The object of much debate, attention, and scholarship since it first aired over 20 years ago, ""The Simpsons"" provides excellent, if unexpected, fodder for high school and college lesson plans. There are many benefits to using ""The Simpsons"" in the classroom, the most obvious of which is that it's funny. After all, laughing students are hardly sleeping students! But ""The Simpsons"" also provides a familiar student knowledge base which instructors can use as a jumping-off point to introduce concepts ranging from literature composition to linguistics, the humanities, cultural studies, gender studies, and media appreciation. The authors, both of whom have been teaching ""The Simpsons"" for over a decade, share exercises, prompts, and even syllabi that have proven successful in their own courses.

The 'post-classic' era of American gangster films began in 1967 with the release of Bonnie and Clyde, achieving a milestone five years later with the popular and highly influential The Godfather. This historical study explores the structure, myths and intertextual narratives found in the gangster films produced since The Godfather. The intense relationship between masculinity and ethnicity in the gangster film, especially within the movie-generated mythology of the Mafia, is carefully analyzed, and the book tracks the trends in the genre up to and including the landmark HBO television series The Sopranos (1999-2007). A selected filmography listing such productions as Prizzi's Honor (1985), Goodfellas (1990) and The Departed (2005) is included, as well as a pre-1967 filmography covering the significant crime films produced since D.W. Griffith's seminal The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912).

The representation and experience of embodiment is a central preoccupation of Samuel Beckett's drama, one that he explored through diverse media. McMullan investigates the full range of Beckett's dramatic canon for stage, radio, television and film, including early drama, mimes and unpublished fragments. She examines how Beckett's drama composes and recomposes the body in each medium, and provokes ways of perceiving, conceiving and experiencing embodiment that address wider preoccupations with corporeality, technology and systems of power. McMullan argues that the body in Beckett's drama reveals a radical vulnerability of the flesh, questioning corporeal norms based on perfectible, autonomous or invulnerable bodies, but is also the site of a continual reworking of the self, and of the boundaries between self and other. Beckett's re-imagining of the body presents embodiment as a collaborative performance between past and present, flesh and imagination, self and other, including the spectator / listener.

Not just a comprehensive guide to current professional practices - it goes beyond to explain the theory behind the practice, so you understand how the rules came about and when it's appropriate to break them. Presents the basics and beyond, employing clear explanations of standard practice together with substantial illustrations and diagrams to reveal the real world of film production and covering the most up-to-date information on equipment. Also has an accompanying companion website with hours of video footage offering key instruction in topics such as camera basics, lighting essentials, shooting methods, and much more.

A hungry giant is advancing upon the Royal Kingdom, and his evil henchman Slither Slugslime has forced the citizens to give up all their food to satisfy his appetite. Only Tom Thumb, the King's head gardener, will stand up to him, but as punishment Slugslime casts a spell that shrinks him - to the size of a thumb! Mum Thumb, her son Tim, Princess Primrose and her maid Lucy Lastic enlist the help of the beautiful witch Spellena to restore Tom to his normal size. In the meantime Slugslime has taken a liking to Primrose and Mum must somehow rustle up a cake for the giant with two extremely dimwitted sous-chefs.

The first book in the field to explore the links between theories of globalization and surveillance, bipower and biopolitics, performance and theatre, computer arts and politics, "The Politics of New Media Theatre" is an investigation into the political role played by the new media theatre. Gabriella Giannachi explores how new media arts constitute themselves as a radical political movement, and presents an analysis of both the role of virtuality in radical performance and politics in virtual and mixed reality practices. This outstanding new work offers an analysis of leading political, philosophical and artistic texts and artworks, and represents a milestone for anyone interested in new technologies, theatre and politics.

Providing new insight into the well-known tradition of acting, Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting is the first book to contextualise the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science. Rooted in practice, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management. Working from historical and archive material, as well as practical sources, Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system - one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid,organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paradigm; Michael Chekov's acting technique and the little known ideas of Anatoly Vasiliev form the centrepiece of the other Romantic, organic strain of practice. Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Acting opens up the theatre laboratories of five major practitioners in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and scrutinises their acting methodologies from a scientific perspective.

This is the definitive anthology of interviews, articles and reviews on the Coen brothers, presenting a rounded picture of director/screenwriter Joel and producer/screenwriter Ethan. It includes contributions by prominent film journalists Peter Biskind and Todd McCarthy, and several exclusive translated interviews by Cahiers du Cinema journalists Michel Ciment and Hubert Niogret.
This revised and updated edition contains sixteen extra pages on O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn't There, and the forthcoming Intolerable Cruelty.

'A dense, challenging and important book.' Philip French Observer 'At the very least, this blockbuster is probably the best single volume history of Hollywood we're likely to get for a very long time.' Paul Kerr City Limits 'Persuasively argued, the book is also packed with facts, figures and photographs.' Nigel Andrews Financial Times Acclaimed for their breakthrough approach, Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson analyze the basic conditions of American film-making as a historical institution and consider to what extent Hollywood film production constitutes a systematic enterprise, in both its style and its business operations. Despite differences of director, genre or studio, most Hollywood films operate within a set of shared assumptions about how a film should look and sound. Such assumptions are neither natural nor inevitable; but because classical-style films have been the type most widely seen, they have come to be accepted as the 'norm' of film-making and viewing. The authors show how these classical conventions were formulated and standardized, and how they responded to the arrival of sound, colour, widescreen ratios and stereophonic sound. They argue that each new technological development has served a function within an existing narrational system. The authors also examine how the Hollywood cinema standardized the film-making process itself. They describe how, over the course of its history, Hollywood developed distinct modes of production in a constant search for maximum efficiency, predictability and novelty. Set apart by its combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this book is the standard work on the classical Hollywood cinema style of film-making from the silent era to the 1960s. Now available in paperback, it is a 'must' for film students, lecturers and all those seriously interested in the development of the film industry.

Perhaps best known for his highly acclaimed, short-lived Comedy Central program ""Chappelle's Show"", Dave Chappelle is widely regarded as one of today's most culturally significant comedians. Through the sketch comedy show and his stand-up act, Chappelle has offered truly memorable commentary on racial and ethnic tensions in American society. This book assembles 13 essays that examine motifs common in Chappelle's comedy, including technology and digital culture; race, gender, and ethnicity; economics and politics; music, television, film, and performance; and, memory, language, and identity.

In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated film editor Walter Murch's vivid, multifaceted, thought -- provoking essay on film editing. Starting with what might be the most basic editing question -- Why do cuts work? -- Murch treats the reader to a wonderful ride through the aesthetics and practical concerns of cutting film. Along the way, he offers his unique insights on such subjects as continuity and discontinuity in editing, dreaming, and reality; criteria for a good cut; the blink of the eye as an emotional cue; digital editing; and much more. In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's pages) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication.

Rainbow Jews deals with the intersection of gay and Jewish identity in American and Israeli film and theater, from the 1960s to the present. Its main area of interest is the extent to which Jewish creative voices in the performing arts have constructed multidimensional images of, and a welcoming public space for, the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community as a whole. Through a close reading of the texts of numerous American and Israeli plays and films (some famous, but mostly lesser known), the author evaluates some of the key conventions and tropes that have been employed to construct, critique, and reflect the social reality of the connection between Jewishness and gay identity in the United States and Israel. Secondarily, the author explores ways in which gay-Jewish playwrights and filmmakers have assisted the re-evaluation of sexual norms within Judaism over the past three decades, inspiring and reinforcing measures across the spectrum of belief geared towards integrating Jewish members of the GLBT community into the overall Jewish historical narrative.

Events and Festivals have an increasingly vital role in our leisure lifestyles. We recognise them as part of our lives. For some, of they are a very significant part of our lives.
The network of festivals and events that either adorn the world now, or are planned for the future, can both serve to motivate new visits as well as enhance the lives of the people who live in - or near - the host area. They are also dynamos of cultural development, of sport knowledge and excellence and sophisticated consumption. Such dynamic outputs require dynamic inputs. This book looks at different event and festival cases and forwards separate and current managerial implications and responses to these, with reference to the UK, America and Australia.
Both up-to-date and forward thinking, the managerial themes addressed are: Creative Management, Festival and Event audience development, Culture and Community, Event and Festival evaluation. Festival and event types include sport events, art festivals, community events, live music and culinary extravaganza.
This book was previously published as a special issue of Managing Leisure: An International Journal.

What does the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink have in common with Norman McLaren's Synchromy? Or with audiovisual sculpture? Or contemporary music video? Composing Audiovisually interrogates how the relationship between the audiovisual media in these works, and our interaction with them, might allow us to develop mechanisms for talking about and understanding our experience of audiovisual media across a broad range of modes. Presenting close readings of audiovisual artefacts, conversations with artists, consideration of contemporary pedagogy and a detailed conceptual and theoretical framework that considers the nature of contemporary audiovisual experience, this book attempts to address gaps in our discourse on audiovisual modes, and offer possible starting points for future, genuinely transdisciplinary thinking in the field.

Hollywood film scores underwent a supersonic transformation from the 1950s through the 1970s. This genre-by-genre overview of film and television soundtrack music covers a period of tremendous artistic and commercial development in the medium. Film and television composers bypassed the classical tradition favored by earlier screen composers to experiment with jazz, rock, funk and avant-garde styles. This bold approach brought a rich variety to film and television productions that often took on a life of its own through records and CDs. From Bernard Herrmann to Ennio Morricone, the composers of the "Silver Age" changed the way movie music was made, used, and heard. The book contains more than 100 promotional film stills and soundtrack cover art images.

The Novel as Network: Forms, Ideas, Commodities engages with the contemporary Anglophone novel and its derivatives and by-products such as graphic novels, comics, podcasts, and Quality TV. This collection investigates the meaning of the novel in the larger system of contemporary media production and (post-)print culture, viewing the novel through the lens of actor network theory as a node in the novel network. Chapters underscore the deep interconnection between all the aspects of the novel, between the novel as a (literary) form, as an idea, and as a commodity. Bringing together experts from American, British, and Postcolonial Studies, as well as Book, Publishing, and Media Studies, this collection offers a new vantage point to view the novel in its multifaceted expressions today.

Yoga in the Music Studio brings the popular and beneficial practice of yoga to music teachers and students of all instruments and ages, from preschoolers to senior adults and all those in-between. Expert on mind-body techniques Lesley S. McAllister provides a unique opportunity for all to improve their musical craft, enabling teachers to help their students concentrate, listen more attentively, relax, and play their best - whether before a performance or just during lessons - all through the practice of yoga. Many music teachers know that yoga postures and breathing practices can help musicians achieve peak performance, prevent injury, and relieve pain, yet surprisingly few are themselves familiar with these techniques or know how to introduce them to their students. McAllister welcomes the music teacher into the philosophy and history of yoga, introducing them to the research behind yoga's physical and emotional benefits. Step-by-step illustrations of practical stretches and useful poses then guide the teacher to the yoga practices that suit their individual needs and those of their students. An accessible and comprehensive yoga curriculum, Yoga in the Music Studio will help to improve students' musicianship, while contributing to their lifelong health and wellness.

This book gathers eleven scholarly contributions dedicated to the work of Mexican director Arturo Ripstein. The collection, the first of its kind, constitutes a sustained critical engagement with the twenty-nine films made by this highly acclaimed yet under-studied filmmaker. The eleven essays included come from scholars whose work stands at the intersection of the fields of Latin American and Mexican Film Studies, Gender and Queer Studies, Cultural Studies, History and Literary studies. Ripstein's films, often scripted by his long-time collaborator, Paz Alicia Garciadiego, represent an unprecedented achievement in Mexican and Latin American film. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ripstein has successfully maintained a prolific output unmatched by any director in the region. Though several book-length studies have been published in Spanish, French, German, and Greek, to date no analogue exists in English. This volume provides a much-needed contribution to the field.

The Director's Craft is a unique and completely indispensable step-by-step guide to directing for the stage. Written by one of the most adventurous and respected directors working today, this book will be an essential item in every student and practitioner's kitbag. It provides detailed assistance with each aspect of the varied challenges facing all theatre directors, and does so with startling clarity. It will inspire everyone, from the beginner just starting out to the experienced practitioner looking to reinvigorate their practice. Katie Mitchell shares and explains the key practical tools she uses to approach her work with both actors, production teams, and the text itself. She addresses topics such as: the ideas that underpin a play's text preparing improvizations Twelve Golden Rules for working with actors managing the transition from rehearsal room to theatre analyzing your work after a run has ended. Each chapter concludes with a summary of its critical points, making this an ideal reference work for both directors and actors at any stage of their development.

An introduction to the theatrical art of comic storytelling that originated in the Edo period, Rakugo sheds light on Japanese culture as a whole: its aesthetics, social relations, and learning styles. Enriched with personal anecdotes, Rakugo explicates the art's contemporary performance culture: the image, training and techniques of the storytellers, the venues where they perform, and the role of the audience in sustaining the art. Laurie Brau inquires into how this comic art form participates in the discourse of heritage, serving as a symbol of the Edo culture, while continuing to appeal to Japanese today. Written in an accessible manner, this book is appropriate for all levels of student or researcher.

- Presenting a cutting-edge framework which will be of interest to both aspiring and practicing professionals in sound design for all manner of media - Author has impressive professional credentials, with more than 700 IMDb credits. - An excellent addition to our growing 'Sound Design' series

In this book, Erika Fischer-Lichte traces the emergence of performance as 'an art event' in its own right. In setting performance art on an equal footing with the traditional art object, she heralds a new aesthetics.

The peculiar mode of experience that a performance provokes blurring distinctions between artist and audience, body and mind, art and life is here framed as the breeding ground for a new way of understanding performing arts, and through them even wider social and cultural processes.

With an introduction by Marvin Carlson, this translation of the original sthetik des Performativen addresses key issues in performance art, experimental theatre and cultural performances to lay the ground for a new appreciation of the artistic event.

Fully revised and updated, this second edition of Media Production provides a comprehensive introductory guide to radio, television and fi lm production techniques. Using a step-by-step structure that takes students through the production process from conception to delivery, this book explores initial brainstorming through to planning, research, recording and editing. Operational procedures are set out in detail, taking into account the context in which students work and the type of equipment available to them. Clear instructional photographs are provided to illustrate key teaching points. Written by an experienced BBC producer and director, this textbook is ideal for FE Media students as well as those just starting out in the industry. Updated online resources include templates, notes and exercises to help students prepare for their own productions, as well as a glossary of key terms and helpful weblinks.