Thursday, March 30, 2017

A new book by UNCW film studies professor Todd Berliner examines the artistic principles of Hollywood cinema. Hollywood Aesthetic: Pleasure in American Cinema will be published on April 3 by Oxford University Press.

Grounded in film history and cognitive psychology, the book explains how Hollywood delivers exhilarating aesthetic experiences to mass audiences. Berliner argues that fans of Hollywood cinema are not victims of mass media culture but active participants in their own entertainment.

On Thursday, April 6, Berliner will give a presentation from the book, titled “Bursting into Song in the Hollywood Musical.” Illustrated with clips that span 90 years of Hollywood musicals, the presentation demonstrates how filmmakers creatively developed the convention of “bursting into song.” The free event, sponsored by the Department of Film Studies, begins at 6:30 p.m. in King Hall Auditorium. A reception will follow.

Berliner was the founding chair of the UNCW Department of Film Studies and teaches courses in film aesthetics, narration, style and the history of American film. He is also the author of Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema (University of Texas Press, 2010) and has been published in numerous academic journals.

Excellence in teaching and scholarship are emphasized in UNCW’s Strategic Plan.

--Caroline Cropp

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