Ang Lee and King Hu: Some Basic Strategies for Research

Ang Lee and King Hu : Basic Strategies for Research Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library

Writing About Film: The Basic Questions What types of writing are out there? What types of writing are out there? What types of publications contain writing about film? What types of publications contain writing about film? Who’s doing the writing? Who’s doing the writing? How do you identify what’s out there and where do you find the stuff? How do you identify what’s out there and where do you find the stuff?

Writing About Film… Scholarly  Reviews  Critical analysis  Biography Pop Industry  Box office and market info  Production info  gossip  Gossip  Fantasy & fetish  General weirdness Fan  Reviews  Pop talk  Biography

What are the Sources for Film & TV Scholarship and Research? For Reviews? (i.e. Where do you find this stuff?)

BooksBooks Journals, Magazines, NewspapersJournals, Magazines, Newspapers Film Scholarship/Film Reviews Sources Acocella, Joan. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." (movie review). The New Yorker March 26, 2001 v77 i5 p100(2) Reviews Simpson, Craig S. "'Crouching Tiger': the rebirth of myth." Chronicle of Higher Education, March 22, 2001 v47 i28 pB19(1) Critical/ScholarlyArticles

BooksBooks Journals, Magazines, NewspapersJournals, Magazines, Newspapers ReviewsReviews Critical/ScholarlyArticlesCritical/ScholarlyArticles Web Sites (the good, the academic, and the ugly)Web Sites (the good, the academic, and the ugly) Other online databasesOther online databases Film Scholarship/Film Reviews Sources

Scholarly/authoritative worksScholarly/authoritative works Pop schlock and fan worksPop schlock and fan works How Do You Tell em’ apart? 4Author’s credentials/affiliations 4Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University Presses vs pop press; juried vs pop journals) 4Scholarly apparatus and sources: notes, bibliographies, other documentation 4If they’ve been widely cited by other scholars

Film Studies Film Studies Women’s Studies Women’s Studies Ethnic studies Ethnic studies Queer Studies Queer Studies Literature Literature Political science Political science History History Area Studies (i.e. areas of national focus) Area Studies (i.e. areas of national focus) Others… Others… Scholarly Who’s doing the writing? Who’s Doing It = Where You Look For Resources

Scholarly (or at least substantive) Books (Some generalizations) (Some generalizations) Older Films Films w/in last 5 years or so Books about directors and genres Books about individual films (xcept the biggies) More LESS

Found in: Film studies journals (print & online)Film studies journals (print & online) Journals in various disciplines (print & online)Journals in various disciplines (print & online) Web sites (occasionally… academic and commercial databases)Web sites (occasionally… academic and commercial databases) Critical/Scholarly Journal Articles Current Films (fewer) Current Films (fewer) Older Films (more) Older Films (more)

Found in: Popular, news, & fan journals and newspapers (print & online)Popular, news, & fan journals and newspapers (print & online) Film studies & scholarly journals (print & online)Film studies & scholarly journals (print & online) Industry journals (e.g. Variety)Industry journals (e.g. Variety) Web sitesWeb sites Fan and enthusiast sitesFan and enthusiast sites Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video distributors)Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video distributors) Academic (or at least academically-minded) film sitesAcademic (or at least academically-minded) film sites  REVIEWS  Current Articles  Retro Articles

Pathfinder Indexes & Abstracts Inventory of Books and Journals (what the Library owns) Journal articles by discipline How do you locate this stuff?

Journal Articles/Reviews Film-related (not many exist) Film-related (not many exist) General news General news Literary Literary Other disciplines: e.g. Women’s Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, History…etc. Other disciplines: e.g. Women’s Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, History…etc. Jumping Off point for Finding Online Indexes: Online & Print Indexes and Abstracts

Reviews: How to Look em’ Up Search index using title of work (as a phrase)Search index using title of work (as a phrase) You can also include directorYou can also include director Try using and reviewTry using and review e.g. Crouching Tiger and review or Crouching Tiger and Ang Lee and review

Once You Find a Citation, How Do You Find the Article? Some indexes provide holdings info [UC eLinks]Some indexes provide holdings info [UC eLinks] Some indexes link to full-textSome indexes link to full-text If neither…use Pathfinder

How to Begin searching for books and/or articles on a research topic? Before you click: THINK Formulate your search in terms of: KEY WORDS and SYNOMYMS: --Looks for words anywhere in record: title, subject, abstract and full-text (if avail) PHRASES: --Looks for words in the exact order entered

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK Formulate your search in terms of keyword and key phrases: The representation [reflect* portray* depict*] of gender [sex*] roles in the films films [cinema, movie*] of King Hu. **** Truncation varies from db to db: * # ? emigra* = emigrant, emigrants, emigrate, emigration

Tweak your topic: Broaden it / select a different angle Rethink your search strategy (new keywords, new concepts, etc.) Bail out completely and choose another topic What to do if nothing is turning up

edu/MRC/FilmBibMenu.html Bibliographies on various film topics and individual films compiled by MRC (includes bibs for genres, filmmakers, national cinemas, and individual film). Film Reviews and Criticism

…being driven over the edge by your research? Call me: Gary Handman Review this presentation at: