Screen Traffic

Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Screen Traffic by Charles R. Acland, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Charles R. Acland ISBN: 9780822384861
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: November 13, 2003
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Charles R. Acland
ISBN: 9780822384861
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: November 13, 2003
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In Screen Traffic, Charles R. Acland examines how, since the mid-1980s, the U.S. commercial movie business has altered conceptions of moviegoing both within the industry and among audiences. He shows how studios, in their increasing reliance on revenues from international audiences and from the ancillary markets of television, videotape, DVD, and pay-per-view, have cultivated an understanding of their commodities as mutating global products. Consequently, the cultural practice of moviegoing has changed significantly, as has the place of the cinema in relation to other sites of leisure.

Integrating film and cultural theory with close analysis of promotional materials, entertainment news, trade publications, and economic reports, Acland presents an array of evidence for the new understanding of movies and moviegoing that has developed within popular culture and the entertainment industry. In particular, he dissects a key development: the rise of the megaplex, characterized by large auditoriums, plentiful screens, and consumer activities other than film viewing. He traces its genesis from the re-entry of studios into the movie exhibition business in 1986 through 1998, when reports of the economic destabilization of exhibition began to surface, just as the rise of so-called e-cinema signaled another wave of change. Documenting the current tendency toward an accelerated cinema culture, one that appears to arrive simultaneously for everyone, everywhere, Screen Traffic unearths and critiques the corporate and cultural forces contributing to the “felt internationalism” of our global era.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In Screen Traffic, Charles R. Acland examines how, since the mid-1980s, the U.S. commercial movie business has altered conceptions of moviegoing both within the industry and among audiences. He shows how studios, in their increasing reliance on revenues from international audiences and from the ancillary markets of television, videotape, DVD, and pay-per-view, have cultivated an understanding of their commodities as mutating global products. Consequently, the cultural practice of moviegoing has changed significantly, as has the place of the cinema in relation to other sites of leisure.

Integrating film and cultural theory with close analysis of promotional materials, entertainment news, trade publications, and economic reports, Acland presents an array of evidence for the new understanding of movies and moviegoing that has developed within popular culture and the entertainment industry. In particular, he dissects a key development: the rise of the megaplex, characterized by large auditoriums, plentiful screens, and consumer activities other than film viewing. He traces its genesis from the re-entry of studios into the movie exhibition business in 1986 through 1998, when reports of the economic destabilization of exhibition began to surface, just as the rise of so-called e-cinema signaled another wave of change. Documenting the current tendency toward an accelerated cinema culture, one that appears to arrive simultaneously for everyone, everywhere, Screen Traffic unearths and critiques the corporate and cultural forces contributing to the “felt internationalism” of our global era.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Erotic Islands by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Untimely Bollywood by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Writing Without Words by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book A Foreign Policy in Transition by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Managing Legal Uncertainty by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Trans-Americanity by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Jameson on Jameson by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book The Apartment Plot by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Bound For the Promised Land by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book The Cunning of Recognition by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Seizing the Means of Reproduction by Charles R. Acland
Cover of the book Containment Culture by Charles R. Acland
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy