Footnote #26 - The Cinema of Attractions

The tension between spectacle and narrative is investigated through the seminal work of Tom Gunning and his formulation of the “cinema of attractions” in this latest Footnote episode, in which Chris and Alex hold cinema’s propensity for exhibitionist visual display and its later development of story in delicate balance. Listen as they reflect on the emergence of actuality shorts, travelogues, and the ‘trick’ films of Georges Méliès; the acquisition and integration of narrative by cinema that challenged earlier modes of presentationalism; the role of technological innovation in the default myths of silent cinema; and how Gunning’s “cinema of attractions” model defining early film spectatorship and style intersects with both the screen histories and creative figures of fantasy and animation. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**