Ozu, and
Tarkovsky.
Senses of
Cinema
"An online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion
of cinema," the site offers extensive and well-documented
information on films and filmmakers from around the world.
Note the interview section, the research article section, and the
reviews of recent books related to film and film studies.
Get Books and Articles from Other Libraries
Many times, your research might benefit from
books and articles that have been published but that are
unavailable at the Trinity library. In these cases,
use ILLIAD, the library's online interlibrary loan system.
It is easy to use and since so much of the process is automated,
you can receive items quicker than once was possible.
However, you should still allow time to receive the item (books in
particular, since they must travel through the mail system).
Cite Your Sources
Refer to the
library's pages for citing sources.
|
