The study of film history not only entails identifying key facts, names, and events, but also requires an awareness of film historiography, the study of the methods and principles through which the past becomes organized according to certain perspectives and priorities.

Just as the movies create visions of history for us, certain formulas and models determine how we look at film history. One prominent, conventional way of organizing film history is periodization. With this method, film history is divided into historical segments that help identify movies’ shared thematic and stylistic concerns.