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Circus Life
The nineteenth century saw the American circus move from a reviled
and rejected form of entertainment to the \"Greatest Show on Earth.\"
Circus Life by Micah D. Childress looks at this transition
from the perspective of the people who owned and worked in circuses
and how they responded to the new incentives that rapid
industrialization made possible. The circus has long been a subject
of fascination for many, as evidenced by the millions of Americans
that have attended circus performances over many decades since
1870, when the circus established itself as a truly unique
entertainment enterprise. Yet the few analyses of the circus that
do exist have only examined the circus as its own closed
microcosm-the \"circus family.\" Circus Life, on the other
hand, places circus employees in the larger context of the history
of US workers and corporate America. Focusing on the circus as a
business-entertainment venture, Childress pushes the scholarship on
circuses to new depths, examining the performers, managers, and
laborers' lives and how the circus evolved as it grew in popularity
over time. Beginning with circuses in the antebellum era, Childress
examines changes in circuses as gender balances shifted,
industrialization influenced the nature of shows, and customers and
crowds became increasingly more middle-class. As a study in sport
and social history, Childress's account demonstrates how the
itinerant nature of the circus drew specific types of workers and
performers, and how the circus was internally in constant upheaval
due to the changing profile of its patrons and a changing economy.
MICAH D. CHILDRESS received his PhD in history
from Purdue University and currently works as a Realtor® in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. His articles have appeared in Popular
Entertainment Studies and American Studies.
eBook
Blue-Collar Broadway
Behind the scenes of New York City's Great White Way, virtuosos of stagecraft have built the scenery, costumes, lights, and other components of theatrical productions for more than a hundred years. But like a good magician who refuses to reveal secrets, they have left few clues about their work.Blue-Collar Broadwayrecovers the history of those people and the neighborhood in which their undersung labor occurred.
Timothy R. White begins his history of the theater industry with the dispersed pre-Broadway era, when components such as costumes, lights, and scenery were built and stored nationwide. Subsequently, the majority of backstage operations and storage were consolidated in New York City during what is now known as the golden age of musical theater. Toward the latter half of the twentieth century, decentralization and deindustrialization brought the emergence of nationally distributed regional theaters and performing arts centers. The resulting collapse of New York's theater craft economy rocked the theater district, leaving abandoned buildings and criminal activity in place of studios and workshops. But new technologies ushered in a new age of tourism and business for the area. The Broadway we know today is a global destination and a glittering showroom for vetted products.
Featuring case studies of iconic productions such asOklahoma!(1943) andEvita(1979), and an exploration of the craftwork of radio, television, and film production around Times Square,Blue-Collar Broadwaytells a rich story of the history of craft and industry in American theater nationwide. In addition, White examines the role of theater in urban deindustrialization and in the revival of downtowns throughout the Sunbelt.
eBook
The Art and Craft of TV Directing
The Art and Craft of TV Directing offers a broad and in-depth view of the craft of TV Directing in the form of detailed interviews with dozens of the industry’s most accomplished episodic television directors.
Author Jim Hemphill provides students with essential information on the complexities of working in episodic TV, highlighting the artistic, technical, and interpersonal skills required, and exploring a variety of entry points and approaches to provide a comprehensive overview of how to begin and sustain a career as a television director. The book discusses how to merge one’s personal style with the established visual language of any given show, while also adhering to tight budgets and schedules and navigating the complicated politics of working with showrunners, networks, and producers. The book also features interviews with a range of directors, from feature directors who have moved into episodic TV (Kimberly Peirce, Mark Pellington) to directors who have made the transition from other disciplines such as acting (Andrew McCarthy, Lea Thompson), hair and makeup (Stacey K. Black), and stunts (David M. Barrett).
This book provides unprecedented access to the experiences and advice of contemporary working episodic television directors, and is an ideal resource for students studying television directing, early career professionals looking for advice, and working directors looking to make the transition from feature directing to episodic TV directing.
eBook
Television Personalities
Celebrities have come to increasingly dominate the media and its study in contemporary culture. Although acknowledged as part of this general rise in the importance of celebrity culture, television’s specific forms of stardom have until now remained largely under-theorised. Television Personalities: Stardom and the Small Screen examines how television personalities function as commodities, and also function ideologically, thus relating them to issues of class, national identity, sexuality, gender and social history. Television Personalities sets out a new way of considering televisual fame, arguing that it must be understood on its own terms, and thus establishing the television personality as a particular set of performers whose celebrity is constructed through discourses of ordinariness, authenticity and intimacy. The book is divided into three sections that trace the historical development of televisual fame from the 1950s through to the emergence of ‘DIY’ celebrity in the digital era. It examines the economics, aesthetics, production, histories, futures and ideological functions of the television personality across a range of examples, including: Benny Hill, Oprah Winfrey, Cilla Black, Simon Cowell, Ricky Gervais, Alan Titchmarsh, Jamie Oliver; the stars of YouTube and television’s smaller screens; and Extras, Top Gear, The Naked Chef, The Weakest Link.
Television Personalities is an original, indispensable guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students of media, television and celebrity studies, as well as those interested in digital culture more widely.
eBook
\Nobody Knows Anything\
This article argues that genre provided filmmakers with a self-reflexive vehicle for reformulating the social legitimacy of filmmaking as a profession in response to the crises of recessionary New Hollywood. Faced with the apparent unpredictability of mass audiences, George Roy Hill's aviation film The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) presumes to fashion professional standards of competence and expertise that do not require social legitimation. But what encompasses these considerations are the industry's ongoing efforts to reconstitute film as a medium that serves a heterogeneous mass audience comprised of the well and the less educated, the young and the old.
Journal Article
Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors
Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors cites every director of stand alone long-form television programs: made for TV movies, movie-length pilots, mini-series, and feature-length anthology programs, as well as drama, comedy, and musical specials of more than 60 minutes. A much-needed reference that celebrates these often-neglected artists, Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of the medium.
eBook
José Limón : the artist re-viewed
Jose Limon is universally recognized as one of the most important modern dancers of the 20th century. His technique is still taught at major colleges and dance schools; his dance company continues to revive his works, plus presents new works. His most famous work, The Moor's Pavanne, has been presented around the world by ballet and modern dance companies. This book presents a series of essays about Limon's life and works by noted scholars and dancers who were associated with Limon. It serves as a perfect introduction to his choreography and legacy. The book should appeal to fans of modern dance.
eBook
Alan Ball
Alan Ball: Conversationsfeatures interviews that span Alan Ball's entire career and include detailed observations and insights into his Academy Award-winning filmAmerican Beautyand Emmy Award-winning television showsSix Feet UnderandTrue Blood. Ball began his career as a playwright in New York, and his work soon caught the attention of Hollywood television producers. After writing for the sitcomsGrace Under FireandCybill, Ball turned his attention to the screenplay that would becomeAmerican Beauty. The critical success of this film opened up exciting possibilities for him in the realm of television. He created the critically acclaimed showSix Feet Under, and after the series finale, he decided to explore the issue of American bigotry toward the Middle East in his 2007 playAll That I Will Ever Beand the filmTowelhead, which he adapted and directed in the same year. Ball returned to television once again with the seriesTrue Blood--an adaptation of the humorous, entertaining, and erotic world of Charlaine Harris's vampire novels. In 2012 Ball announced that he would step down as executive producer ofTrue Blood, in part, to produce both a new television series and his latest screenplay,What's the Matter with Margie?
eBook
Joss Whedon
No recent television creator has generated more critical, scholarly, and popular discussion or acquired as devoted a cult following as Joss Whedon (b. 1964). No fewer than thirty books concerned with his work have now been published (a forthcoming volume even offers a book-length bibliography), and ten international conferences on his work have convened in the U.K., the United States, Australia, and Turkey. Fitting then that this first volume in the University Press of Mississippi's \"Television Conversations\" series is devoted to the writer, director, and showrunner who has deliveredBuffy the Vampire Slayer(The WB, 1997-2001; UPN, 2001-3),Angel(The WB, 1999-2004),Firefly(2002),Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog(Webcast, 2008), andDollhouse(FOX, 2009-10).
If Whedon has shown himself to be a virtuoso screenwriter/script-doctor, director, comic book author, and librettist, he is as well a masterful conversationalist. As a DVD commentator, for example, the consistently hilarious, reliably insightful, frequently moving Whedon has few rivals. In his many interviews he likewise shines. Whether answering a hundred rapid-fire, mostly silly questions from fans on the Internet, fielding serious inquiries about his craft and career from television colleagues, or assessing his disappointments, Whedon seldom fails to provoke laughter and reflection.
eBook