“Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
Publication Date
July 21, 2017
Creator
Abstract
This discussion examines the growing relationship between cinematic texts and the theme-park industry. Primarily focused on the post-classical period in Hollywood and its relationship to theme-park environments, this thesis analyses the evolution of the movie-based attraction from a passive retelling into an immersive and inclusive experience. The post-classical cinematic style, usually identified with the contemporary blockbuster movie, has its origins in the sensory experience of early cinema. I draw similarities between the two eras, emphasising the distinctiveness of a modern “cinema of attractions” that develops as films and theme-park rides become more closely intertwined. I elaborate the concepts of “immersion” and “inclusion” to describe and explain this process, identifying these as the distinguishing features of the evolving relationship between movies and theme-park attractions. Film-based attractions such as Back to the Future (1985), Star Wars (1977-2015) and Avatar (2009) exemplify how immersive and inclusive techniques are developed out of post-classical film aesthetics in order to enhance the affective experience of customers. Similarly, attraction-to-film adaptations, such as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (2003-present), combine immersion and inclusion with strategies of narrativization, incorporating film and attraction into a unified and self-referring storytelling world.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
MRes
Supervisors
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
Department of American and Canadian Studies
eprints ID
41918
UoN Repository URI
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Name
Full Draft (edited- corrections 3).pdf
Type
Full-text
Description
Examined
Size
8.82 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e159316727f850d4f6c59e8a64f9fb3c