This book, designed for the film maker, critic, and serious filmgoer, explores elements of filmic expression from the creative and perceptual points of view. Chapters (1) trace the linguistic and mechanical development of film, (2) discuss the contributions of image and sound to film content, (3) suggest the contributions of editing and montage, (4) examine plot, theme, narrative organization, and histrionics, (5) deal with the role of meaning in the modern film, and (6) take an overview of the nonlinguistic modes of the avant-garde and the underground. Photographs illustrating framing techniques are included, as are an index of topics and an index of names. (DD)