Welcome to the Yale Film Analysis Web Site. The Film Analysis Guide was developed to meet the needs of faculty and students at Yale who are interested in becoming familiar with the vocabulary of film studies and the techniques of cinema. The user can either read the complete document or search out a particular topic of interest. — Related links within the Guide are provided as appropriate, as are links to film clips illustrating the topic or term in question.
HOW THE GUIDE IS ORGANIZED The Guide is broken into six parts corresponding to the major divisions within cinema technique and film studies. These major divisions are further broken down into sections, subsections and definitions for terms. The final Part (Analysis) offers basic examples of how to analyze two film sequences.
NAVIGATING THE GUIDE There are multiple ways to navigate the Film Analysis Guide, depending on the type of browser being used and the visitor’s needs. For those who wish to read the Guide straight through without skipping around, the complete site can be navigated using the forward and backward arrows visible at the top of each page. Most users are likely to prefer to browse the site using the navigational tools offered in the top menu. The content for each of the major divisions (e.g., cinematography) is clustered in a single web page. In addition, particular topics within the major divisions can be accessed by expanding the table of contents and clicking on the relevant link or by using the alphabetized index. If you are unfamiliar with navigating this sort of site, more detailed instructions can be found in the menu item labeled About this Guide. You can view the complete list of film clips used in the Guide by choosing the Film Clips option on the drop down menu to the left.