Fans, Blockbusterisation, and the Transformation of Cinematic Desire

Carolyn Michelle is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and director of the University’s Audience Research Unit. Her current research explores modes of reception and their relationship to aspects of social location.Charles H. Davis is Professor in the RTA School of Media at Ryerson University, Canada, where he holds the E.S. Rogers Sr. Research Chair in Media Management and Entrepreneurship. He also serves as Associate Dean for Scholarly Research and Creative Activities in Ryerson’s Faculty of Communication & Design.Ann L. Hardy is Senior Lecturer in the Screen and Media Studies programme at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Her research focuses on New Zealand-based media products as they balance local and international imperatives, particularly those relating to intersections of culture and religion.Craig Hight is Associate Professor in Creative Industries at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His current research focuses on the relationships between digital media technologies and documentary practice, especially the variety of factors shaping online documentary cultures.

• 1. Returning to Middle-earth, in Blockbusterised Form.- 2. Researching Audience Engagements with the Hobbit Trilogy: A Unique Methodological Approach.- 3. Adaptation, Anticipation, and Cinematic Desire: Prefigurative Engagements with a Blockbuster Fantasy Franchise.- 4. Unexpected Controversies Cast a Shadow over Middle-earth.- 5. The Saga Begins: Mapping Audience Reactions to An Unexpected Journey.- 6. The Rise of the Hobbit Critic: From The Desolation of Smaug To The Battle of the Five Armies.- 7. Pioneering Cinematic Technologies and the Hobbit’s Hyperreality Paradox.- 8. On the Transformation of Meaning and Cinematic Desire.- 9. Making Sense of Difference: How Social Location and Identity Shaped Engagements with the Hobbit Trilogy.- 10. Conclusion and Methodological Reflections on a Unique Project.