Alternative Realities
Seiten
2020
Rutgers University Press (Verlag)
978-0-8135-9982-3 (ISBN)
Rutgers University Press (Verlag)
978-0-8135-9982-3 (ISBN)
Explores the intersection between movies, reality, and fantasy; between subjective and objective representation. The book shows that surreal fantasies ground their images, sounds, and narratives in quotidian reality. On the other hand, even the most realistic documentaries rely on creative structures that are products of the human imagination.
From their very inception, movies have served two seemingly contradictory purposes. On one hand, they transport us to fantastical worlds and display mind-boggling special effects. On the other, they can document actual events and immerse us in scenarios that feel so realistic, we might forget we are watching a work of fiction.
Alternative Realities explores how these distinctions between cinematic fantasy and filmic realism are more porous than we might think. Through a close analysis of CGI-heavy blockbusters like Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy, it considers how even popular fantasies are grounded in emotional and social realities. Conversely, it examines how mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap satirically call attention to the highly stylized techniques documentarians use to depict reality.
Alternative Realities takes us on a journey through many different genres of film, from the dream-like and subjective realities depicted in movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Memento, to the astonishing twists of movies like Shutter Island and The Matrix, which leave viewers in a state of epistemic uncertainty. Ultimately, it shows us how the power of cinema comes from the unique way it fuses together the objective and the subjective, the fantastical and the everyday.
From their very inception, movies have served two seemingly contradictory purposes. On one hand, they transport us to fantastical worlds and display mind-boggling special effects. On the other, they can document actual events and immerse us in scenarios that feel so realistic, we might forget we are watching a work of fiction.
Alternative Realities explores how these distinctions between cinematic fantasy and filmic realism are more porous than we might think. Through a close analysis of CGI-heavy blockbusters like Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy, it considers how even popular fantasies are grounded in emotional and social realities. Conversely, it examines how mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap satirically call attention to the highly stylized techniques documentarians use to depict reality.
Alternative Realities takes us on a journey through many different genres of film, from the dream-like and subjective realities depicted in movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Memento, to the astonishing twists of movies like Shutter Island and The Matrix, which leave viewers in a state of epistemic uncertainty. Ultimately, it shows us how the power of cinema comes from the unique way it fuses together the objective and the subjective, the fantastical and the everyday.
CARL PLANTINGA is the Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair of Communication at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Among his many books are Rhetoric and Representation in Non-Fiction Film, Moving Viewers: American Film and the Spectator’s Experience, and Screen Stories: Emotion and the Ethics of Engagement.
Introduction
1 Realism and the Imagination
2 Fantasy and Reality
3 Subjective Realities
4 Ruptured Realities
5 Documentary: Art of the Real?
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
Works Cited
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 15.01.2021 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | New Brunswick NJ |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 114 x 178 mm |
| Gewicht | 2 g |
| Themenwelt | Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-8135-9982-2 / 0813599822 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-8135-9982-3 / 9780813599823 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
wie KI und virtuelle Welten von uns Besitz ergreifen – und die …
Buch | Hardcover (2023)
Heyne (Verlag)
CHF 29,90
Eine Einführung
Buch | Softcover (2022)
Springer VS (Verlag)
CHF 46,15
