Cinema Study Resources

Here’s a listing of some cinema study resources available on the web, I’m in the process of adding more sites to this list. Is there a site you think should be on this page and it’s not? Please contact me about it.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) provides a comprehensive listing of movies, credits, facts, and more. This was among the first user-community generated sites on the Internet, now a definitive destination and commercial site owned by Amazon. Looking for movie credits? This is a good place to start.

The Art Historian’s Guide to the Movies is a record of appearances of and references to famous works of art and architecture in the movies compiled by Craig Eliason based on citations that people submit to him. It is intended to be a source for teachers of art history who are considering showing clips or entire films as part of their presentation of the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Library of Congress, American Memory Collections: Motion Pictures provides links of the American Memory online collections for materials in the motion picture format. American Memory provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity and a resource for education and lifelong learning.

Flicker is a site for the alternative cinematic experience. Here you will find films and videos that transgress the boundaries of the traditional viewing experience, challenge notions of physical perception, and provide cutting edge alternatives to the media information technocracy.

Midnight Ramble concerns Black Hollywood from the period just after World War I through the 1940s. It considers everything from the low budget, independent Race movies of Oscar Micheaux to major studio productions. It’s a tribute to a very misunderstood, and mysterious film genre that lasted for over forty years.

Women in Cinema – A Reference Guide covers a wide range of topics. Though “Women in Cinema” narrows the topic in one sense to a particular type of film, at the same time it broadens it to include many aspects of topics such as feminism, the women’s movement, and women’s issues. The study of film encompasses a wide variety of types, historical periods, national productions, and related topics.