Skip to Main Content

Research Guides

Cinema Studies

On this page

This page outlines resources to support filmmaking and the academic study of this topic in Cinema Studies

Other pages:  Adobe Premiere Pro Tutorials

Search Tips for Filmmaking Resources

Language to use

  • Use the asterisk as wildcard to pulling in different iterations of a word:
    • Screenwrit* = screenwriting, screenwriter, screenwriters
  • If you are looking for practical film information: Filmmaking, cinematography handbooks
  • Boolean operators instruct database / platforms to search for keywords in different ways
    • AND -- Only look at results that have all of these search terms 
      • editing AND filmmaking
    • OR -- Look for results with all or any of these search terms e.g.,  "Motion Pictures" OR Cinema OR film allows you to combine search terms to pull in more results:
      • Producing AND ("Motion Pictures" OR Cinema OR film)
    • NOT - Look for results that do not include this search term:
      • scripts NOT plays

Search by Subject Heading

Search by Subject Heading in UofT LibrarySearch

Subject headings are similar to tags or hashtags. They describe the topic of an item in a database, but unlike tags they come from an official, standardized set of terms and are assigned by cataloguing experts.

  1. Go to UTL LibrarySearch Advanced Search
  2. Choose Subject from the Search Filters drop-down menu on the left. 
  3. Enter any of the Subject Headings found below exactly as it appears in the Search Box 
    • Use quotation marks ("Motion Pictures", "Motion pictures -- Aesthetics") or change the drop down menu to is (exact) to search for that spelling.
  4. Press Enter or click on the Search button in bottom right corner.  

 

Subject Headings - Filmmaking
  • Motion Picture Producers And Directors
  • Motion pictures -- Aesthetics
  • Motion pictures -- Production and direction
  • Motion Pictures - Acting
  • Motion Pictures - Editing
  • Short films
  • Production and direction/ Short Films
  • Cinematography
  • Cinematography - Special Effects
  • Lighting
  • Video recording - Lighting
  • Costume
  • Costume Design
  • Acting Technique 
    • Useful to combine with "Motion Pictures"
  • Makeup Special Effects
  • Storyboard
For additional search tips for subject headings: 

Resources for Inspiration

Making your Own Films

UofT Libraries has various print and digital resources to help develop your filmmaking skills. 

Funding

Producing

Directing

Cinematography

Acting

Post-Production

Primary Source Materials

Learn about early cinema and filmmaking these primary source resources: 

DVDs

Digital Collections

Magazines, photographs, sheet music, personal collections and scrapbooks, industry publications and business documentation. 

Modes of Analysis