The Natural History of Film Form (Screens, Thinking, Worlds)

Duncan, Pansy

Edinburgh University Press（2025/10発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 120 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781399548243

Full Description

The Natural History of Film Form argues that, more than simply ingredients in film stock, gelatin, silver and celluloid helped shape early film aesthetics. Drawing on fan and industry periodicals, as well as the testimony of pioneering filmmakers and film manufacturers, the book reveals that the politico-material properties of these geo- and bio-physical materials influenced a range of aesthetic regimes from the turn-of-the century trick film, to developments in popular science cinema, to early studio-era fantasies of the silver screen. In the process, the book offers a fresh perspective on the interplay between nature and culture in film history.

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. CelluloidTM: the Material Prehistory of the Plastic Image

2. Infected Gelatin and the Bacterial Life of Popular Science Cinema

3. Silver Salts and the Aesthetics of Early Studio-Era Hollywood Cinema

Conclusion: Lithium Aesthetics

Bibliography

Index