Expresiones audiovisuales

La ficció ha estat, i segueix sent, l?element bàsic del qual es nodreixen la majoria de les produccions cinematogràfiques. Ara bé, aquest sector ha experimentat grans canvis en els darrers anys, i sembla necessari atendre?ls des d?una perspectiva teòrica, epistemològica i professional.

Desde el nacimiento del videojuego como producto de la cultura de masas en los años setenta, las perspectivas de análisis que han predominado sobre este se han basado en su consideración como un objeto tecnológico, como producto comercial de una nueva industria emergente, como un medio de entretenimiento, como un recurso educativo, como una influencia sobre el comportamiento de los jóvenes y, más recientemente, como un objeto cultural. Pero el diseño de videojuegos trae también consigo un nuevo lenguaje, el lenguaje del diseño de reglas de juego y de estructuras y dinámicas de interactividad lúdica.

Con la finalidad de realizar una contribución a esta tarea, este libro propone una exploración sobre las estructuras y los recursos expresivos que hacen del diseño de videojuegos un nuevo lenguaje, y aporta una metodología de análisis del videojuego como obra comunicativa.

Paralelamente, en el trabajo se deja de manifiesto que no solo los denominados serious games o persuasive games tienen «mensaje», sino que detrás de todo videojuego, incluidos los videojuegos del mainstream comercial, hay un discurso, una determinada visión del mundo, un cierto punto de vista sobre qué es la «victoria» y qué es la «derrota», y cómo se llega a cada una de ellas.

Covering the silent era to the present, this wide-ranging collection of essays examines Greek cinema as an aesthetic, cultural, and political phenomenon with the potential to appeal to a diverse range of audiences. Using a range of methodological tools, the authors investigate the ever-shifting forms and meanings at work within Greece’s national cinema and locate it within the booming interdisciplinary study of European cinema at large. Designed for undergraduate courses in film studies, this well-researched volume fills a substantial gap in the market for critical works on Greek cinema in English.

En 1995, el cinematógrafo cumplió cien años. A partir de esta fecha simbólica empezó una curiosa mutación: cambiaron los sistemas de producción, las formas de ver y el soporte, que pasó del celuloide a lo digital. Después del cine es una reflexión sobre dicha transformación, que no es únicamente tecnológica—la sustitución de la fotografía en movimiento por la imagen pixelada—, sino también cultural—puesto que la imagen digital ha redefinido la relación entre imagen y realidad en el mundo contemporáneo, el de la web 2.1—. En su recorrido el libro propone numerosos ejemplos: los blockbusters hollywoodienses que utilizan la imagen en 3D; la textura digital; los documentales rodados con cámaras de baja definición y las imágenes de la guerra de Irak colgadas en YouTube.

It is a timely collection of essays which examines the role of Irish documentary in film and television as Ireland experienced dramatic shifts in its social and political make-up in recent decades. Bringing together a diverse range of perspectives, this book tells it from the standpoint of the documentary-maker, the academic and the policy-maker. It reveals the role of documentary in telling stories that challenge the hierarchies of church and state, at the same time reflecting and representing the change brought about as a result in shifts to the political and social landscape.

Documentary in a Changing State: Ireland since the 1991s includes a transcript of an interview with the late Mary Raftery. This book looks back over the last two decades through the prism of documentary to get a snap shot of the dramatic shifts and upheavals in Irish society, socially, culturally and politically

This book gives a fascinating insight into the working life of documentary makers – it captures the passion that drives them, the commitment they make to their craft, and the issues they tackle in defining what constitutes documentary – indeed, what constitutes good documentary. This book will be read avidly not just by those in the business of creating and producing documentary but by a wide public who have learnt so much about their own society and culture through cutting-edge documentaries.

José Luis Castro —profesor del Departamento de Arte de la Universidad de Vigo— asegura que todavía que­da mucho campo en el estudio de la obra de Alfred Hitchcock y su influencia en la evolución del lenguaje del cine desde su llegada a Hollywood en 1939 contra­tado por David O’Selznick. Pero para comprenderlo, explica Castro, hay que remontarse a la etapa británica del director —quizá algo relegada en otros análisis—, donde ya se encuentra el origen de algunas de sus constantes semánticas y estilísticas. Y no hay que perder de vista el momento histórico en el que se desarrolla su obra. Con estos dos puntos siempre presentes, el autor profundiza en el lenguaje de este maestro del cine, a la vez que lo sitúa en el contexto en el que se formó y evolucionó.

Critical Cinema: Beyond the Theory of Practice purges the obstructive line between the making of and the theorising on film, uniting theory and practice in order to move beyond the commercial confines of Hollywood. Opening with an introduction by Bill Nichols, one of the world's leading writers on nonfiction film, this volume features contributions by such prominent authors as Noel Burch, Laura Mulvey, Peter Wollen, Brian Winston and Patrick Fuery. Seminal filmmakers such as Peter Greenway and Mike Figgis also contribute to the debate, making this book a critical text for students, academics, and independent filmmakers as well as for any reader interested in new perspectives on culture and film.

The history of postwar German cinema has most often been told as a story of failure, a failure paradoxically epitomized by the remarkable popularity of film throughout the late 1941s and 1950s. Through the analysis of 10 representative films, Hester Baer reassesses this period, looking in particular at how the attempt to ‘dismantle the dream factory’ of Nazi entertainment cinema resulted in a new cinematic language which developed as a result of the changing audience demographic. In an era when female viewers comprised 70 per cent of cinema audiences a ‘women’s cinema’ emerged, which sought to appeal to female spectators through its genres, star choices, stories and formal conventions. In addition to analyzing the formal language and narrative content of these films, Baer uses a wide array of other sources to reconstruct the original context of their reception, including promotional and publicity materials, film programs, censorship documents, reviews and spreads in fan magazines. This book presents a new take on an essential period, which saw the rebirth of German cinema after its thorough delegitimization under the Nazi regime.

Josef von Sternberg’s 1931 film The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel) is among the best known films of the Weimar Republic (19190933). A significant landmark as one of Germany’s first major sound films, it is known primarily for launching Marlene Dietrich into Hollywood stardom and for initiating the mythic pairing of the Austrian-born American director von Sternberg with the star performer Dietrich.

This fascinating cultural history of The Blue Angel provides a new interpretive framework with which to approach this classic Weimar film and suggests that discourses on mass and high culture are integral to the film’s thematic and narrative structure. These discourses surface above all in the relationship between the two main characters, the cabaret entertainer Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) and the high school teacher Immanuel Rath (one-time Oscar winner Emil Jannings). In addition to offering insight into some of the major debates that informed the Weimar Republic, this book demonstrates that similar issues continue to shape the contemporary cultural landscape of Germany. Barbara Kosta thus also looks at Dietrich as a contemporary cultural icon and at her symbolic value since German unification and at Lola Lola’s various “incarnations.”

This is the first textbook on Pop Music to be written after the start of the iPod era.

Organized in accessible sections and covering the main themes of research and teaching it examines:

• The key approaches to understanding popular music

• The main settings of exchange and consumption

• The role of technology in the production of popular music

• The main genres of popular music

• The key debates of the present day

Barbazon writes with verve and penetration. Her approach starts with how most people actually consume music today and transfers this onto the plain of study.

The book enables teachers and students to shuffle from one topic to the other whilst providing an unparalleled access the core concepts and issues. As such, it is the perfect study guide for undergraduates located in this exciting and expanding field.

Tara Brabazon is Professor of Communication at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).