Philip J. Skerry's Books

Psycho in the Shower

The History of Cinema's Most Famous Scene

By: Philip J. Skerry

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Psycho in the Shower

The History of Cinema's Most Famous Scene

By: Philip J. Skerry

With this book, Philip Skerry makes an ambitious and largely successful effort to restore perspective to the debate that has swirled around Psycho since Hitchcock first ripped back the shower curtain of our expectations in 1960 and plunged his knife into the collective cinematic consciousness." - John Baxter, Film International Psycho in the Shower is a multi-dimensional study of Psycho's astonishing shower scene. Philip J. Skerry shows how it may be the most significant and influential film scene of all and substantiates this claim by providing chapters on the evolution of the scene in Hitchcock's career, with particular focus on his methods for creating suspense and terror in the audience. In tracing the evolution of the shower scene, the author discusses and analyzes many films (both Hitchcockian and otherwise) that lead up to Psycho. The book places the shower scene in the cultural and social contexts of American popular culture of the 1950s and 1960s, arguing that it helped to create a revolution in both sensibility and cinematic style. Several unique dimensions help to set this study apart from other books on Psycho and Hitchcock: extensive and detailed interviews with people who worked on the film, including star Janet Leigh and screenwriter Joseph Stefano (the last significant interviews before their deaths); a close study of Hitchcock's employment of mise en scene and montage in the scenes leading up to the famous shower murder; a shot by shot analysis of the scene itself and a discussion of the numerous controversies surrounding it; and a provocative and insightful account of the writing of the book itself, which provides a unique look at the author's creative process. The book culminates with examples of how the shower scene has become embedded in the matrix of contemporary culture and the remarkable ways in which the scene affected people on first viewing.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

341

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

1441151702

ISBN 13

9781441151704

The Rules of the Game

A Guide to Writing in Standard English

By: Philip J. Skerry

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Rules of the Game

A Guide to Writing in Standard English

By: Philip J. Skerry

The Rules of the Game is an examination of Standard Written American English (SWAE), which is the dialect of educated people, and an analysis of the characteristics of that dialect. The book explains the special qualities of SWAE and why it frequently presents problems to students as well as to the general public. The book outlines the two key elements of SWAE: it is both rule bound and conservative. These two elements form the basis of the book’s main purpose: the examination of the elements of successful SWAE sentences. Once the elements have been presented in detail in the first half of the book, the second half shows how sentences can go wrong by violating the “rules” of SWAE. The Rules of the Game is more than just a grammar book: it presents the rationale for the strict application of grammar rules that characterizes the dialect so that readers come away with an understanding of why this dialect is so challenging. Whether you are a student faced with writing assignments or a worker having to write reports, you will find The Rules of the Game helpful and useful.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

127

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1475852983

ISBN 13

9781475852981

Dark Energy

Hitchcock's Absolute Camera and the Physics of Cinematic Spacetime

By: Philip J. Skerry

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Dark Energy

Hitchcock's Absolute Camera and the Physics of Cinematic Spacetime

By: Philip J. Skerry

Alfred Hitchcock and the cinema grew up together. Born in 1899, four years after the first 'official' film showing in Paris, Hitchcock demonstrated an early fascination with the new art of the cinema. He entered the film industry in 1920, and by 1925, he had directed his first feature-length film, The Pleasure Garden. His subsequent film career paralleled the phenomenal growth of the film industry during the years 1925-1976, the year of his last film. In the same way, Hitchcock's films are consonant with the revolutionary theories in the fields of physics and cosmology that were transforming the twentieth century, personified by the genius of Albert Einstein. Philip Skerry's book applies the theories of dark energy, entropy, black holes, and quantum mechanics to Hitchcock's technological genius and camera aesthetics, helping to explain the concept of 'pure cinema' and providing verification for its remarkable power. Including interviews with influential physicists, this study opens up new ways of analyzing Hitchcock's art.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

130

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

1623568692

ISBN 13

9781623568696

Writing Errors and Their Ways

Correction Strategies for the 21st Century

By: Philip J. Skerry

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Writing Errors and Their Ways

Correction Strategies for the 21st Century

By: Philip J. Skerry

This book examines errors in writing from several different perspectives. The most important perspective is contextual: what may be an error in one kind of writing may not be an error in another kind. Another perspective is a hierarchical one: some errors are more significant than others. A third perspective deals with genres such as fiction vs. nonfiction, written vs spoken language. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on Standard Written American English (SWAE), which is presented as the gold standard of writing. Other factors that affect writing errors are examined in detail, such as the role of social movements and trends. Examples are drawn from the LGBTQO community and the roles of social media. Throughout the text, errors are presented, along with grammatical explanations and correction strategies. The book takes into consideration that language and language standards change, as exemplified by the upheaval in pronoun usage tied to dramatic changes in gender roles and identities.

Average ratings

N/A