The Horror Genre

Author: Paul Wells
Publisher: Wallflower Press
ISBN: 9781903364000
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
A comprehensive introduction to the history and key themes of the genre. The main issues and debates raised by horror, and the approaches and theories that have been applied to horror texts are all featured. In addressing the evolution of the horror film in social and historical context, Paul Wells explores how it has reflected and commented upon particular historical periods, and asks how it may respond to the new millennium by citing recent innovations in the genre's development, such as the "urban myth" narrative underpinning Candyman and The Blair Witch Project. Over 300 films are treated, all of which are featured in the filmography.

The Horror Film

Author: Stephen Prince
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813533636
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Book Description
Focusing on recent postmodern examples, this is a collection of essays reviewing the history of the horror film and the psychological reasons for its persistent appeal.

Early Modern Tragedy and the Cinema of Violence

Author: S. Simkin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230597114
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
This study considers parallel issues in revenge tragedies of the early seventeenth-century and violent cinema of the last thirty years. It offers a series of provocative explorations of death, revenge and justice, and gender and violence. What happens when we connect The White Devil with Basic Instinct ? The Changeling or Titus Andronicus with Straw Dogs ? Doctor Faustus with Se7en ? Taxi Driver with The Spanish Tragedy ? Appealing to those with an interest in either drama or film, written in an engaging style, the book also reconsiders the high /popular culture divide, and reflects on the enduring significance of the revenge motif in Western culture over the past four hundred years, particularly in the post 9/11 context.

Screenwriters and Screenwriting

Author: C. Batty
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137338938
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 439

Book Description
Screenwriters and Screenwriting is an innovative, fresh and lively book that is useful for both screenwriting practice and academic study. It is international in scope, with case studies and analyses from the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland and Denmark. The book presents a distinctive collection of chapters from creative academics and critical practitioners that serve one purpose: to put aspects of screenwriting practice into their relevant contexts. Focusing on how screenplays are written, developed and received, the contributors challenge assumptions of what 'screenwriting studies' might be, and celebrates the role of the screenwriter in the creation of a screenplay. It is intended to be thought provoking and stimulating, with the ultimate aim of inspiring current and future screenwriting practitioners and scholars.

T&T Clark Companion to the Bible and Film

Author: Richard Walsh
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567666220
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 517

Book Description
The first decades of the twenty-first century saw a resurgence of the biblical epic film, such as Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings, which was in turn accompanied by a growth of biblical film criticism. This companion surveys that field of study by framing it in light of significant and recent biblical films as well as the voices of key biblical film critics. Non-Hollywood and seemingly “non-biblical” films also come under investigation. The contributors concentrate on three points: “context”, focusing on the 'Bible in' specific film genres and cultural situations; “theory”, applying theory from both religion and film studies, with an eye to their possible intersections; and “recent and significant texts”, reflecting on which texts and themes have been most important in 'biblical film' and which are currently at the fore. Exploring cinema across the globe, and accompanied by extended introductory essays for each of the three sections, this companion is an important resource for scholars in both film and biblical reception.

Religion and Film

Author: Melanie Wright
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 085771628X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Book Description
From silent films to contemporary blockbusters, religion has always proved a popular theme for the cinema. However, all too often religion and film are discussed from narrowly confessional perspectives, with the result that the field has long been dominated by the question of a film's fidelity to a religious text or worldview, or its value as a tool in ministry and mission. "Religion and Film: An Introduction" seeks to redress this balance, and argues for a new, holistic approach to the subject that draws on work from cultural studies, religious studies and film studies alike. Wright argues that the 'meanings' of a film are not encoded by its textual organisation, but are bound up with its interpretation by viewers in specific contexts. Focusing on religiously diverse films like "The Ten Commandments", "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc", "Kadosh", "Lagaan", "My Son the Fanatic", "Keeping the Faith", "The Wicker Man" and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ", the author looks at varied screen representations of religion; at films shaped by strong convictions about the place of religion in society; and at the roles that audiences play as consumers of film. The book will have strong appeal to students as well as general readers interested in all aspects of the inter-relationship of religion and the cinema.

Cultural Crossroads in the Ancient Novel

Author: Marília P. Futre Pinheiro
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1501503987
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 407

Book Description
The protagonists of the ancient novels wandered or were carried off to distant lands, from Italy in the west to Persia in the east and Ethiopia in the south; the authors themselves came, or pretended to come, from remote places such as Aphrodisia and Phoenicia; and the novelistic form had antecedents in a host of classical genres. These intersections are explored in this volume. Papers in the first section discuss “mapping the world in the novels.” The second part looks at the dialogical imagination, and the conversation between fiction and history in the novels. Section 3 looks at the way ancient fiction has been transmitted and received. Space, as the locus of cultural interaction and exchange, is the topic of the fourth part. The fifth and final section is devoted to character and emotion, and how these are perceived or constructed in ancient fiction. Overall, a rich picture is offered of the many spatial and cultural dimensions in a variety of ancient fictional genres.

The Cinema of John Carpenter

Author: Ian Conrich
Publisher: Wallflower Press
ISBN: 9781904764144
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
The aim of this book is to give John Carpenter's output the sustained critical treament it deserves. It comprises essays that address the whole of Carpenter's work as well as others which focus on a small number of key films.

The Shining

Author: Laura Mee
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1911325450
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
Taking a fresh look at The Shining (1980), this book situates the film within the history of the horror genre. It explores Stanley Kubrick's filmmaking style, use of dark humor, and ambiguous approach to supernatural storytelling and analyzes the choices made in adapting King's book.

Citizen Spielberg

Author: Lester D. Friedman
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252053079
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 637

Book Description
Steven Spielberg's extraordinary career redefined Hollywood, but his achievement goes far beyond shattered box office records. Rejecting the view of Spielberg as a Barnumesque purveyor of spectacle, Lester D. Friedman presents the filmmaker as a major artist who pairs an ongoing willingness to challenge himself with a widely recognized technical mastery. This new edition of Citizen Spielberg expands Friedman’s original analysis to include films of the 2010s like Lincoln and Ready Player One. Breaking down the works by genre, Friedman looks at essential aspects of Spielberg’s art, from his storytelling concerns and worldview to the uncanny connection with audiences that has powered his longtime influence as a cultural force. Friedman's examination reveals a sustained artistic vision--a vision that shows no sign of exhausting itself or audiences after Spielberg's nearly fifty years as a high-profile filmmaker. Incisive and discerning, Citizen Spielberg offers a career-spanning appraisal of a moviemaking icon.