The Worlds of Wes Anderson
In all his films, Wes Anderson turns the mundane into magic by building distinctive and eccentric worlds. But how well do you know the man behind the camera? Discover the inspirations of one of our most revered auteurs with The Worlds of Wes Anderson.Anderson's playful and vibrant aesthetic is universally admired - but how has he managed to create such a recognisable identity?From Hitchcock and Spielberg to Truffaut and Varda, there are countless homages and references scattered throughout Anderson's filmography, while his cultural anchor points go far beyond film and into the worlds of art and literature.Evocations of place and time underpin his work, from mid-century Paris in The French Dispatch to grand pre-war Europe in The Grand Budapest Hotel, while cultural institutions - such as Jacques Cousteau and The New Yorker magazine - are other touchstones.For Wes Anderson fans and cinephiles alike, this is an essential insight into the creative process of one of the world's most unique filmmakers.
The Cinema of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
THE CINEMA OF JASON FRIEDBERG AND AARON SELTZERBy Jeremy Mark RobinsonThey're dubbed 'the worst filmmakers in the world' (are they? Hell, no!). Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are best-known for producing a series of highly entertaining spoof movies, beginning with Date Movie in 2006, and including Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Meet the Spartans, Superfast, The Starving Games, and their finest work, Vampires Suck, a parody of the Twilight Saga. Friedberg and Seltzer also contributed to the scripts of the Scary Movie series, Spy Hard and Maximum Risk. The finest of the spoof movies of Friedberg and Seltzer are Date Movie, Vampires Suck and Meet the Spartans; Vampires Suck is probably the best-known, because of its association with the Twilight Saga (and Vampires Suck is certainly the premier send-up of Twilight in movie form). Many of the movies parodied by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer cried out for parodies - 300, The Hunger Games, Twilight, The Fast and the Furious, Narnia, etc. As soon as dreck like Narnia or The Hunger Games is released, you beg for someone - anyone! - to lampoon it. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and their movies have been described as 'abominations', 'horrifying' (Flavorwire) - 'a plague' (Austin Chronicle) - 'evildoers' (Slate) - 'cultural blight' (A.V. Club) - 'comic terrorists' (A.V. Club) - 'the worst film- makers in Hollywood' (New York Post). The vitriol that Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have attracted is startling: one hopes that they don't take any of it to heart, and keep making movies. This is loathing worse than that endured by film directors such as Ken Russell, Michael Winner, James Cameron, Joel Schumacher, Russ Meyer or George Lucas (well, maybe not Lucas! We know how intense and bitter Star Wars fans can be!). But why? Why have Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg angered so many viewers and critics? However, many people have enjoyed their movies: of Vampires Suck, viewers wrote: 'It was absolutely PERFECT for people like me who couldn't stand the Twilight franchise and it was a movie that needed to be made.' 'Vampires Suck succeeds in mocking even the smallest details of the Twilight saga and is a great film whether you love Twilight or not.' 'This was the Best Movie Ever! it was hilarious!' This book looks at each of the movies of Friedberg and Seltzer in detail; there are chapters on films such as Spy Hard and the Scary Movie franchise; on spoof movies; and on comedy cinema and the critics. With filmography, bibliography and notes. Illustrated with 90 illustrations. 276 pages. www.crmoon.com
Ugly Mugs
A girl on a footy field cops a blow to the head and her bag is stolen. A teenage boy grapples with his role in a disturbing event. A woman relives a nightmare while her doctor looks on. None of them saw it coming. None of them were ready for what happened next. Taking its title from the name sex workers use for aggressive clients, Peta Brady's Ugly Mugs emerged from a Melbourne shocked by violence against women and interrogates the culture of abuse lurking in the shadows of every Australian city.
Jean-Luc Godard
JEAN-LUC GODARD: THE PASSION OF CINEMAVOLUME 2: 1968 ONWARDSBy Jeremy Mark RobinsonThere's no one else quite like Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most significant and inspiring filmmakers of recent times. Where the flood of movies globally now runs into many thousands, Godard's works stand out as original, acerbic, romantic, ironic, controversial, humorous and explorative. This book considers all of Godard's works in cinema, from his early short films and the important success and cultural impact of Breathless through the remarkable series of movies of the 1960s to the latest feature films. The book is split into two volumes: Jean-Luc Godard: The Passion of Cinema/ Le Passion de Cinema: Volume 1: To 1968Jean-Luc Godard: The Passion of Cinema/ Le Passion de Cinema: Volume 2: From 1968Volume 2 includes a biography of Godard; an exploration of aspects of his cinema; and chapters on movies such as Tout Va BIen, the political films of the Dziga Vertov period (1968-73), Passion, First Name: Carmen, Slow Motion, Detective, King Lear, J.L.G./ J.L.G., New Wave, Woe Is Me, Hail Mary, later works such as Socialism, Goodbye To Language, In Praise of Love and Our Music, and Godard's masterpiece, a history of cinema. EXTRACT FROM THE CHAPTER ON HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMAJean-Luc Godard produced an epic history of cinema, between 1989 and 1998, Histoire(s) du Cin矇ma (which means Stor(ies) of Cinema, as well as Histor(ies) of Cinema). This was a major work, and has generated a good deal of critical comment. As well as being a history of cinema, it was also a history of the age - and a history of Godard himself. It was completed in 1998 (but may develop further): there were five audio CDs (from Edition of Contemporary Music Records),2 a video release of the 8 parts on video from Gaumont (running to 266 minutes), and a boxed set of 4 books from Gallimard.3 A 90-minute 'best of' film was edited for cinemas: Le Moment choisi des Histoire(s) de cin矇ma, 2004). In Histoire(s) du Cin矇ma, Jean-Luc Godard delivered a poetic document of cinema in his highly idiosyncratic style of overlays and endless quotations, a montage style all his own, which combined multiple voices, layers of sounds and music, sound clips from films, captions, and an endless stream of visuals (interspersed with images of Godard at work in his offices, typing or writing or talking). Histoire(s) du Cin矇ma was a super-dense collage of photos, music, sounds and movie clips, written texts, taking in prints (Rembrandt, Dor矇), paintings (Turner, Moreau, Renoir, Goya, Gr羹newald, Delacroix, Kandinsky, van Gogh, Uccello, Klimt, Gentileschi, Giotto, Botticelli, Angelico, Fuseli, Caravaggio, Blake, El Greco, Piero, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Byzantine ikons), writers (Rimbaud, C矇line, Brecht, Bataille, Faulkner, Flaubert, Duras, Val矇ry, Hugo, Dante, Ovid, Aragorn, Malraux, Proust, Gide), cin矇-heroes like Henri Langlois, newsreel, pornography, television, and complex video techniques, such as super-impositions, irses, masked frames, visual mixes, flash cuts, repeated phrases, and echo and reverb effects on voices and sounds. And it's Godard's vision, his narration, his philosophy, his ideas, and his emotions that unites it all, that makes it all work. Certainly there are very few filmmakers on the planet who could've pulled it off. Fully illustrated. Bibliography, filmography, Godardisms and notes.
The New Methods of Funding of the Cinema in Bulgaria and Spain
This book provides useful guidance on how filmmaking can be de-risked by using new forms of financing instead of the well-trodden paths of traditional funding. The author will present the results of a study of the opportunities for cinema funding and its related policies in Bulgaria and Spain. She makes a comparative analysis of cinema politics in Bulgaria and Spain. She finishes with general conclusions and recommendations - prospects for further development.
Against The Grain
In this insightful narrative, Shwetha Srivatsav's journey unfolds against the backdrop of a society dominated by male norms. Especially in this society, for a married woman, merely thinking or dreaming of becoming a mainstream heroine is considered taboo . Despite the myriad challenges posed, particularly post-marriage, how she defied odds to carve her path into the Kannada film industry, steadfast in her resolve, this unique journey forms the essence and the USP of this book, serving as the primary motivation behind its creation. The initial chapters tenderly explore her formative years, offering glimpses into her resilient attitude towards life through personal anecdotes. Through her lens, the book delves into the intricate dynamics of parent-child relationships and their profound psychological impacts, painting a vivid picture of her experiences as a middle-class Kannadiga girl. Beyond personal anecdotes, it critically examines the status quo of women in the film industry, probing into the treatment they receive and the underlying societal constructs that perpetuate such norms. Moreover, it candidly discusses the challenges encountered in post-marital pursuits of career oriented women, alongside the invaluable support extended by her husband and family/parents. Amidst these reflections, a chapter dedicated to fan inquiries serves as a testament to her engagement with her audience. Ultimately, the narrative transcends individual experiences to encompass broader themes of women's empowerment, offering a wellspring of inspiration and motivation, while underscoring the indispensable role of effective communication in navigating life's complexities.
Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema
A visual exploration of cyberpunk and its global impact and lasting influence on cinema cultureCyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction, first appeared in the early 1980s and uniquely captured the anxieties of the decade. Featuring near-future scenarios set in worlds that resemble our own, cyberpunk stories juxtapose technological advances with social upheaval, ecological crisis and urban decay. Central to these narratives are antihero characters who fight against corrupt political systems, technology gone haywire and global mega-corporations.Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures through Cinema examines the global impact and lasting influence of cyberpunk on cinema culture. Through rarely published behind-the-scenes photographs, film stills and concept art, the book spotlights iconic cyberpunk films such as Blade Runner, Tron and The Matrix; foundational animated features like Akira and Ghost in the Shell; and more recent releases such as Sleep Dealer, Pumzi, Night Raiders and Neptune Frost. More than 20 case studies written by critics, historians and filmmakers offer new perspectives on these films and their legacies. The book also features an in-depth introduction by curator Doris Berger; an essay by communications scholar Carlen Lavigne that discusses the genre's 20th-century literary origins and the new, global directions it has taken in the 21st century; and an interview with filmmakers Danis Goulet and Wanuri Kahiu that reflects on the interplay among cyberpunk, Afrofuturism and Indigenous futurism.
Screening Work
Christian Petzold (b. 1960) is arguably the most prominent filmmaker working in Germany today, with a growing international reputation for his carefully fashioned narrative studies of identity and relationships. Running through the core of his films is the theme of work, in various forms - manual, intellectual, psychological, emotional, ethical, social, political, economic and aesthetic. Focusing on close reading of key scenes, Stephan Hilpert and Andrew J. Webber demonstrate the crucial role of this theme in his filmmaking. Each chapter engages with particular aspects or modes of work, as evidenced by specific films, across the span of the director's career. The analysis of Petzold's own ways of working - including the crucial forms of collaboration that he has undertaken - is supported by the inclusion of material drawn from two interviews conducted with the director around the themes of the volume.Stephan Hilpert is a filmmaker and Professor of Film and Television at Macromedia University, Berlin. Andrew J. Webber FBA is Professor of Modern German and Com-parative Culture at the University of Cambridge.
The Cinema of Cecilia Bartolom矇
Fusing a distinctive feminist aesthetics with a startling vision of twentieth-century Spain, the work of Cecilia Bartolom矇 casts a new light on the histories of both Spanish national film, and transnational women's cinema. This book places Bartolom矇 among other key auteurs of national Spanish, and transnational feminist, cinema.
The Real Life of Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier was both an enchanter and a force of nature. In The Real Life of Laurence Olivier, Roger Lewis goes beyond the magical illusions the actor created, to tell the truth about the man's sexuality, ambition, revenges, power, preoccupations and achievements. Most of all, Olivier's life and work become a love story -- the tale of the relationship with Vivien Leigh, who was destroyed by the extent of her passion for him, as he himself was cast into a frenzy of guilt and disillusion.
La La Land
In this Oxford Guide to Film Musicals, author Hannah Lewis gives readers fascinating new insights into the development, style, and reception of the 2016 film musical La La Land. Directed by Damien Chazelle with music by Justin Hurwitz, the film tells the story of a romance between an aspiring actress and jazz pianist as the two pursue their dreams in Los Angeles. It uses a vintage form to tell a modern story and its blend of nostalgia and realism made it an instant classic even as it prompted a range of critical and audience responses. Drawing on extensive personal interviews with director Damien Chazelle, composer Justin Hurwitz, choreographer Mandy Moore, and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the book explores La La Land's aesthetic approach to the film musical genre, particularly its engagement with and subversion of the classic Hollywood musical's stylistic and narrative expectations. Lewis offers readers ways of listening to the film's depiction of jazz, focusing especially on how race and genre intersect in its narrative. She also reveals new insights into the film's reception, showing how the critical response from its premiere to its place at the Academy Awards reflected broader cultural expectations and understandings of the film musical and its continued appeal for twenty-first century audiences. By exploring the range of stylistic and cultural debates that La La Land prompted, this book gives readers new ways of thinking about the film musical genre's enduring and evolving place in contemporary American culture.
The Shadow of the Tower
This is a reference book on the 1972 television serial The Shadow of the Tower. The book includes all 13 episodes in original transmission date order, complete cast listings, numerous photographs, directorial credits, and a story synopsis for each episode. The Shadow of the Tower was a historical drama that was broadcast on B.B.C. 2 in 1972. It focused on the reign of King Henry VII of England and the creation of the Tudor dynasty. James Maxwell stars as King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, in this remarkable series, the prequel to the BBC's award-winning Tudor histories, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.
Belgian cinema
In Belgian Cinema: 1973-2016, Ricardo Luiz de Souza analyses Belgian cinema in the period from 1973 to 2016, a time when names such as Chantal Ackerman, Andr矇 Delvaux and the Dardenne brothers made their films. This period of Belgian cinema is analysed not only from the point of view of the masterpieces that were made in it, but also from the point of view of some less happy and expressive moments, which nevertheless help us to understand some of the strands and guidelines of this cinema.
Television and Repetition
Resisting some of the negative connotations that repetition can attract, this book illustrates how it has been used as a catalyst for creative expression across a range of television genres.
Through a Nuclear Lens
The Franco-Japanese coproduction Hiroshima mon amour (1959) is one of the most important films for global art cinema and for the French New Wave. In Through a Nuclear Lens, Hannah Holtzman examines this film and the transnational cycle it has inspired, as well as its legacy after the 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. In a study that includes formal and theoretical analysis, archival research, and interviews, Holtzman shows the emergence of a new kind of nuclear film, one that attends to the everyday effects of nuclear disaster and its impact on our experience of space and time. The focus on Franco-Japanese exchange in cinema since the postwar period reveals a reorientation of the primarily aesthetic preoccupations in the tradition of Japonisme to center around technological and environmental concerns. The book demonstrates how French filmmakers, ever since Hiroshima mon amour, have looked to Japan in part to better understand nuclear uncertainty in France.
Reasserting the Disney Brand in the Streaming Era
Reasserting the Disney Brand in the Streaming Era investigates the evolution of the Disney brand at a pivotal moment - the move from content creation to acquisition and streaming - and how the company reasserted its brand in a changing marketplace.
Sex and Desire in British Films of the 2000s
This book explores how British filmmakers of the 2000s engaged with the themes of love, sex and desire in a wide variety of movies. It ranges from powerful contemporary dramas such as Kidulthood, Closer and Disobedience to the lighter mood of the Bridget Jones series. It also analyses how the lives, loves and traumas of historical figures such as Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Plath and Iris Murdoch were dramatised on film. The book will appeal to literature enthusiasts, film students and readers interested in exploring how we may currently live out our hopes, fears and dreams in relation to sexual matters and affairs of the heart.
Kubrick's Mitteleuropa
Stanley Kubrick was arguably one of the most influential American directors of the post-World War II era, whose Central European Jewish heritage, though often overlooked, greatly influenced his oeuvre. Kubrick's Mitteleuropa explores this influence in ways that range from his work with Hungarian and Polish composers B矇la Bart籀k, Gy繹rgy Ligeti, and Krzysztof Penderecki to the visual inspiration of artists such as Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, and other Central European Modernists. Beyond exploring the Mitteleuropean sensibility in Kubrick's films, the contributions in this volume also provide important commentary on the reception of his films in countries across Eastern Europe.
English cinema
In English Cinema 1957-1968, Ricardo Luiz de Souza analyses the course of English cinema from 1957_the inaugural milestone of Free Cinema_ until the end of the 1960s, based on the study of various films made during this period. It was a period in which, as always, English cinema remained mostly tied to a reluctant academicism, but in which a whole process of renewal was carried out during and after Free Cinema. This movement remained conservative in terms of film language and had an infinitely smaller influence, practically nil, in world terms. Today, it is barely mentioned, while the Nouvelle Vague remains praised, discussed and recognised as a milestone. This oblivion, however, carries with it a good deal of injustice, since memorable films linked to the movement were made. And yet, in specific terms, it is impossible to understand the evolution of English cinema without taking Free Cinema into account. After all, although it had a fairly limited global reach, it changed the course of British cinema.
House of Cards Trilogy
This is a reference book on THE HOUSE OF CARDS trilogy, starring Ian Richardson, which was in three separate parts consisting of four episodes for each section. They include House of Cards (1990), To Play the King (1993), and The Final Cut (1995). The book includes all three parts and twelve episodes, in original transmission date order, and includes complete cast lists, numerous photographs, directorial credits, and a story synopsis for each episode.
Virginity on Screen
Virginity--a major adolescent rite of passage--has been explored in the coming-of-age film genre for many decades. This book examines the evolution of teen movies over the past 40 years, posing crucial questions about how film shapes our cultural understanding of virginity. By surveying more than 30 mainstream and independent coming-of-age films from the 1980s to the present, it considers what types of first-time sexual experiences are represented on screen, how they are different for men and women, and whether they are subverting or reinforcing gender stereotypes. Drawing from notable teen movies such as Dirty Dancing (1987), American Pie (1999), Real Women Have Curves (2002), Lady Bird (2017), and Plan B (2021), the book identifies a progressive shift toward more sex-positive and feminist representations of first-time sexual experiences on screen. Each chapter studies how the political climate, sex education policies, and cultural norms specific to each era impact the film's release and its teenage audience.
Decline and Reimagination in Cinematic New York
Decline and Reimagination in Cinematic New York examines the cinematic representation of New York from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, placing the dominant discourse of urban decline in dialogue with marginal perspectives that reimagine the city along alternative paths as a resilient, adaptive, and endlessly inspiring place.
Intersectional Humanism and Star Trek
Intersectional Humanism and Star Trek: Discovery focuses on the shift from the liberal humanism of the Star Trek franchise to the intersectional humanism of Star Trek: Discovery. Featuring a great deal of diversity both in front of and behind the camera, Discovery affirms the guiding principle of the franchise: infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Arguing that the focus of Discovery is a connection between a variety of beings and ways of being in the world, the author analyzes the relationships among humanoids and machines, animals, and between each other as well as the representation of trauma in the series. The author finds that, while there are reversions to some of the more problematic elements of liberal humanism over the course of the series, ultimately it forms connections that will progress humanity and deepen our relationship to each other and the world around us.
John Hamrick's Blue Mouse Cinemas
A unique, in-depth case study of regional independent film exhibition in the Pacific Northwest. This book helps us understand the unexplored role and influence of American indie small-chain exhibitors during the height of the studio era.
Pop Stars on Film
Pop stars have provided audiences with performative moments that have become ingrained in popular consciousness. They are a lens through which deeper understandings about race, gender, politics, history and the artistic process can be understood. When combined with the most affective of mediums - cinema, the combination can be both thrilling and alarming. From the relatively early days of cinema, figures from the world of popular music have made forays into acting and contributed cameo appearances. From Little Richard and Kylie Minogue to Nick Cave and Tom Waits, Pop Stars On Film: Popular Culture in a Global Market offers a collection of essays on some of the most influential international performances from a diverse range of cultural icons. The book considers industry shifts, access and diversity, but also the notion of cultural appropriation, audience appeal, marketing and demographics. Perhaps most importantly, the publication will look at what happens when cultures collide and coalesce.
The Works of Shonda Rhimes
The Works of Shonda Rhimes, the first book in Bloomsbury's Screen Storytellers series, brings together a collection of essays that look critically at the works of this award-winning writer, producer, and CEO of the global media company, Shondaland. Shonda Rhimes's television series, and those created and produced through Shondaland, have left an important imprint on television history. Beginning with her groundbreaking series Grey's Anatomy, the series created under the umbrella of Rhimes's brand, including Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, For the People, Station 19, Bridgerton, Inventing Anna, and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, have delighted global audiences with their innovative storytelling, dynamic characters, and the inclusion of contemporary social issues woven throughout the storylines. In this collection of essays, screenwriting and television studies scholars explore the ways in which Rhimes's series have been at the forefront of change in the television landscape in the past two decades, including discussions of the representation of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ characters; inclusivity in casting; innovations in pilot and series development; variations on genre; and disruptive business and marketing practices. This collection of essays offers emerging screenwriters and informed consumers of television insights into the cultural impact of Rhimes's work as well as how one of the most powerful television creators and showrunners in the history of the medium has crafted and shaped screen stories that speak to viewers spanning all demographics across the globe.
The Documentarian
The Documentarian is the ultimate go-to source for making documentaries. It explains how to conceive, shoot, and sell a documentary, along with specific advice overall in how to succeed in the independent film business.
Disney High
The first unauthorized look at the inner workings--and ultimate breakdown--of the Disney Channel machine For many kids growing up in the 2000s, there was no cultural touchstone more powerful than Disney Channel, the most-watched cable channel in primetime at its peak. Today, it might best be known for introducing the world to talents like Hilary Duff, Raven-Symon矇, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and Zendaya. It wasn't always destined for greatness: when The Disney Channel launched in 1983, it was a forgotten stepchild within the Walt Disney Company, forever in the shadow of Disney's more profitable movies and theme parks. But after letting the stars of their Mickey Mouse Club revival--among them Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling--slip through their fingers, Disney Channel reinvented itself as a powerhouse tween network. In the new millennium, it churned out billions of dollars in original content and triple-threat stars whose careers were almost entirely controlled by the corporation. Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of the pie--and there were constant clashes between the studio, network, labels, and creatives as Disney Channel became a pressure cooker of perfection for its stars. From private feuds and on-set disasters, to fanfare that swept the nation and the realities of child stardom, culture journalist Ashley Spencer offers the inside story of the heyday of TV's House of Mouse, featuring hundreds of exclusive new interviews with former Disney executives, creatives, and celebrities to explore the highs, lows, and everything in between.
Steven Spielberg
This comprehensive and in-depth study delves into the life and works of the most famous director who has ever lived, Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is the medium's defining artist--the embodiment of the Hollywood ideal: the commercial potential of film married to its creative possibilities. He's widely popular, but he's also a stylist, and far darker than he is given credit for. Often, it is this very darkness that speaks to us. But, it's also his incredible knack for telling stories with lightness that speaks to millions, by mixing the extraordinary with the ordinary. His leading characters, even Indiana Jones, are marked by their vulnerability, their mistakes, their yearning. It's the human touch. There are so many parts to Spielberg's story: the suburban background that supplied the films with a biographical streak; the collaborations (with George Lucas and the Movie Brats in general, with composer John Williams, producer Kathleen Kennedy, editor Michael Khan, stars Richard Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, and Tom Hanks, and mogul and mentor Sid Sheinberg). The myths that bloomed from the making of these films.The nightmare shoot and stubborn shark behind Jaws. The strange ambitions of Close Encounters. Dive bombing with 1941. Inventing Indiana Jones. Re-inventing the blockbuster with Jurassic Park. Venturing into history's darkest shadows with Schindler's List. Transforming a genre with Saving Private Ryan. The muscular, unpredictable, confrontational Spielberg of Minority Report, Munich, and Lincoln. And then there is his family. How his films, even late in his career--lionized, untouchable--went in search of approval from his parents. Just as he has craved the approval of his peers. That fateful Oscar took so long in coming... Defining, appreciating, contextualizing, and understanding the films of Spielberg is a tall order. Their simplicity is deceptive. You have to cut through the glow, the adoration, the simple joy that comes with their embrace, and get to the thrust of the filmmaking. Sourcing the inspirations, locating the critical nuance, the nurtured performance, and the recurrent theme--so many of his films have become timeless--this book celebrates all this and more.
The Silents Go to War
In this book, readers can experience the tumultuous era of silent First World War propaganda films that helped shape U.S. opinion of the dreaded "Huns." From pro-preparedness films pacifist films, "horrible Hun" films, "kill-the-kaiser" films, and outrageous comedies to thought-provoking war trauma films and patriotic documentaries, readers can survey America's cinematic view of "the war to end all wars." Featured is comprehensive discussion of these films, including synopses, casts, back stories, and critical reviews and notes. Here are unusual tales and extraordinary plots with serpentine Germans (Erich von Stroheim throwing a baby out of a window in 1918's The Heart of Humanity), noble French girls sacrificing their honor for the allied cause (Clara Kimball Young in 1918's The Road Through the Dark), and singular Yanks (Bothwell Browne as a cross-dressing American flyer seducing the kaiser and his high command in 1919's Yankee Doodle in Berlin).
Emotion Pictures
This book investigates a group of exceptional films that single-mindedly consider one particular emotion - be it pity, lust, grief, or anxiety - to examine cinematic emotion in depth. It will have resonance for academics and practitioners in several fields of psychology, including social work, psychiatry, and therapy.
Film Exhibition
Film exhibition encompasses all the ways in which film texts are placed in front of audiences, and it has taken myriad, varied forms in Italy. For example, in the early days of cinema travelling projectionists exhibited films in urban centres and throughout the countryside, while in the 1920s and 1930s a network of Fascist youth groups actively circulated and screened films across Italy. As the twentieth century progressed, commercial exhibition was increasingly controlled by cinema chains, yet independent cinemas and film events remained vibrant. At the turn of the millennium, Italy's single-screen cinemas gave way to urban multiplexes, and more recently both have been challenged by online streaming and covid-19. The history of exhibition practice in Italy frames movie-going in political, economic, legal, sociological and architectural terms, and it provides a fascinating insight into cinema's enduring inextricability from wider issues of social space and cultural life.Damien Pollard is Lecturer in Film at Northumbria University. Edward Bowen is Assistant Professor of Italian at the University of Kansas.
Secret Cinema and the Immersive Experience Industry
This book presents a comprehensive history and analysis of Secret Cinema - the leading producer of large-scale immersive experiences in the UK. It examines how the company has evolved over twelve years from an experimental and artisanal organisation to a global leader in the field. The book focuses on the UK in late-2019, a point at which the immersive sector had grown significantly through its increasing contribution to GDP and its widespread recognition as a legitimate cultural offering. It captures an organisation and a sector transitioning from marginal and subcultural roots to a commodifiable and commercial form, now with recognisable professional roles and practices, which has contributed to the establishment of an immersive experience industry of national importance and global reach.
The Art of DreamWorks the Wild Robot
Now a DreamWorks movie! An all-encompassing look at the making of The Wild Robot, based on the New York Times bestselling series from Peter Brown DreamWorks Animation brings to life Peter Brown's bestselling book about a robot stranded on an uninhabited island. Depicting the tale of resilience, kindness, and shared humanity, The Art of DreamWorks The Wild Robot presents hundreds of character designs and concept art from the making of the movie, along with exclusive interviews from the writers, artists, cast, and filmmakers. Featuring a foreword by Lupita Nyong'o, a preface by Peter Brown, an introduction by writer-director Chris Sanders, and an afterword by producer Jeff Hermann, this insider's guide details the elaborate artistry involved in creating the ultimate celebration of nature, family, and the emotional journey of becoming more than one is programmed to be. This beautiful coffee table book is a gift to animation fans.
Custer
This is a reference book on the TV series Custer, which starred Wayne Maunder. The book includes all episodes in date of broadcast order, complete cast listings, numerous photographs, directorial credits, and a story synopsis for each episode. Also included are two television films made from the series (The Legend of Custer and Crazy Horse and Custer: The Untold Story) as well as the theatrical film Custer of the West (1967) starring Robert Shaw.
Influence of mythologemes on the genre group of adventure cinema
This study examines mythologems, myths and archetypes as a plot-forming factor of adventure genre films on the example of the national Belarusian cinema. Adventure cinema, being the most popular genre group among the viewers all over the world, has always been characterised by a great influence of mythological motifs on its plots. Adventure films are the fulfilment of the viewer's dream of an adventurous experience. For the sake of satisfying this spectator's dream, mythologems are present in them, as they are the accumulated experience of generations of basic fabulae, the embodiment of which the spectator expects to see on the screen. The correspondence of the plots of adventure films to mythologems that have been absorbed by the historical and cultural experience of mankind makes it possible to understand and accept the plots of such films practically outside the temporal and territorial boundaries of national cultures.
Is Harpo Free?
Examines how philosophical concepts like free will, personal identity, and goodness are given an artistic life in films and television programs.Is Harpo Free? is a lively appreciation of film and television's ability to artistically explore concepts typical of philosophical metaphysics, such as free will, causality, and personal identity. Rather than using films and television programs as vehicles for philosophical arguments, the book instead celebrates the artistic ways in which they give life to various metaphysical concepts and how the artistic expression of these concepts and ideas helps us understand ourselves, the world, and our place within it. Through close analysis of a varied selection of works and their use of narrative, form, and style, Is Harpo Free? exemplifies a novel approach to appreciating the philosophical substance of films and television programs. Films and television programs discussed include A Night at the Opera; Run, Lola, Run; Shane; Harvey; Three Colours: Blue; The Americans; Dark; and Fargo.
The Way We Work
Valuable Advice from Industry VeteransDespite increasing corporate mergers and bottom-line thinking, the entertainment business will never function like a bank or an insurance company because it is an industry rooted in imagination. Rules are meant to be broken. The best work is often produced in an environment where plans change by the minute and nothing seems to make sense. To wit, those who choose this profession must alter preconceived notions of work itself, sometimes discovering that fantasy and horror describe both movie genres and life on the job. The phenomenon crosses class lines: From the writers, directors, and producers to the lawyers, agents, studio executives, and crew and right down to the porta-potty suppliers.The Way We Work provides a window into the skill sets and the insanity that make movies and television tick. Essays by award-winning writers, directors, and producers chronicle the process and the obstacles facing those at the top of the creative food chain. Oral histories from executives to "below-the-line" workers describe life in the trenches, which often present as Stud's Terkel's Working―on acid.
The de Palma Decade
Journey with award-winning filmmaker and author Laurent Bouzereau through acclaimed director Brian De Palma's renowned--and controversial--horror and thriller films that redefined cinema in the 1970s and early 80s with interviews conducted over three decades and fresh takes. Among a crop of fresh filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola revolutionizing Hollywood in the '70s, Brian De Palma--a director from Philadelphia with a few social satires under his belt--charted a cinematic path unlike any of his peers. At times he was unfairly dismissed as a Hitchcock copycat; other times he was misunderstood for his peculiar mix of sexuality, humor, and violence. But, over the course of ten years, he created a new cinematic language, melding his signature themes with specific filmmaking techniques that are now synonymous with his name. Acclaimed filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau explores the seven films that came to define the De Palma decade: Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Carrie, The Fury, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out. Combining film analysis, detailed production histories, and interviews with De Palma himself, his casts, and collaborators, Bouzereau presents the definitive record on this unrivaled period of cinematic creativity and the emergence of an auteur who would continue to influence filmmaking in the decades that followed.
Brecht and the Cinema Experience
This book seeks to analyse the work of the German Bertolt Brecht in the cinematographic field - in which he acted in various roles - considering the experiences of these works, through the film analysis in How the Worker Lives (Germany, 1930), as it portrays a peculiar period in his vast oeuvre. In this work, Brecht's arrival at the cinema is seen as the synthesis of a trajectory that has as its prelude his poetic and theatrical work. The research seeks to analyse and critically reflect on Brecht's film works, from the expressive 1920s to the troubled 1930s, from the perspectives of language, aesthetics and ideas linked to a revolutionary process. The experience and the aesthetic and political dimension of Brechtian thought are connected to the militant and avant-garde cinema of the Weimar Republic and its matrix in Soviet cinema, from which essential elements for the success of film productions were recovered, in the writing and editing stages. The theoretical formulations of the great thinker Walter Benjamin make an essential contribution to an accurate understanding of this important phase - Brecht's experience in cinema.
The Australian Film Revival
The Australian Film Revival: 70s, 80s, and Beyond explores the matrix of forces - artistic, cultural, economic, political, governmental, and ideological - that gave rise to, shaped, and sustained this remarkable film movement. This engaging new study brings fresh perspectives, insights, and innovative approaches to a variety of films from a diversity of filmmakers. Areas of focus include the complex and contentious subjects of masculinity, femininity and feminism, the maternal, as well as the Indigenous road film and the protean Australian gothic. During the formative years of the revival, Australian films seemed to emerge from out of the blue in terms of global film history, with many features including Picnic at Hanging Rock (l975), Caddie (l976), The Last Wave (l977), The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (l978), and My Brilliant Career (l979) receiving international distribution and enthusiastic critical acclaim with strong box office results. By the time the film revival was in full swing, not only did Australian audiences flock to theaters to see "homegrown" films, but the quantity of Australian films on overseas screens was so high that ardent critics declared this outpouring an Australian "New Wave." The eyes of the world had turned to a compelling and largely unknown culture.
Recontextualizing Indian Shakespeare Cinema in the West
Featuring case studies, essays, and conversation pieces by scholars and practitioners, this volume explores how Indian cinematic adaptations outside the geopolitical and cultural boundaries of India are revitalizing the broader landscape of Shakespeare research, performance, and pedagogy. Chapters in this volume address practical and thematic concerns and opportunities that are specific to studying Indian cinematic Shakespeares in the West. For instance, how have intercultural encounters between Indian Shakespeare films and American students inspired new pedagogic methodologies? How has the presence and popularity of Indian Shakespeare films affected policy change at British cultural institutions? How can disagreement between eastern and western perspectives on the politics of a Shakespeare film become the site for productive cross-cultural dialogue? This is the first book to explore such complex interactions between Indian Shakespeare films and Western audiences to contribute to the assessment of the new networks that have emerged as a result of Global Shakespeare studies and practices. The volume argues that by tracking critical currents from India towards the West new insights are afforded on the wider field of Shakespeare Studies - including feminist Shakespeares, translation in Shakespeare, or the study of music in Shakespeare - and are shaping debates on the ownership and meaning of Shakespeare itself. Contributing to the current studies in Global Shakespeare, this book marks a discursive shift in the way Shakespeare on Indian screen is predominantly theorised and offers an alternative methodology for examining non-Anglophone cinematic Shakespeares as a whole.
Full-Throttle Franchise
When the first Fast & Furious film was released in June 2001, few predicted that it would be a box office hit, let alone the launchpad for a multi-billion-dollar franchise. A mid-budget crime movie set around L.A.'s underground car-racing scene, featuring a cast of relative unknowns, the film became one of the surprise hits of that summer, earning more than 5 times its budget in worldwide ticket sales. 2 decades and 9 films later, Fast & Furious today ranks among the 10 highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, with a box office total of $6.6 billion and has also given rise to an animated TV show and theme park ride. Full-Throttle Franchise is the first book to offer an in-depth analysis of the Fast & Furious, bringing together a range of scholars to explore not only the style and themes of the franchise, but also its broader cultural impact and legacy. The collected essays establish the franchise's importance in cinematic and ideological terms, linking their discussions to wider issues of genre, representation, adaptation, and industry. Topics range from stardom and performance, focusing on key actors Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, to the way in which Fast & Furious intersects with dominant ideas of racial, gender, and sexual identity. Aimed at both scholars and fans, Full-Throttle Franchise seeks to uncover just what has made Fast & Furious so enduringly popular, mapping its outrageous set pieces, ever-expanding universe, and growing cast of global megastars in terms of wider cultural and industrial forces.
Queering Visual Cultures: Re-Presenting Sexual Politics on Stage and Screen
The contemporary popular cultural space has leveraged the queer in the same format of representation as its presentation in the 1990s. Although the queer is portrayed in a less perverse light than a decade ago, popular cultural representations of the queer in the visual culture genres are still on the level of the banal. While popular culture has become more encouraging towards the queer, the broader cultural opinion about the queer has been progressively more skeptical, compromised by the idea that the queer is encroaching on spaces reserved exclusively for heteronormative recreation. The essays in this volume look closely at how the queer is portrayed across media and throughout the world. * It is imperative that analyses of popular cultural depictions and presentations of the queer are performed with the extensive intent towards encouraging a politics of inclusion and towards deterring the abjection of the queer subject in popular cultural portrayals. * Placing Visual Cultures in a Queer Context - Subashish Bhattacharjee; Queeerness and the Limits of Criticism in Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac -- William J. Simmons; Queering Yerevan--Politics of Location: A Feminist Material Analysis of Dis/Orientations of Self-Defined Artistic Labour -- Elke Krasny; The Visual Representation of Queer Bollywood: Mistaken Identities and Misreadings in Dostana - Rohit K. Dasgupta; Mobbing, Bullying, and the Queer Victim in Slasher Films from the 1980s - Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Canela Ailen Rodriguez Fontao and Mariana Z獺rate; 'Gross Indecency' Depicting Oscar Wilde on Stage -- Argha Banerjee; "Just Say Yes" Queer Theatrical Portrayals of AIDS and the Rejection of Safer Sex - Lara S. Narcisi; Performing Queer Identities and Mainstreaming Gay Culture in Glee -- Fanny Beur矇; 1980--The Year to Fear the Queer: Violent Responses to Patriarchy and Gender-bending in Cruising and Dressed to Kill -- David Klein Martins; "So you Thought we would Go away?" Confronting Shaming in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour -- Anna Fahr疇eus; Coming Together: Pride and Queer Social Realism -- Florian Zitzelsberger
Shadows in a Phantom Eye, Volume 13 (1941-1943)
Since the late 19th century, film has been the ultimate medium by which to express and illuminate the darker, wilder recesses of man's imagination. An alchemical convergence of magic lantern experiments and new photographic technology led to the production of the very first moving images, including visual captures of magic, mystery, violence, cruelty, crime, sex, nudity, devilry and death.SHADOWS IN A PHANTOM EYE is an extensive and unprecedented 15-volume book series that reveals a flickering carnival of attractions and aberrations, from the ground-breaking motion capture experiments conceived by Eadweard Muybridge in 1872 to the shocking documentary footage of atrocity, destruction and horror which emerged from the ruins of war-torn Europe in the late 1940s. This is the ultimate multi-volume guide for those wishing to explore an alternative global history of the moving image in its inaugural decades - a history that reveals a wild, often disturbing and provocative world which includes Hollywood but also stretches far, far beyond.SHADOWS IN A PHANTOM EYE Volume 13 reveals a flickering carnival of attractions and aberrations from the period 1941-1943, when the world was grasped by horrors which far surpassed those conjured up by Hollywood, and when every film format from features to pulp serials and cartoons was utilized to present demonized caricatures of each country's enemies.
Gaspar No矇
Since the release of his breakout film Irr矇versible in 2002, Gaspar No矇 (b. 1963) has been labeled the principal provocateur of twenty-first-century French cinema. While many of the filmmaker's complex and daring works have been reduced by his critics to their (innumerable) depictions of hallucinogens, violence, and unsimulated sexual intercourse--the latter rendered into vertiginous 3D with his film Love--other viewers have remained in steady awe of No矇's dizzying camerawork, immersive visuality, and expressive editing. No矇's cinema greets the short attention spans of digital life with works of extremities and endurance for performers and spectators alike. This first-of-its-kind collection of interviews documents No矇's engagement with the feverish reception of his work and received ideas about his life and politics. Collecting conversations with critics, scholars, and artists, including fellow directors Matthew Barney, Abel Ferrara, and Harmony Korine, No矇 speaks about his process as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor. Also examined are his engagement with developing film technology and his fascination and indebtedness to past filmmakers such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jean Eustache, Stanley Kubrick, and Sam Peckinpah. No矇 discusses life in Buenos Aires and emigrating to France, his use of irony and melodrama, and his interest in documentary practices. Throughout, No矇 explores his continuing examination of faith and secularism, body and mind, and the politics of spectatorship. Editor Geoffrey Lokke's introduction provides a close reading of No矇 in conversation, assessing what has changed over the years in terms of the filmmaker's aesthetics and presentation of self, as well as what No矇 is reticent to articulate about his life and art.