Within multi-platform films and dramas, the fourth wall - the invisible barrier that separates the onscreen fictional world from the audience - no longer exists. The widespread adoption of technologies such as mobile devices for digital media consumption and social networking, has led to the emergence of hybrid and pioneering forms of fictions where stories are experienced across a multitude of platforms for prolonged periods of time. This is having a profound impact upon production processes and aesthetics. The boundary between reality and fiction blurs, cinematic and televisual genres merge and the audience is able to participate within the fictional world as never before.
Beyond the Screen maps the development of these forms through the examination of various cutting-edge, international case studies of multi-platform fictions. Evaluating and aligning academic debate with industry commentary, Sarah Atkinson provides unique insights into an evolving field, providing foundations for the ongoing study of these emerging, innovative forms.
Industry Reviews
[Atkinson's] comprehensive survey, coupled with her exacting analysis of emerging trends, remains an invaluable resource for theorists and practitioners alike. -- Bronwin Patrickson * Journal of American Studies of Turkey *
A dizzying amount of case studies have been documented in this overview of media texts and viewing platforms ... Atkinson has documented cutting-edge developments in exhibition and distribution in order to demonstrate how audiences might interact with media narratives in the future. * Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media *
Beyond the Screen marks a significant step towards developing a language that may yet have longevity. Moreover, it does so having taken into account textual, industrial and audience perspectives on these 'emerging cinemas' with dexterity, which very few other accounts can be said to have achieved. * CINEJ Cinema Journal *
This is a thought-provoking and fascinating book for all those engaged in navigating and understanding emerging and expanded forms of 'cinema'. We're faced daily by a dizzying new media landscape, to be sure, and Atkinson shows us some compelling ways through it which usefully draw and build on existing film studies conceptualisations. -- Catherine Grant, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Sussex, UK, and editor of REFRAME
Beyond the Screen offers a fascinating and insightful study into the way that technology is changing the relationship between moving image and audience and how these changes are reshaping the very meaning of cinema. Combining historical, narratological, industrial and audience research of case studies ranging from major studio releases to experimental mobile films and ARGs, Atkinson's book offers essential reading for anyone wanting to understand what cinema is becoming. -- Elizabeth Evans, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, Nottingham University, UK
Beyond the Screen is a welcome and refreshing investigation of the art form we call cinema. However, this century-old form of screen-based storytelling has vaulted over the antiquated definitions of it that we have customarily used, and Dr. Atkinson examines the new world of cinema in all of its many forms. She investigates transmedia storytelling, audience sourced stories, stories told on iPads and many other emerging genres. To help the reader grasp the various concepts she discusses, she not only works out a new grammar for the field but also offers numerous case histories, some of which might already be known to the reader but a number of which are sure to be unfamiliar but fascinating. -- Carolyn Handler Miller, author of Digital Storytelling, Third Edition: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment
