Full Description
It has been a recurring complaint both within and against film studies that it has largely ignored the activities of audiences. This book aims to address this absence (as compared to television studies) and to explain its cause. The authors argue that there is a social context in which the consumption of film can be understood or studied historically; demonstrating that a concentration on the place of film consumption within the changing cultural politics of the city can offer a compelling and productive focus of analysis. This book examines not only the different meanings of different sites of film exhibition and distribution (city-centre cinemas, local cinemas, art-house cinemas, multiplexes, terrestrial television transmission, video rental and retail, and satellite/cable), but also the meanings of the activities of film consumption associated with these sites. Through use of archival materials and ethnographic studies of the audience, the book examines the meanings of film consumption from the earliest film showings up to the 21st century.
Contents
Part One: Introduction Chapter One: From Spectatorship to Film Consumption Chapter Two: Contexts of Film Consumption Section Two: The Construction the Cinema: Fairgrounds, Theatres and Spatial Regulation Introduction: Class, Gender and Public Space in Early Film Consumption Chapter Three: Novelties, Fairgrounds and the Exoticisation of Place Chapter Four: Constructing the Cinematograhic Theatre: Purpose Built Cinemas, Community Relations and the Politics of Place Section Three: A Progressive City and its Cinemas: Technology, Modernity and the Spectacle of Abundance Introduction: Slum Clearance, Cinema Building and Differentiated Experiences Chapter Five: Translating the Talkies: Diffusion, Reception and Live Performance Chapter Six: The City Centre, the Suburbs and the Cinema Building Boom Chapter Seven: Consuming Cinemas: Technology, Modernity and the Spectacle of Abundance Part Four: Cinema Closures, Post-war Affluence and the Changing Meanings of Cinema and Television Introduction Chapter Eight: Contemporary Understandings of Cinema Closure Chapter Nine: Locality, Affluence and Urban Decay Chapter Ten: From Cinema Going to Television Viewing: The Developing Meanings of a New Medium Chapter Eleven: Negotiating Nostalgia: Modernity, Memory and the Meanings of Place Part Five: Beyond Cinema: Film Consumption in the Information Age Introduction Chapter Twelve: Regulating Reception: Legislation, Time-Shifting and the Sociality of Video Chapter Thirteen: 'The Splendid American Venture on the Ring Road': Multiplexes, Americanisation and Mass Consumption Chapter Fourteen: Cultural Capitals: Culture, Diversity and Legitimacy Chapter Fifteen: Media Revolutions: Futurology, Film Content and the New Media Conclusion
