Tools
Tools
Johnston, Keith M. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1989-8549 and Rickards, Carolyn
(2020)
The spectacle of realism: special effects at Ealing Studios, 1940-45.
Screen, 60 (2).
261–279.
ISSN 0036-9543
Preview |
PDF (Accepted manuscript)
- Accepted Version
Download (501kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This article presents a revisionist account of Ealing Studios’ production practices by focusing on the role that special effects techniques played in the creation of the studio’s documentary-realist filmmaking aesthetic. Ealing is traditionally described as finding its wartime purpose by combining documentary-realist and mainstream film narrative techniques, a style claimed to echo through British cinema in decades to come. Yet at the heart of the studio’s ‘realistic’ wartime narratives such as San Demetrio, London (1943) and The Bells Go Down (1943) lies a complex set of ‘special effects’ techniques – understood here as an umbrella term that covers miniatures, matte paintings and back projection. A challenge to existing understanding of special effects, which are claimed to foreground generic enjoyment and visual spectacle, the article explores a series of case studies where realism and authenticity becomes the purported aim of such illusionistic activity.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | british cinema,special effects,ealing,realism |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies (former - to 2024) |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > British Cinema & Television Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | Pure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2017 06:07 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 13:08 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/65597 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/screen/hjz006 |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |