“Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema

This discussion examines the growing relationship between cinematic texts and the theme-park industry. Primarily focused on the post-classical period in Hollywood and its relationship to theme-park environments, this thesis analyses the evolution of the movie-based attraction from a passive retellin...

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Main Author: Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41918/
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author Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth
author_facet Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth
author_sort Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This discussion examines the growing relationship between cinematic texts and the theme-park industry. Primarily focused on the post-classical period in Hollywood and its relationship to theme-park environments, this thesis analyses the evolution of the movie-based attraction from a passive retelling into an immersive and inclusive experience. The post-classical cinematic style, usually identified with the contemporary blockbuster movie, has its origins in the sensory experience of early cinema. I draw similarities between the two eras, emphasising the distinctiveness of a modern “cinema of attractions” that develops as films and theme-park rides become more closely intertwined. I elaborate the concepts of “immersion” and “inclusion” to describe and explain this process, identifying these as the distinguishing features of the evolving relationship between movies and theme-park attractions. Film-based attractions such as Back to the Future (1985), Star Wars (1977-2015) and Avatar (2009) exemplify how immersive and inclusive techniques are developed out of post-classical film aesthetics in order to enhance the affective experience of customers. Similarly, attraction-to-film adaptations, such as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (2003-present), combine immersion and inclusion with strategies of narrativization, incorporating film and attraction into a unified and self-referring storytelling world.
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spelling nottingham-419182025-02-28T13:44:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41918/ “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth This discussion examines the growing relationship between cinematic texts and the theme-park industry. Primarily focused on the post-classical period in Hollywood and its relationship to theme-park environments, this thesis analyses the evolution of the movie-based attraction from a passive retelling into an immersive and inclusive experience. The post-classical cinematic style, usually identified with the contemporary blockbuster movie, has its origins in the sensory experience of early cinema. I draw similarities between the two eras, emphasising the distinctiveness of a modern “cinema of attractions” that develops as films and theme-park rides become more closely intertwined. I elaborate the concepts of “immersion” and “inclusion” to describe and explain this process, identifying these as the distinguishing features of the evolving relationship between movies and theme-park attractions. Film-based attractions such as Back to the Future (1985), Star Wars (1977-2015) and Avatar (2009) exemplify how immersive and inclusive techniques are developed out of post-classical film aesthetics in order to enhance the affective experience of customers. Similarly, attraction-to-film adaptations, such as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (2003-present), combine immersion and inclusion with strategies of narrativization, incorporating film and attraction into a unified and self-referring storytelling world. 2017-07-21 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41918/1/Full%20Draft%20%28edited-%20corrections%203%29.pdf application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41918/2/Full%20Draft%20%28edited-%20corrections%203%29.pdf Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth (2017) “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema. MRes thesis, University of Nottingham. theme parks rides amusement parks cinema motion pictures films movies blockbusters
spellingShingle theme parks
rides
amusement parks
cinema
motion pictures
films
movies
blockbusters
Dixon, Alexandra Elizabeth
“Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title_full “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title_fullStr “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title_full_unstemmed “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title_short “Get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical Cinema
title_sort “get into the movies!”: the theme park’s relationship with post-classical cinema
topic theme parks
rides
amusement parks
cinema
motion pictures
films
movies
blockbusters
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41918/