Mcfarland Company Inc Publishers: 2371 books
The Arts of LARP
Design, Literacy, Learning and Community in Live-Action Role Play
Language: English
Release Date: December 24, 2014
This ethnography of a live-action role play (LARP) community examines the structure of play, how new participants are introduced and apprenticed into the culture, player expectations and motivations, and games as they are designed and as they are performed. The main focus is on LARP’s affordance...
Oscar's Favorite Actors
The Winningest Stars (and More Who Should Be)
Language: English
Release Date: July 7, 2017
Just as the Academy Awards have an impact upon stars and their careers, their filmic achievements influence the Academy and contribute to the rich history of the Oscars. Upset wins, jarring losses and glaring oversights have helped define the careers of Hollywood icons, while unknown actors have proven...
The Hobbit and Tolkien's Mythology
Essays on Revisions and Influences
Language: English
Release Date: September 24, 2014
At the 2013 “Celebrating The Hobbit” conference at Valparaiso University—marking the 75th anniversary of the book’s publication and the first installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies—two plenary papers were presented: “Anchoring the Myth: The Impact of The Hobbit on Tolkien’s...
Neil Gaiman in the 21st Century
Essays on the Novels, Children's Stories, Online Writings, Comics and Other Works
Language: English
Release Date: February 13, 2015
Neil Gaiman has emerged as one of the most influential literary figures of the 21st century. To borrow a phrase from his viral 2012 University of the Arts commencement speech, Gaiman “makes good art,” from his graphic novels to his social media collaborations, award-winning fantasy fiction and...
Women of Blaxploitation
How the Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture
Language: English
Release Date: March 26, 2015
With the Civil Rights movement of the sixties fresh in their perspective, movie producers of the early 1970s began to make films aimed toward the underserved African American audience. Over the next five years or so, a number of cheaply made, so-called blaxploitation movies featured African American...
Coppola's Monster Film
The Making of Apocalypse Now
Language: English
Release Date: June 21, 2016
In 1975, after his two Godfather epics, Francis Ford Coppola went to the Philippines to film Apocalypse Now. He scrapped much of the original script, a jingoistic narrative of U.S. Special Forces winning an unwinnable war. Harvey Keitel, originally cast in the lead role, was fired and replaced by...
Walt Kelly and Pogo
The Art of the Political Swamp
Language: English
Release Date: December 23, 2015
One of the most popular comic strips of the 1950s and the first to reference politics of the day, Walt Kelly’s Pogo took on Joe McCarthy before the controversial senator was a blip on Edward R. Murrow’s radar. The strip’s satire was so biting, it was often relegated to newspaper editorial sections...
Not Just Batman's Butler
The Autobiography of Alan Napier
Language: English
Release Date: November 2, 2015
In January 1966, Alan Napier became a household name on ABC’s hit series Batman (1966–1968) as Alfred Pennyworth, loyal butler to the show’s title character. This “overnight success” came after 16 years of stage work (and the occasional film) in his native England and 26 years of film and...
The Cinema of Mamoru Oshii
Fantasy, Technology and Politics
Language: English
Release Date: June 26, 2014
Today’s animation is much more than kids’ stuff. Increasingly complex subject matter has produced a corresponding increase in artistic interest, and forms once specific to certain cultures have crossed borders to enjoy international popularity. Japanese animation has been particularly successful...
by Dani Cavallaro
Language: English
Release Date: February 12, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: February 12, 2015
Hayao Miyazaki has gained worldwide recognition as a leading figure in the history of animation, alongside Walt Disney, Milt Kahl, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Yuri Norstein and John Lasseter. In both his films and his writings, Miyazaki invites us to reflect on the unexamined beliefs that govern our lives....
by Dani Cavallaro
Language: English
Release Date: December 11, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: December 11, 2015
Ranging from Chrétien de Troyes to Shakespeare, this study proposes that the chivalric romance is characterized by a centerless structure, self-conscious fictionality and a propensity for irony. The form is tied to historical reality, yet represents the archetype of imaginative literature, declaring...
The Late Works of Hayao Miyazaki
A Critical Study, 2004-2013
Language: English
Release Date: November 19, 2014
Once a favorite of mainly art house audiences, Hayao Miyazaki’s films have enjoyed increasing exposure in the West since his Spirited Away won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003. The award signaled a turning point for Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, bringing his films prominence in the media...
by Dani Cavallaro
Language: English
Release Date: February 19, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: February 19, 2017
English painter John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) communicates his aesthetic vision through his use of color. Throughout his career, he experimented with color as an element with seemingly spatial qualities. His works have an unusual formalism—figures and settings often appear not merely realistic...
by Dani Cavallaro
Language: English
Release Date: September 21, 2013
Language: English
Release Date: September 21, 2013
This study explores the relationship between synesthesia—the experience of a sensation in one perceptual domain triggering a sensation in another perceptual domain—and the arts (including painting, photography, music and literature). Its aim is twofold: to introduce readers as yet unfamiliar with...