The recut trailer as networked object Anticipation and nostalgia in the YouTube era Kathleen Williams A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of the Arts and Media Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences March 2014 ! ! PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Williams First name: Kathleen Other name/s: Amy Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: School of the Arts and Media Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Title: The recut trailer as networked object: Anticipation and nostalgia in the YouTube era Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) Recut trailers have been uploaded to YouTube since its launch in 2005 and remain one of the site's most popular forms of video. Recut trailers can involve a number of practices: some trailer creators shoot original footage for a film that will never exist, others splice together existing footage to bypass the typical path of feature film promotion, while some seek to change the genre of an existing film. The recut trailer adopts the form of an advertisement and yet does not advertise an end product. This study analyses recut trailers uploaded to YouTube in the period of 2005-2012. This dissertation contributes to the limited literature available on the film trailer by arguing that the recut trailer should be considered as a networked object. I map the traces and residues left by the recut trailer on YouTube, as well as the spatial, temporal and textual connections that they make to feature films, cinematic space, and online cultures and practices. I argue that the recut trailer can be used to show how cinema has been negotiated into online and networked space, and the recut itself is a form of networked object. I identifY two modes present in recut trailers: anticipation and nostalgia. Recut trailers demonstrate a willingness in audiences to see a past film in the mode of anticipation. Simultaneously, recuts can also operate nostalgically, by playfully revisiting a past film or placing a contemporary ftlm in a nostalgic mode. Finally, I consider the spatial and temporal conditions that help trailers circulate in networked spaces. I situate my analysis in relation to previous negotiations of emergent technologies into new spaces, including historical practices of recutting in early American cinema and the adoption of cinema into the home. I chart the history of the trailer from independent trailer houses to drive-ins and into online spaces. This thesis contextualises the recut trailer in a longer history of recutting, arguing that recut trailers demonstrate how older media forms such as film are negotiated into new networked spaces, and reflect altered practices of production and consumption. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. 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Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 List of Figures and Tables 3 Publications and Presentations 4 Acknowledgements 5 Chapter One Introduction 6 Chapter Two Frameworks, approaches and methods 34 Chapter Three Recut trailers and technological histories: The evolution of film trailers and the historical precendents of recutting 90 Chapter Four 'We can't wait for the movie!': Cinematic desire and anticipation 132 Chapter Five Déjà vu all over again: Nostalgia, YouTube and cinematic memory 186 Chapter Six The trailer as networked object: The circulation of recut trailers 240 Chapter Seven Conclusion 270 References 283 ! 2 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1.1 Sarah Palin Disney Trailer p. 7 Figure 1.2 Example of recut trailer results on YouTube p. 18 Figure 1.3 Trailer for Every Oscar-Winning Movie Ever p. 22 Figure 1.4 Premakes: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1951) p. 29 Figure 3.1 Babes in Toyland trailer still p. 97 Figure 3.2 Still from a collection of drive-in trailers p. 104 Figure 3.3 Still from a collection of drive-in trailers p. 106 Figure 3.4 VHS trailer for Tweety’s High Flying Adventure p. 110 Figure 3.5 Still from Child’s Play Special Edition DVD Menu p. 111 Figure 4.1 Desire lines in Goteborg, Sweden p. 137 Figure 4.2 Must Love Jaws p. 146 Figure 4.3 300 – PG Version p. 148 Figure 4.4 MPAA Ratings Screen p. 149 Figure 4.5 Titanic: The Sequel p. 155 Figure 4.6 Titanic SUPER 3D p. 158 Figure 4.7 Twilight Movie Trailer p. 165 Figure 4.8 Fan Reaction to Twilight Breaking Dawn p. 170 Figure 4.9 Twitter Movie Trailer p. 172 Figure 4.10 Table: Reflecting the top ranking videos p. 175 Figure 5.1 10 Things I Hate About Commandments p. 211 Figure 5.2 Back to the Future – Recut p. 216 Figure 5.3 Ghostbusters Premake p. 224 Figure 5.4 Brokeback to the Future p. 225 Figure 5.5 Dumb and Dumber Brokeback p. 229 Figure 5.6 Broke Trek p. 235 ! 3 Relevant Publications Williams, K 2013, ‘Recut film trailers, teen films and nostalgia’, in K Barton & J Lampley (eds.), Fan Cultures: An Examination of Participatory Fandom in the 21st Century, pp. 47-60, McFarland Press, Jefferson, NC. Williams, K 2012, ‘Fake and fan film trailers as incarnations of audience anticipation and desire’, Transformative Works and Cultures, vol. 9, <http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/360> Williams, K 2010, ‘Re-reading the trailer: The production and consumption of recut trailers’, in K. McCallum (ed.), Media, democracy and change: Refereed proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communications Association Annual Conference, held 7-9 July, Canberra, Australia, <http://www.canberra.edu.au/anzca2010/attachments/pdf/Re-reading-the- history-of-the- trailer.pdf> Williams, K 2009, ‘Never coming to a theatre near you: Recut film trailers’, M/C Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, < http://journal.media- culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/139> Presentations Williams, K 2012, ‘Anticipation and nostalgia: Fake film trailers and the spatial dynamics of YouTube’, invited talk presented at Microsoft New England, Boston, 2 May. Williams, K 2012, ‘Desire lines and the production and consumption of media’, paper presented at Making Tracks: UNSW Postgraduate Symposium, Sydney, 3-4 September. Williams, K 2012, ‘Nostalgia for the unknown: Film trailers and their representation of past and future’, paper presented at Crossroads: Cultural Studies Association Conference, Paris, 3 July. Williams, K 2011, ‘Brokeback to the Future: Spatiality and temporality in fake and recut film trailers’, paper presented at UNSW Postgraduate Symposium, 9 September.