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Storytelling in the New Hollywood : Understanding Classical Narrative Technique / Kristin Thompson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [1999]Copyright date: ©1999Description: 1 online resource (416 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780674267787
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 808.2/3
LOC classification:
  • PN1996
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Modern Classicism -- 2 Tootsie -- 3 Back to the Future -- 4 The Silence of the Lambs -- 5 Groundhog Day -- 6 Desperately Seeking Susan -- 7 Amadeus -- 8 The Hunt for Red October -- 9 Parenthood -- 10 Alien -- 11 Hannah and Her Sisters -- 12 Hopes and Fears for Hollywood -- Appendix A Large-Scale Portions of Classical Films -- Appendix B Bombs, or What Makes Bad Films Bad? -- Notes -- Index
Summary: In a book as entertaining as it is enlightening, Kristin Thompson offers the first in-depth analysis of Hollywood's storytelling techniques and how they are used to make complex, easily comprehensible, entertaining films. She also takes on the myth that modern Hollywood films are based on a narrative system radically different from the one in use during the Golden Age of the studio system. Drawing on a wide range of films from the 1920s to the 1990s--from Keaton's Our Hospitality to Casablanca to Terminator 2--Thompson explains such staples of narrative as the goal-oriented protagonist, the double plot-line, and dialogue hooks. She domonstrates that the "three-act structure," a concept widely used by practitioners and media commentators, fails to explain how Hollywood stories are put together. Thompson then demonstrates in detail how classical narrative techniques work in ten box-office and critical successes made since the New Hollywood began in the 1970s: Tootsie, Back to the Future, The Silence of the Lambs, Groundhog Day, Desperately Seeking Susan, Amadeus, The Hunt for Red October, Parenthood, Alien, and Hannah and Her Sisters. In passing, she suggests reasons for the apparent slump in quality in Hollywood films of the 1990s. The results will be of interest to movie fans, scholars, and film practitioners alike.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780674267787

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Modern Classicism -- 2 Tootsie -- 3 Back to the Future -- 4 The Silence of the Lambs -- 5 Groundhog Day -- 6 Desperately Seeking Susan -- 7 Amadeus -- 8 The Hunt for Red October -- 9 Parenthood -- 10 Alien -- 11 Hannah and Her Sisters -- 12 Hopes and Fears for Hollywood -- Appendix A Large-Scale Portions of Classical Films -- Appendix B Bombs, or What Makes Bad Films Bad? -- Notes -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In a book as entertaining as it is enlightening, Kristin Thompson offers the first in-depth analysis of Hollywood's storytelling techniques and how they are used to make complex, easily comprehensible, entertaining films. She also takes on the myth that modern Hollywood films are based on a narrative system radically different from the one in use during the Golden Age of the studio system. Drawing on a wide range of films from the 1920s to the 1990s--from Keaton's Our Hospitality to Casablanca to Terminator 2--Thompson explains such staples of narrative as the goal-oriented protagonist, the double plot-line, and dialogue hooks. She domonstrates that the "three-act structure," a concept widely used by practitioners and media commentators, fails to explain how Hollywood stories are put together. Thompson then demonstrates in detail how classical narrative techniques work in ten box-office and critical successes made since the New Hollywood began in the 1970s: Tootsie, Back to the Future, The Silence of the Lambs, Groundhog Day, Desperately Seeking Susan, Amadeus, The Hunt for Red October, Parenthood, Alien, and Hannah and Her Sisters. In passing, she suggests reasons for the apparent slump in quality in Hollywood films of the 1990s. The results will be of interest to movie fans, scholars, and film practitioners alike.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Mrz 2024)