107-086 City as Film

Usually 37.5 points of second/third year cinema studies.

This subject is taught in the United States during a 21-day study tour. The subject is concerned with exploring ways in which the cinema is becoming an integral feature of the 'contemporary city as spectacle'. The focus will be on key spectacle cities of the US: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, New York. The primary model of analysis will be the theme park and its connections with the film tradition, though we will also be looking at entertainment cities as embodied in casinos. The cinematic and spectacular features will be tested against postmodern arguments concerned with the 'empty spectacle' of our postmodern era. Sites to be visited will include, Disneyland/Disneyworld, Universal Studios, Hollywood picture palaces, the Luxor Casino, Caesar's Palace, the MGM and Paramount studios, Museum of the Moving Image and the simulation rides at the Empire State Building.