Streaming by Wheeler Winston Dixon
Film stocks are vanishing, but the iconic images of the silver screen remain -- albeit in new, sleeker formats. Today, viewers can instantly stream movies on televisions, computers, and smartphones. Gone are the days when films could only be seen in theaters or rented at video stores: movies are now accessible at the click of a button, and there are no reels, tapes, or discs to store. Any film or show worth keeping may be collected in the virtual cloud and accessed at will through services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Instant. The movies have changed, and we are changing with them. The ways we communicate, receive information, travel, and socialize have all been revolutionized. In Streaming, Wheeler Winston Dixon reveals the positive and negative consequences of the transition to digital formatting and distribution, exploring the ways in which digital cinema has altered contemporary filmmaking and our culture. Many industry professionals and audience members feel that the new format fundamentally alters the art, while others laud the liberation of the moving image from the "imperfect" medium of film, asserting that it is both inevitable and desirable. Dixon argues that the change is neither good nor bad; it's simply a fact. Hollywood has embraced digital production and distribution because it is easier, faster, and cheaper, but the displacement of older technology will not come without controversy. This groundbreaking book illuminates the challenges of preserving media in the digital age and explores what stands to be lost, from the rich hues of traditional film stocks to the classic movies that are not profitable enough to offer in streaming formats. Dixon also investigates the financial challenges of the new distribution model, the incorporation of new content such as webisodes, and the issue of ownership in an age when companies have the power to pull purchased items from consumer devices at their own discretion. Streaming touches on every aspect of the shift to digital production and distribution. It explains not only how the new technology is affecting movies, music, books, and games, but also how instant access is permanently changing the habits of viewers and influencing our culture.
Wheeler Winston Dixon, Chair, Film Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, is author of The Early Film Criticism of Francois Truffaut (Indiana, forthcoming), The Cinematic Vision of F.Scott Fitzgerald, and The Charm of Evil: The Life and Films of Terence Fisher (Scarecrow, 1991). Dixon has also written for The Velvet Light Trap, Post Script, The New Orleans Review, Film Criticism, and Cineaste. His films and videotapes have been screened at the Whitney Museum, the Kithen, and the Jewish Museum. In Spring, 1992, he served as Guest Curator for a series on Dystopian Science-Fiction at the National Film Theatre in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780813142197 |
| ISBN 10 | 0813142199 |
| Title | Streaming |
| Author | Wheeler Winston Dixon |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | University Press Of Kentucky |
| Year published | 2013-05-01 |
| Number of pages | 184 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |