The Cinepheur: Post-Cinematic Passage, Post-Perceptual Passage
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COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright The Cinepheur: Post‐Cinematic Passage, Post‐Perceptual Passage William Stevenson Thesis submitted as requirement for Doctor of Philosophy University of Sydney 2013 Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................. iii List of Illustrations ................................................................................. iv Introduction Post‐Cinematic Affect, Post‐Perceptual Affect .................................... 1 Canonicity and Cinephilia ........................................................................... 2 The Cinepheur .................................................................................................... 6 Dark Media Ecologies ..................................................................................... 7 A New Methodology..................................................................................... 11 From Conversation to Produsage .......................................................... 12 Passage .............................................................................................................. 22 Dream Houses of the Collective .............................................................. 26 Passage‐Crisis ................................................................................................. 28 Threshold‐Crisis ............................................................................................ 34 Distant Viewing ............................................................................................. 40 The Great Unviewed .................................................................................... 44 Cinetopic Passage ......................................................................................... 46 02013 ................................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 1: Botanising On Celluloid: Flânerie, Cinephilia, Cinetopic Passage Flânerie .............................................................................................................. 50 Epistemology of Drift .................................................................................. 57 Cinephilia ......................................................................................................... 73 Cinetopic Anecdotes .................................................................................... 83 Post‐Cinematic Passage, Post‐Perceptual Passage ......................... 96 Cinemania ........................................................................................................... 102 Excursus: The Postmodern Cinepheur Flâneuserie .................................................................................................... 118 “All I do is drift…” ....................................................................................... 122 First Passage ................................................................................................ 127 Second Passage ........................................................................................... 130 Third Passage .............................................................................................. 134 Fourth Passage ............................................................................................ 136 Fifth Passage ................................................................................................ 140 A Postmodern Cinetopic Anecdote ..................................................... 144 i Chapter 2: The Post‐Cinematic Cinepheur Collection ....................................................................................................... 149 STV Passage, STD Passage ...................................................................... 155 Diasporic Intimacy .................................................................................... 163 Phantom Rides ............................................................................................ 165 Boys in the Sand ............................................................................................... 171 Reflective Nostalgia .................................................................................. 175 Picture Windows, Picture Windscreens ........................................... 180 Street Views ................................................................................................. 185 Infrastructuralism ..................................................................................... 192 Folding Architecture ................................................................................. 199 Metronormativity ...................................................................................... 202 City of Angles ............................................................................................... 209 Produsage ..................................................................................................... 212 The Criterion Collection .......................................................................... 215 DVD Parlours ............................................................................................... 218 Chapter 3: The Post‐Perceptual Cinepheur Dream Houses of the Collective ........................................................... 229 Tropic Mapping .......................................................................................... 232 House of Cards ............................................................................................. 237 The Fifth Wall .............................................................................................. 239 Glitch ............................................................................................................... 245 Becoming‐Secret ........................................................................................ 250 Making a Difference .................................................................................. 254 Celerity ........................................................................................................... 256 “Centuries from now…” ........................................................................... 260 Post‐Perceptual Windscreens .............................................................. 264 Zip Code 11731 ........................................................................................... 268 Conclusion Ritualistic Domesticity ............................................................................ 279 A Cinetopic Anecdote ............................................................................... 290 Bibliography Bibliographic Note ..................................................................................... 294 Bibliography ................................................................................................. 295 ii Acknowledgments For their advice, support and kindness, I would like to thank Melissa Hardie, Bruce Gardiner, Vanessa Smith, Kyle Caputo, Sandra Stevenson, Alice Stevenson, Dominica Lowe and Nina Cook. iii List of Illustrations Figure 1. The iPhone Movie Map for London. Figure 2. Wunderkammer of the missed film. Figure 3. Wunderkammer of the inadequately viewed film. Figure 4. Wunderkammer of the undervalued film. Figures 5‐7. Wunderkammera of the improperly constituted venue. Figure 8. Wunderkammer of curatorial excess and detritus. Figure 9. Wunderkammer of Cinemania. Figures 10‐11. Dream houses of the collective. Figures 12‐14. Fire Island – wind in the trees. Figures 15‐17. Fire Island – limit‐cinephilia. Figures 18‐20. Fire Island – remastered. Figure 21. A cinetopic anecdote. Figures 22‐25. McDonald’s, 1617 N Eastern Ave, L.A. Figures 26‐28. Drive‐through/offramp. Figures 29‐32. Google Glass. Figures 33‐38. Infrastructural Wunderkammera. Figures 39‐40. Google Wind. Figures 41‐44. Pickup on South Street. Figures 45‐47. Rite Aid. Figures 48‐50. Manhattan. Figure 51. Netflix Map: Tropic Thunder. Figure 52. Netflix Map: Twilight. Figures 53‐54. Netflix Maps: Bedtime Stories. Figure 55. Netflix Map: Benjamin Button. Figures 56‐61. “Centuries from now…” Figure 62. October 21, 2015. Figures 63‐65. Minor Shots. Figures 66‐68. Running Fence. Figure 69. Far Rockaway. Figure 70. The cinepheur. iv I think of cinemas, panoramic sleights With multitudes