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Matinee Melodrama : Playing with Formula in the Sound Serial / Scott Higgins.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2016]Copyright date: ©2016Description: 1 online resource (224 p.) : 34 photographsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780813563282
  • 9780813563305
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 791.43/616
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Serials, Melodrama, and Play: Why Study Serials? -- 2. Storytelling on a Schedule: Narrative Form in the Sound Serial -- 3. The Serial World -- 4. Cliffhanging -- 5. Narrative and the Art of Formula -- 6. Film Style and the Art of Formula -- 7. Cliffhanger Legacies -- 8. Conclusion -- Appendix: Some Sources for Sound Serials -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Filmography, 1930–1956 -- Index
Summary: Long before Batman, Flash Gordon, or the Lone Ranger were the stars of their own TV shows, they had dedicated audiences watching their adventures each week. The difference was that this action took place on the big screen, in short adventure serials whose exciting cliffhangers compelled the young audience to return to the theater every seven days. Matinee Melodrama is the first book about the adventure serial as a distinct artform, one that uniquely encouraged audience participation and imaginative play. Media scholar Scott Higgins proposes that the serial’s incoherent plotting and reliance on formula, far from being faults, should be understood as some of its most appealing attributes, helping to spawn an active fan culture. Further, he suggests these serials laid the groundwork not only for modern-day cinematic blockbusters like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but also for all kinds of interactive media that combine spectacle, storytelling, and play. As it identifies key elements of the serial form—from stock characters to cliffhangers—Matinee Melodrama delves deeply into questions about the nature of suspense, the aesthetics of action, and the potentials of formulaic narrative. Yet it also provides readers with a loving look at everything from Zorro’s Fighting Legion to Daredevils of the Red Circle, conveying exactly why these films continue to thrill and enthrall their fans.
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)9780813563305

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Serials, Melodrama, and Play: Why Study Serials? -- 2. Storytelling on a Schedule: Narrative Form in the Sound Serial -- 3. The Serial World -- 4. Cliffhanging -- 5. Narrative and the Art of Formula -- 6. Film Style and the Art of Formula -- 7. Cliffhanger Legacies -- 8. Conclusion -- Appendix: Some Sources for Sound Serials -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Filmography, 1930–1956 -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

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

Long before Batman, Flash Gordon, or the Lone Ranger were the stars of their own TV shows, they had dedicated audiences watching their adventures each week. The difference was that this action took place on the big screen, in short adventure serials whose exciting cliffhangers compelled the young audience to return to the theater every seven days. Matinee Melodrama is the first book about the adventure serial as a distinct artform, one that uniquely encouraged audience participation and imaginative play. Media scholar Scott Higgins proposes that the serial’s incoherent plotting and reliance on formula, far from being faults, should be understood as some of its most appealing attributes, helping to spawn an active fan culture. Further, he suggests these serials laid the groundwork not only for modern-day cinematic blockbusters like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but also for all kinds of interactive media that combine spectacle, storytelling, and play. As it identifies key elements of the serial form—from stock characters to cliffhangers—Matinee Melodrama delves deeply into questions about the nature of suspense, the aesthetics of action, and the potentials of formulaic narrative. Yet it also provides readers with a loving look at everything from Zorro’s Fighting Legion to Daredevils of the Red Circle, conveying exactly why these films continue to thrill and enthrall their fans.

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 03. Jan 2023)