Cinematic TV : serial drama goes to the movies / Rashna Wadia Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Rashna Wadia, 1977- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television series--United States--History and criticism.

Television series.

Fiction television programs--United States--History and criticism.

Fiction television programs.

Television--Production and direction--United States.

Television.

Cinematography--United States.

Cinematography.

Motion pictures and television--United States.

Motion pictures and television.

Television--Production and direction.

United States.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xi, 231 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]

Summary:

"In the last two decades, media scholars have often suggested that television has become cinematic. Once considered "a mere instrument of transmission," as Rudolf Arnheim put it, or derided as a vast wasteland, TV is now praised for its visual density and complexity. Serial dramas, in particular, are acclaimed for their imitations of cinema's formally innovative and narratively challenging conventions. But what exactly does "cinematic TV" mean? Rashna Wadia Richards takes up this question comprehensively, arguing that TV dramas quote, copy, and appropriate (primarily) American cinema in multiple ways and toward multiple ends. Putting together an innovative framework by combining intertextuality and memory studies, Cinematic TV focuses on four modalities of intermedial borrowings: homage, evocation, genre, and parody. Through close readings of such exemplary shows as Stranger Things, Mad Men, Damages, and Dear White People, the book demonstrates how serial dramas reproduce and rework, undermine and idolize, and, in some cases, compete with and outdo cinema. Ultimately, Cinematic TV argues that serial dramas function archivally in relation to cinema. For cinematic moments, motifs, and contours hover around the televisual frame, constantly breaking through. How serial dramas handle such cinematic hauntings is the story that this book tells"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. "How about We Watch a Scary Movie Together": Paying Tribute

2. "You See Everything": Evoking Cinema

3. "You're Nobody's Mommy": Overlapping Genres

4. "This Isn't Some TV Show, Okay?": Mocking Cinema.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Richards, Rashna Wadia, 1977- Cinematic TV

ISBN:

9780190071257

0190071257

9780190071264

0190071265

OCLC:

1226856503

Publisher Number:

99987507266