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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Films, cinema
D. W. Griffith (1875-1948) is one of the most influential
figures in the history of the motion picture. As director of The
Birth of a Nation, he is also one of the most controversial. He
raised the cinema to a new level of art, entertainment, and
innovation, and at the same time he illustrated, for the first
time, its potential to influence an audience and propagandize a
cause.
Collected together here are virtually all of the "interviews"
given by D. W. Griffith from the first in 1914 to the last in 1948.
Some of the interviews concentrate on specific films, including The
Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, and, most substantially, Hearts of
the World, while others provide the director with an opportunity to
expound on topics of personal interest, including the importance of
proper exhibition of his and other's films, and his search for
truth and beauty on screen.
The interviews are taken from many sources, including leading
newspapers, trade papers, and fan magazines. They are often marked
by humor and by a desire to please the interviewer and thus the
reader. Griffith may not have been particularly enthusiastic about
giving interviews, but he seems always determined to put on a good
show.
Ultimately, D. W. Griffith: Interviews provides the reader with
a unique insight into the mind and filmmaking techniques of a
director whose work and philosophy is as relevant today as it was
when he was at the height of his fame in the 1910s and 1920s.
Despite the widely publicised prejudice faced by women in
Hollywood, since around 1990 a significant minority of female
directors have been making commercially and culturally impactful
films there across the full range of genres. This book explores
movies by filmmakers Amy Heckerling, Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers,
Catherine Hardwicke, Sofia Coppola, Kimberly Peirce, Kathryn
Bigelow and Greta Gerwig, including many which are still critically
neglected or derided, seeing them as offering a new understanding
of genre filmmaking. That is, like many other contemporary films
but in a striking proportion within the smaller set of mainstream
movies by women, this body of work revels in a heightened genre
status that allows its authors to simultaneously address
'intellectual' cinephilic pleasures and bodily-emotive ones.
Arguing through close analysis that these films demonstrate the
inseparability of such strategies of engagement in contemporary
genre cinema, Heightened Genre reclaims women's mainstream
filmmaking for feminism through a recalibration of genre theory
itself.
Anime: A Critical Introduction maps the genres that have thrived
within Japanese animation culture, and shows how a wide range of
commentators have made sense of anime through discussions of its
generic landscape. From the battling robots that define the mecha
genre through to Studio Ghibli's dominant genre-brand of plucky
shojo (young girl) characters, this book charts the rise of anime
as a globally significant category of animation. It further thinks
through the differences between anime's local and global genres:
from the less-considered niches like nichijo-kei (everyday style
anime) through to the global popularity of science fiction anime,
this book tackles the tensions between the markets and audiences
for anime texts. Anime is consequently understood in this book as a
complex cultural phenomenon: not simply a "genre," but as an always
shifting and changing set of texts. Its inherent changeability
makes anime an ideal contender for global dissemination, as it can
be easily re-edited, translated and then newly understood as it
moves through the world's animation markets. As such, Anime: A
Critical Introduction explores anime through a range of debates
that have emerged around its key film texts, through discussions of
animation and violence, through debates about the cyborg and
through the differences between local and global understandings of
anime products. Anime: A Critical Introduction uses these debates
to frame a different kind of understanding of anime, one rooted in
contexts, rather than just texts. In this way, Anime: A Critical
Introduction works to create a space in which we can rethink the
meanings of anime as it travels around the world.
(Applause Books). Now in paperback, the complete story of the
actor's career, including his secret gay life. Raymond Burr
(1917-1993) was an enigma. A film noir regular known for his
villainous roles in movies like Rear Window, he eventually became
one of the most popular stars in television history as the lead
actor on two top-rated dramas, Perry Mason and Ironside, which
between them ran virtually uninterrupted for 20 years. But Raymond
Burr was leading a secret gay life at a time in Hollywood when
exposure would have been career suicide. To protect his secret,
Burr fabricated a tragic past for himself as a grieving husband and
father. He claimed to have been twice widowed he said his first
wife had died in a plane crash, and his second marriage had ended
with his wife's early death from cancer. And there was also a dead
son 10-year-old Michael, who lost his battle with leukemia. Neither
of the wives nor Michael ever existed. But that didn't stop these
lies from being perpetuated again and again, even in Burr's New
York Times obituary. Hiding in Plain Sight examines the totality of
Raymond Burr's career and his personal life, including his 35 years
with partner Robert Benevides. The author interviewed over 30
people who knew or worked with Burr, including Angela Lansbury,
Barbara Hale, Robert Wagner, Gale Storm, and more.
During the 2010s in Turkey, LGBTQ activists, groups, and
individuals persisted against social, political, and legal
adversity. Erasure during the Gezi Park Protests in 2013, a Pride
parade ban in Istanbul in 2016, and indefinite ban on all LGBTQ
events in Ankara in 2017 directly aimed at ending the activities,
visibility, and existence of LGBTQ organization in the two biggest
cities in Turkey. This work examines the ways in which LGBTQ
activists engaged in talkback against these restrictions that
impacted the lives of LGBTQ individuals and how said individuals
endured such adversity. Focusing on the elements of discourse used
by LGBTQ activists, this work argues oppositional discourses need
to address as well as remedy the various elements of normative
discourses-constructions of space, time, and affect-in order to be
deemed a talkback, instead of merely perpetuating the normativities
of oppressive discourses.
Pursuing an acting career is not easy. It takes hard work,
dedication, and the ability to shrug off rejection. It also
requires an ability to navigate the pitfalls of an often precarious
profession. While there are many books that attempt to teach people
how to act, there are few books that show individuals what it takes
to succeed as a working professional. The Professional Actor's
Handbook: From Casting Call to Curtain Call provides individuals
with strategies that will help them successfully negotiate every
stage of their careers. From recent college graduates to seasoned
professionals looking to transition their careers to the next
level, this book is a much needed guide. Among the many topics
covered in this book, the authors demonstrate how to: *Create a
Captivating Resume *Take a "Perfect" Headshot *Compile a Complete
Rep Book *Conquer Audition Nerves *Establish an Online Presence
*Finance a Developing Career Other strategies address how to
network, how to survive while building a performing arts career,
and even how to organize your home office. Featuring sample resumes
and business cards, insights from industry experts-including agents
and casting directors-and a list of resources, this book offers
invaluable guidance-including advice on how to negotiate a
contract. Along with audition manuals and repertoire binders, The
Professional Actor's Handbook is a vital reference that belongs on
every aspiring performer's bookshelf.
Volume 1 of 3. Learn from the feature players of Hollywood what it
was like to work on films during its Golden Era. Enjoy their often
humorous and exciting stories as they lived out their lives and
careers behind and in front of the camera.
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