William Brown

Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age William Brown

Marc Notes: Originally published: 2013.; Includes bibliographical references and index.; Drawing on a variety of popular films, 'Supercinema' studies the ways in which digital special effects and editing techniques require a new theoretical framework in order to be properly understood. Locating itself on the cusp of film theory, film-philosophy and cognitive approaches to cinema, Supercinema also looks at the relationship between the spectator and film that utilizes digital technology to maximum, 'supercinematic' effect. Publisher Marketing:"The author presents ... an innovative perspective on cinema in the digital age. From the opening page, we encounter an articulate writing voice that presents a broad agenda for the study of contemporary cinema - with Fight Club standing in as a constant reference point." . Warren Buckland, Oxford Brookes University "This is an excellent, provocative book that I enthusiastically recommend... The author succeeds in helping to forge a new paradigm by which to conceptualize and theorize cinema in the era of the digital. This is important work, because too often, when writing about contemporary cinema that is "digital" either in its technical specifications or aesthetics, we are forced to rely on terminology and concepts imported from pre-digital cinema." . Nicholas Rombes, University of Detroit Mercy Drawing on a variety of popular films, including "Avatar," "Enter the Void," "Fight Club," "The Matrix," "Speed Racer," "X-Men" and "War of the Worlds," "Supercinema" studies the ways in which digital special effects and editing techniques require a new theoretical framework in order to be properly understood. Here William Brown proposes that while analogue cinema often tried to hide the technological limitations of its creation through ingenious methods, digital cinema hides its technological omnipotence through the use of continued conventions more suited to analogue cinema, in a way that is analogous to that of Superman hiding his powers behind the persona of Clark Kent. Locating itself on the cusp of film theory, film-philosophy and cognitive approaches to cinema, "Supercinema" also looks at the relationship between the spectator and film that utilizes digital technology to maximum, 'supercinematic' effect. William Brown is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Roehampton, London. He has written articles for journals and edited collections with a particular emphasis on the use of digital technology in contemporary cinema across a range of national and transnational contexts. He is also a filmmaker, having made four feature films since 2009.

Contributor Bio:  Brown, William William Brown is a former Master of Darwin College and Professor of Industrial Relations in the Economics Faculty at the University of Cambridge. He was previously Director of the ESRC's Industrial Relations Research Unit at the University of Warwick. His research has been concerned with collective bargaining, pay determination, incomes policy, payment systems, arbitration, minimum wages, the impact of legislative change, and industrial relations in China. He was a foundation member of the Low Pay Commission, which fixes the UK's National Minimum Wage. He is a member of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Panel of Arbitrators and was an independent member of the ACAS Council. In 2002 he was awarded a CBE for services to employment relations.