Catastrophe! (original) (raw)
2019
This class offers an overview on the history of post-classical Hollywood blockbuster cinema and introduces participants to relevant approaches for the study of this type of film. Tracking the evolution of the blockbuster format from its origins in the 'New Hollywood' of the 1970s to the digital era, the seminar uses the discussion representative case studies--which will range from 1975's Jaws (Dir. Steven Spielberg) to recent superhero blockbusters like The Wandering Earth (2019, Dir. Frant Gwo)--as a springboard to engage with the mechanics of film narrative, the appeals of attractions like special effects and action scenes, and issues like film marketing, cinematic serialization, transmedia storytelling, and media franchising. Inn doing so, the seminar attempts to come to terms with the defining aspects that set American blockbuster movies apart from other types of film: their status as big-budget, larger-than-life cinematic spectacles that combine state-of-the-art filmmaking technology with highly effective narrative formulae and widely promoted media events.