Film and Media Studies

Pre-searching: find basic film or show details

Getting some basic background information about a film or director first can help you find more in depth information later. For example, knowing the name of a film's director can help you more accurately search for a copy of the film; knowing the screenwriter's name can help you search for a copy of the script; knowing the year the film was released can help you find reviews published at that time.

IMDB (Internet Movie Database)
Free online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online. Useful for identifying films and television shows by a particular director as well as getting additional information about a specific film or show (director, screenwriter, producer, cast, release date, etc.). Search by title, director, actor, and more.

Video recordings of films and television shows

Videos available at Mount Holyoke or in the Five Colleges

Discover This link opens in a new window
Searches the library catalog (especially good for finding videos in the Five College libraries' collections) and the majority of our subject-specific databases simultaneously. Use an author search to search on a film or television director's name to find works by that director. You can also try a title search if you know the name of a specific film or show that you'd like to find. Limit your search results by Source Type Video to find video recordings.
Search the library catalog only (enter search terms and then limit) or dozens of databases together. A great place to start your research on almost any topic.
AVON - Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Includes over 70,000 video titles spanning the widest range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more; curated for the educational experience. Not searched by Discover.
Docuseek This link opens in a new window
Docuseek streams essential independent, social-issue, and environmental films to colleges and universities, providing exclusive access to content from renowned leaders in documentary film distribution. All 2000+ films are immediately available, and come with performance rights for campus viewings.
Kanopy Streaming Video This link opens in a new window
Kanopy Streaming provides full access to online video from PBS, HBO, the Criterion Collection, and much more. NOTE: MHC provides limited access to films on Kanopy; many public libraries offer broader access.

Videos freely available on the internet

Kanopy Streaming Video at BPL
MHC students can sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard and get access to Kanopy's larger catalog. Once you get your Boston Public Library eCard, visit Kanopy Streaming Video at BPL and create a Kanopy account.
Internet Archive's Moving Images Archive
Collections of digitized movies, commercials, interviews, short films, and animation. The Prelinger Archive is especially useful for finding, watching and downloading ephemeral films.

Videos available from other libraries

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
WorldCat is a shared catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. Use an author search to search on a film or television director's name to find works by that director. You can also try a title search if you know the name of a specific film or show that you'd like to find. Limit your search results by Format Video to find video recordings. Use the MHC: Get It! and ILLiad to request a film from another library outside of the Five Colleges.

Reviews and interviews

Reviews of films or tv shows and interviews with directors and others connected with their creation can provide context by giving you an insight into the attitudes or cultural issues at the time a film was released. Newspapers, magazines, and even some scholarly journals are a good source of arts (film, theater, book, etc) reviews and interviews. A few databases to try:

ProQuest News & Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspapers are a good source of arts (film, theater, book, etc) reviews and interviews. This database simultaneously searches all of the library's ProQuest news databases, current and historical, national and international. Use the database's Publication Date slider to target a specific time range. Document Type sometimes helps target reviews or interviews, but you can also add the term "review" or "interview" to your search.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary database across all major subject areas. For purposes of finding reviews and interviews, it includes coverage of trade journals and continues the more recent content of some of the international newspapers covered in ProQuest News & Newspapers.
Times London (The Times London) This link opens in a new window
Full text of the back issues of The Times (London) from 1785 to 2010. Publication date and document type limiters can help you target reviews from a particular time period. Add the term interview to your search to find interviews.
Discover This link opens in a new window
A combined database made up of many individual resources including the library catalog and the majority of our subject-specific databases. Use the database's Publication Date slider to target a specific time range. Source Type sometimes helps target reviews or interviews, but you can also add the term "review" or "interview" to your search.
Search the library catalog only (enter search terms and then limit) or dozens of databases together. A great place to start your research on almost any topic.

Scripts/Screenplays

Finding published film scripts

Not all film scripts are published, but here are a couple of databases to search for those that have been:

Discover This link opens in a new window
A combined database made up of many individual resources including the library catalog and the majority of our subject-specific databases. To see if any of the Five College Libraries has a film script, search on the title of the film and the term screenplay or screenplays or motion picture plays.
Search the library catalog only (enter search terms and then limit) or dozens of databases together. A great place to start your research on almost any topic.
WorldCat This link opens in a new window
WorldCat is a shared catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. If you don't find a script in Discover, you may be able to find it in WorldCat and make an interlibrary loan request for it. Search on the title of the film and the subject screenplays or motion picture plays. Use the MHC: Get It! and ILLiad button to Request item from another library.

Finding film scripts on the internet

There are a number of websites offering freely available collections of unpublished film and television scripts, many of which appear to accept uploads from anyone. How authoritative or legal some of these sources are is questionable. For a selective list of free online script sources and advice for using them( with caution), see the following guide from Cornell University Library:

Film: A Guide to Resources: Screenplays
See especially the Finding Film Scripts Online section.

Posters and stills

CineMaterial
"CineMaterial is a digital community that aims to create a complete digital archive of movie posters, covers, logos, key art and more." Television shows are also included. High resolution downloads are only available to donors and contributors.
IMDB (Internet Movie Database)
Entries for films and television shows often include a photo gallery with stills and/or posters.
Motion Picture Stills 1903 -
American motion picture film stills; includes black and white photographs and some color prints and slides; also includes publicity stills from various studios. The bulk of the collection dates from the early 1920s on. Part of the UCLA Library Digital Collections.

Collections of historic print, multimedia, and archival materials

CineFiles
Searchable collection of scanned images of reviews, press kits, film festival and repertory theater program notes, newspaper articles, and other ephemera from the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) Film Library and Study Center. You may need to create an account (free) to access some of the copyright-protected materials.
Internet Archive
A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. Includes collections of films, television, podcasts, radio shows, social media videos, journals, newspapers, video games, and more. On the homepage, scroll down to browse a list of Top Collections.
Media History Digital Library
A free online resource, featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound. Led by Eric Hoyt and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.