Book review

Doing a book review of this this week coming up for Bloomsbury. Chapters look good so looking for it.

international Conference Cinema: Technology, Art, Communication 2013

Paper done. Marvelisation: The Rise of Complex Narratology on the Hollywood Screen.
Fees paid and sorted so Avanca, Aveiro, Portgual in July here I come.

Really looking forward to going now. Site

This image below give some sense of what i’ll be talking about

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Present should afford lots of really good visual material.

Local Library

I know I’ve said it a million times but local libraries are such fantastic resources. I’m currently reading Hunting Evil by Guy Walters (at the chapter where he’s  just about to launch in Simon Wiesenthal), I was struck by The Taste of War by Liz Collingham. Subtitled WW2 and the battle for food it examines the food in conflict. On a visit to take back a book I read about Billy Hill a 50′s gangster I picked up Peter Doggett’s There’s a Riot Going On. Revolutionaries, rock stars and the rise and fall of the 60′s counter-culture and Dorian Lynskey’s 33 Revolutions per Minute, a in depth examination of 33 protest songs. James Brown, Billy Bragg, Bobby D, The Clash, Billie Holliday, Public Enemy all have the context behind specific songs looked at. Finally I ordered Humbug: the PT Barnum biog for 40p from another site.

6Books

All from the library. Wicked. 40p. 6Books. Weeks of enjoyment for 40p.

Techniques of The Photoplay

in preparation for my Avanca Cinema presentation (hopefully) in July I’m reading Techniques of The Photoplay written by Frederick Palmer. This book was published in 1924.
In the Dramatic Construction chapter the following elements are listed:

Drama-Characterisation-Motive-Action-Conflict-Suspense-Contrast-Incident-Situation-Crisis-Sequence-Climax-Ending-Significance-Theme-Unity-Illusion of Reality-Probability- Coincidence and Preparation-Human Interest-Love Interest-Comedy in Drama-Heroic Values-Picture Values-Novelty

I’ve read a few scriptwriting books in my time, though tend not to make notes and therefore don’t really remember the points which of course is deliberate and I like and I was struck by how little has changed in 90 odd years. It made me think that McKee, Truby, Seger et al are all somewhat redundant.
I’m awaiting Epes Winthrop Sargent book on the same subject written in 1912.
Reading these books written in the silent movie era is really cool. The Palmer book makes a reference to its student readers remembering The Great Train Robbery of 1897!

I think this book is available free via the Gutenberg Project so check it out online if intrigued.

Triumph Of The City

reading Triumph Of The City by edward glaeser at the moment.

Only just got into it but it is very well written, a nice easy read that deals with some provocative and interesting ideas about city living, worldwide. I got it from my local library so check out yours and take a gander.

international Conference Cinema: Technology, Art, Communication 2013

Yesterday my ‘Marvelisation” Paper got accepted into the International Conference Cinema: Technology, Arts, Communication 2013 in Avanca, Portugal. Hoping now get money together to go and present paper for its inclusion in the book that is published following the conference.
Done variery of reading and writing the paper up now. Need to do more on Disney and Star Wars and timeliness of paper’s topic makes this easy enough.
I think we’re heading for a new, dominant period of Disneyfication in Hollywood cinema over the next decade, two decades and paper adopts this position as its thesis.

untouchable

Just finished Untouchable a big fat biog of Michael Jackson. Almost the whole Jackson family come out of it very badly. Parents and Jackson’s siblings painted as money-grabbing, selfish leechs.
Fear for the kids living in that atmosphere and for when they come into all that money.
Now reading The Google Guys by Richard L Brandt.