{"product_id":"epics-spectacles-and-blockbusters-a-hollywood-history-paperback","title":"Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSheldon Hall\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eSteve Neale\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pantheon of big-budget, commercially successful films encompasses a range of genres, including biblical films, war films, romances, comic-book adaptations, animated features, and historical epics. In Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History authors Sheldon Hall and Steve Neale discuss the characteristics, history, and modes of distribution and exhibition that unite big-budget pictures, from their beginnings in the late nineteenth century to the present. Moving chronologically, the authors examine the roots of today's blockbuster in the \"feature,\" \"special,\" \"superspecial,\" \"roadshow,\" \"epic,\" and \"spectacle\" of earlier eras, with special attention to the characteristics of each type of picture. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In the first section, Hall and Neale consider the beginnings of features, specials, and superspecials in American cinema, as the terms came to define not the length of a film but its marketable stars or larger budget. The second section investigates roadshowing as a means of distributing specials and the changes to the roadshow that resulted from the introduction of synchronized sound in the 1920s. In the third section, the authors examine the phenomenon of epics and spectacles that arose from films like Gone with the Wind, Samson and Deliliah, and Spartacus and continues to evolve today in films like Spider-Man and Pearl Harbor. In this section, Hall and Neale consider advances in visual and sound technology and the effects and costs they introduced to the industry.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Scholars of film and television studies as well as readers interested in the history of American moviemaking will enjoy Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSheldon Hall is a senior lecturer in stage and screen studies at Sheffield Hallam University and author of Zulu: With Some Guts Behind It - The Making of the Epic Film and co-editor (with John Belton and Steve Neale) of Widescreen Worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSteve Neale is professor of English at the University of Exeter and author and editor of several books, most recently, Genre and Contemporary Hollywood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 372\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 10.5 x 7.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 15, 2010\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52710330401075,"sku":"9780814330081","price":73.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/aW1DZFdMK2RKaXZGckUzK2VzTDd1dz09.webp?v=1763488903","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/epics-spectacles-and-blockbusters-a-hollywood-history-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}