S23: FMS 139W - Professor Marpe - Film and Media Studies - Research Guides at University of California Irvine

Scholarly Resources & Trade Publications

Published bibliographies, handbooks, and encyclopedias aare excellent starting points in the research process. Not only will these help you dig deeper by providing you with reliable bibliographic resources to consult, but the language and writing style of these types of information sources are meant for a novice learner and are less esoteric and jargon-y than scholarly articles are. Starting here will help you effectively navigate a new topic, develop understanding and vocabulary, and find resources to continue reading more in-depth on that topic.

Annotated Bibliographies via Oxford Bibliographies Online - Cinema & Media Studies
Oxford Bibliographies Online is an authoritative bibliography resource compiled by leading scholars in the field of Cinema and Media Studies. Using this library resource, you can fast track your research and compile critical resources on your topic

Annotated Bibliography: American Independent Cinema
Includes links to critical reference works, journals, histories, filmmaker interviews, documentary films, major indie filmmakers, African American cinema, Gay and Lesbian cinema, Avant-Garde and Experimental Film, Cult, Exploitation and Midnight Movies, Horror Film, Nontheatrical film
Annotated Bibliography: American Independent Cinema - Producers
Includes links to critical reference works, encyclopedias, journals, histories, studio era top-rank independent producers, studio era low-end independent producers, post-studio era top-rank independent producers, contemporary quality independent film producers, contemporary exploitation independent producers,

Handbooks, Overviews, Encyclopedias

Studying American Independent Cinema by Rona Murray
Call Number: Langson Library ; PN1993.5.U6 M78 2011
Publication Date: 2010
This student-focused guide explores modern US independent cinema in depth and places it in context of its more general history.
American independent cinema : an introduction by Yannis Tzioumakis
Call Number: Online and PN1993.5.U6 T956 2017
Publication Date: 2017
This introduction to American Independent Cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key individual films, filmmakers and film companies.

The Encyclopedia of American Independent Filmmaking / Vincent LoBrutto. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2002.
**On Order** This encyclopedia surveys the subject from cinema's inception through the 21st century. Written in an accessible style and including biographical, critical, factual, and bibliographical information. It encompasses films and filmmakers operating independently from the studio system in concept, financing, production, and distribution.
Oxford Handbook of Cinema & Media Studies
Provides a single-volume source of original scholarship on the intersection of film and media studies. Some essays survey particular issues, such as the changing concept of 'realism' in film. Others look at current media practices with special attention to new media.
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film
This online encyclopedia covers national cinemas and major genres.
“Independent Cinema.” an overview in: A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press, 2020.
“Independent Cinema.” A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Why bother with books? While it's easy to shy away from long, detailed scholarly books, these can actually be incredibly helpful resources to consult as you do your research! Just like academic articles, scholarly books undergo a rigorous peer-review process, are written by experts, and are published by reliable and trusted publishers such as university presses. In most cases, you'll be consulting what is considered a scholarly monograph or an edited work when you consult books at the library.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be intimidated: you do not have to read these kinds of books from cover-to-cover! Instead, identify the most interesting & relevant chapters, read closely, and highlight other sources that are cited throughout that chapter to dig a little deeper. This strategy of "tracing footnotes" is an excellent way to follow the scholarly dialogue taking place in the area you are exploring.

Search Tools to discover books at UCI Libraries:

UC Library Search This link opens in a new window
Searches the collections of all UC campuses, including print books and journals, ebooks and ejournals, film, newspaper articles, book chapters, and more. This tool also allows you to limit your search to the UCI campus library collection, locate the full text of millions of print and online books, journal articles, and other content, and borrow and renew materials from any library in the UC system.

Google Books
Use to discover books on your topic. Use the left side bar to find if the book is in the library. Use advanced search to limit to full text or full view only.

Examples of Scholarly Books:

Indie : an American film culture by Michael Z. Newman
Call Number: Langson Library PN1993.5.U6 N49 2011
Publication Date: 2011
America's independent films often seem to defy classification. Their strategies of storytelling and representation range from raw, no-budget projects to more polished releases of Hollywood's "specialty" divisions. Yet understanding American indies involves more than just considering films. Filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors, festivals, critics, and audiences all shape the art's identity, which is always understood in relation to the Hollywood mainstream.
Celluloid Mavericks : the history of American independent film by Greg Merritt
Publication Date: 1999
Documents a rich history, showing what it meant to be "independent" in the 1930s and what it means today. The author distinguishes between indie and semi-indie productions, explores the genres represented under the independent umbrella, and addresses the question of what makes a movie independent -- its "spirit" or the budget backing the production.
Independent filmmaking around the globe / by Doris Baltruschat
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2015
This book calls attention to the significant changes taking place in independent cinema today, as new production and distribution technology and shifting social dynamics make it more and more possible for independent filmmakers to produce films outside both the mainstream global film industry and their own national film systems.
Declarations of Independence American Cinema and the Partiality of Independent Production by John Berra
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2008
American Independent cinema has been an important creative and cultural media entity for the past fifteen years. This title questions the supposed autonomy of this cinema and asks if independent film can possibly survive in the face of the mass-production and profit of Hollywood.
Hollywood's Indies: : classics divisions, specialty labels and American film market by Yannis Tzioumakis
Call Number: Online // on order
Publication Date: 2012
Hollywood's Indies is the first book to offer an in depth examination of the phenomenon of the studio specialty film labels, by tracing their history since the establishment of the first such division in 1980, United Artists Classics.

Subject Headings to browse:
Independent Filmmakers
Independent Films
Independent Films -- United States -- History and Criticism
Low budget films -- United States
Experimental Films -- History

There are many peer-reviewed, scholarly journals that you can consider citing/learning about for your final paper. There is a longer list available here (https://guides.lib.uci.edu/film/journals) that leads you to academic journals that UCI Libraries provides online or print access to, but a shorter list is below. Consider browsing the issues for these journals for your 2 required scholarly sources!

The Velvet Light Trap (1971-Current)

This journal examines independent film production within and outside Hollywood in its historical contexts. It is collectively edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Austin, with the support of media scholars at those institutions and throughout the country. Each issue provokes debate about critical, theoretical, and historical topics relating to a particular theme.

Film Quarterly (1958-Current)

Film Quarterly, a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media, publishes scholarly analyses of international and Hollywood cinema as well as independent film, including documentary and animation. The journal also revisits film classics; examines television and digital and online media; reports from international film festivals; reviews recent academic publications; and on occasion addresses installations, video games and emergent technologies

Journal of Film and Video (1984-Current)

The Journal of Film and Video, an internationally respected forum, focuses on scholarship in the fields of film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics. Article features include film and related media, problems of education in these fields, and the function of film and video in society.

Jump Cut (1974-Current)

Frequently discusses independent cinema in its articles and essays on film, video, television, and new media. Operates from what the editors describe as “nonsectarian left, feminist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist” perspectives.

Millenium Film Journal (1978-Current)

Published semiannually by the Millennium Film Workshop in New York City, this journal concentrates on the theory and practice of independent and experimental film, video, and new media.

These databases are excellent resources for getting started. Try running a few keyword searches in more than one to see what articles and results show up! Some are specific to a field of study while others cover all disciplines.

Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Historical archive of trade magazines focused on the entertainment industry (i.e., music, film, broadcasting, and theatre). Excellent source of information to discover things like top charts, hiring notices, industry announcements, entertainment union news, etc.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to scholarly journals in most disciplines, including Cinema and Media studies. In addition to journal articles, you'll also discover book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents. JSTOR indexes & provides online access to 19 film studies journals. The list is available here: https://www.jstor.org/subject/film.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A scholarly, multidisciplinary database that provides access to journal articles covering a range of topics, including archaeology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, physics, psychology, religion & theology, women's studies, and other fields. It also indexes monographs, reports, and conference proceedings.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
A broad collection of journals and ebooks with emphasis on humanities and social sciences. Publishers include numerous university presses and scholarly societies.

A trade publication is a regularly published collection of articles that address topics of interest to members of a particular profession. These are variously referred to as trade magazines or trade journals. Inside these publications you may also find editorials, letters to the editor, photo essays, and advertisements that target members of the profession.

Trade/Industry Publications

Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large-format print magazine with a revamped website.
Filmmaker
Filmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project), which acts in the independent film community

News & Newspaper Databases

U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Current content is available each day with archives that stretch as far back as 1980.
New York Times, 1980 - Present This link opens in a new window
Full-text coverage of the New York Times, 1980 to present, via the ProQuest search interface.
For institutional access to the New York Times via the website, please follow the set up instructions here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/nytimes
New York Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of The New York Times, including images and advertisements. Coverage begins with the first edition published in 1851 and extends to three years from the present day (due to a rolling embargo).
Los Angeles Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of Los Angeles Times, including images and advertisements, from 1881 - 1997.

IndieWire
IndieWire is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollywood and the expanding universes of TV and streaming.

If you are in need of a re-fresh on research skills, these (short) tutorials can be very helpful to do at your own pace! They cover the basics of navigating the library's online resources and tools, how to effectively search on library databases, and contexts of understanding how to evaluate resources.

Library Introduction
Basic overview of how to find relevant services and materials on the library website and the Writing 60 research guide. Also, important information about connecting to resources from off-campus.
Information Contexts + Audiences
On the information timeline and cycle, on the terms "scholarly" and "popular," and tips on how to read scholarly sources.
Searching: Keywords + Boolean
Tips on how to use keywords and Boolean operators to get the most out of your searches
Searching: Databases + Tools
Introduction to databases like Academic Search Complete and tools like Library Search and Google Scholar that will help you find resources. Strategies for using bibliographies and citations with these tools.