Bloomsbury Adaptation Histories – serie

Adaptations in the Franchise Era re-evaluates adaptation’s place in a popular culture marked by the movement of content and audiences across more media borders than ever before. While adaptation has historically been understood as the transfer of stories from one medium to another—more often than not, from novel to film—the growing interconnectedness of media and media industries in the early twenty-first century raises new questions about the form and function of adaptation as both a product and a process. Where does adaptation fit within massive franchises that span pages, stages, screens, and theme parks? Rising scholar Kyle Meikle illuminates adaptation’s enduring and essential role in the rise of franchises in the 2000s and 2010s. During that decade-and-a-half, adaptations set the foundation for multiplexed, multiplied film series, piloted streaming television’s forays into original programming, found their way into audiences’ hands in apps and video games, and went live in theatrical experiences on Broadway and beyond. The proliferation of adaptations was matched only by a proliferation of adaptation, as fans remixed and remade their favourite franchises online and off-. This volume considers how producers and consumers defined adaptations—and how adaptations defined themselves—through the endless intertextual play of the franchise era.

Adaptations in the Franchise Era re-evaluates adaptation’s place in a popular culture marked by the movement of content and audiences across more media borders than ever before. While adaptation has historically been understood as the transfer of stories from one medium to another—more often than not, from novel to film—the growing interconnectedness of media and media industries in the early twenty-first century raises new questions about the form and function of adaptation as both a product and a process. Where does adaptation fit within massive franchises that span pages, stages, screens, and theme parks? Rising scholar Kyle Meikle illuminates adaptation’s enduring and essential role in the rise of franchises in the 2000s and 2010s. During that decade-and-a-half, adaptations set the foundation for multiplexed, multiplied film series, piloted streaming television’s forays into original programming, found their way into audiences’ hands in apps and video games, and went live in theatrical experiences on Broadway and beyond. The proliferation of adaptations was matched only by a proliferation of adaptation, as fans remixed and remade their favourite franchises online and off-. This volume considers how producers and consumers defined adaptations—and how adaptations defined themselves—through the endless intertextual play of the franchise era.

There is no disputing that the coming of sound heralded a new era for adaptations. We take it for granted today that a film is enhanced by sound but it was not a view unanimously held in the early period of sound cinema. While there was a substantial degree of skepticism in the late 1920s and early 30s about the advantages of sound, what we would call technophobia today, the inclusion of speech in screen versions of literary and theatrical works, undeniably revised what it was to be an adaptation: words. Focusing on promotional materials, Adaptations in the Sound Era tracks early attempts to promote sound through the elevation of words in adaptations in the early sound period. The popular appeal of these films clearly stands in opposition to academic regard for them and the book reflects on the presence and marketing of ‘words' in a variety of adaptations, from the introduction of sound in the late 1920s to the mid 1930s. This book contextualizes a range of adaptations in relation to debates about ‘picturizations' of books in the early sound era, including reactions to the talking adaptation by writers such as, Irwin Panofsky, Aldous Huxley and Graham Greene. Film adaptations of Shakespeare, Dickens, gothic fiction and biopics are also discussed in relation to their use and promotion of sound or, more precisely, words.

There is no disputing that the coming of sound heralded a new era for adaptations. We take it for granted today that a film is enhanced by sound but it was not a view unanimously held in the early period of sound cinema. While there was a substantial degree of skepticism in the late 1920s and early 30s about the advantages of sound, what we would call technophobia today, the inclusion of speech in screen versions of literary and theatrical works, undeniably revised what it was to be an adaptation: words. Focusing on promotional materials, Adaptations in the Sound Era tracks early attempts to promote sound through the elevation of words in adaptations in the early sound period. The popular appeal of these films clearly stands in opposition to academic regard for them and the book reflects on the presence and marketing of ‘words' in a variety of adaptations, from the introduction of sound in the late 1920s to the mid 1930s. This book contextualizes a range of adaptations in relation to debates about ‘picturizations' of books in the early sound era, including reactions to the talking adaptation by writers such as, Irwin Panofsky, Aldous Huxley and Graham Greene. Film adaptations of Shakespeare, Dickens, gothic fiction and biopics are also discussed in relation to their use and promotion of sound or, more precisely, words.

Noted scholar Imelda Whelehan looks at key adaptations released during this period and considers the impact of social change, film consumption and film tastes, as well as noting the most popular genres at this time.The latter part of the 20th century saw cinema becoming increasingly significant as an art-form, even while its status as 'art' was still openly contested. This installment in the Bloomsbury Adaptation Histories series discusses a rich and exciting period of cinema history: Hollywood in the latter stages of its golden age, releasing masterpiece adaptations such as It's A Wonderful Life (1946), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Third Man (1949), All About Eve (1950), Rear Window (1954), The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Vertigo (1958).