Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CGU Theses & Dissertations CGU Student Scholarship 2012 Accelerated Culture: Exploring Time and Space in Cinema, Television and New Media in the Digital Age Thomas J. Connelly Claremont Graduate University Recommended Citation Connelly, Thomas J.. (2012). Accelerated Culture: Exploring Time and Space in Cinema, Television and New Media in the Digital Age. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 50. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/50. doi: 10.5642/cguetd/50 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Accelerated Culture: Exploring Time and Space in Cinema, Television and New Media in the Digital Age by Thomas J. Connelly Claremont Graduate University 2012 © Copyright Thomas J. Connelly, 2012 All Rights Reserved APPROVAL OF THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE We, the undersigned, certify that we have read, reviewed, and critiqued the dissertation of Thomas J. Connelly and do hereby approve it as adequate in scope and quality for meriting the degree of Cultural Studies. Dr. Henry Krips Professor of Cultural Studies Department of Cultural Studies Claremont Graduate University Dr. Eve Oishi Associate Professor of Cultural Studies Department of Cultural Studies Claremont Graduate University Dr. James Morrison Professor of Film and Literature Department of Literature Claremont Mckenna College Dr. Dana Polan Professor of Cinema Studies Tisch School of the Arts New York University Abstract Accelerated Culture: Exploring Time and Space in Cinema, Television and New Media in the Digital Age by Thomas J. Connelly This dissertation seeks to understand the impact of speed on the interrelation and the overlapping of the production and consumption of cinematic and televisual texts. It explores the immediacy of digital media and new economic processes, and how they are informing structures of perception, as well as lending themselves to new and different ways of seeing the moving image in the digital age. These visual expressions are evident in the changing perception of the long take; the increasing use of video gaming aesthetics and database narratives; new and variant forms of narrative and visual styles in television; and the speed of new media technology on new voices and avant-garde expressions in independent and DIY cinema (such as the Internet, personal camcorder, mobile screens, and desktop editing). Conversely, VCR, DVD, DVR devices (as well as online streaming and DVD and Blu-Ray rental sites) have transformed the consumption of the moving image. Time-shifting devices allow for halting and controlling the flow of passing time, permitting for greater textual analysis. And, reciprocally, these new perceptions of the moving image inform expressions of filmic time and space. The speed of digital media and new economic formations raise concerns about lived reality and the attenuation of time, place, and community. It brings forth questions of the waning of pastness and memory, the diminishing of critical distance, and the vanishing of slow time. I argue, however, these shifts that are occurring in cinema and television illustrate that processes of speed are not the prime determinant in the production and consumption of moving images. Rather, they are based on a contingent and open-ended model of articulation—sites where disparate elements are temporary combined, unified, and thus, practiced and lived under the ever-changing conditions of existence. Acknowledgments There are a number of people I would like to thank for their support during this milestone achievement. Firstly, I would like to thank my committee members, Henry Krips, Eve Oishi, James Morrison, and Dana Polan for their support and guidance in completing this project. I thank my advisor Henry Krips who played a significant role in my academic journey as a teacher, mentor and friend. As chair of my dissertation, his careful reading and comments in the final stages of the project were tremendously valuable. I thank Henry for suggesting me to read Antonio Gramsci and Michael Warner, both important figures in my dissertation. As a teacher and writer, he inspired me to explore the complexity and conjunctural nature of politics and culture. And I thank him for introducing me to his family and for his support in my move from the east coast. I thank Eve Oishi for helping me plan my academic trajectory at CGU. Her guidance and encouragement helped me to navigate the qualifying exams. Eve helped me to development my voice as a writer. Her “Introduction to Cultural Studies” course made me think deeply about categories of time and space. And I thank her for recommending David Harvey’s work on postmodernity and Mary Ann Doane’s work on cinematic time. Enrolling in James Morrison’s film courses confirmed why I love cinema. As a teacher, he provided me with the language to put my ideas into words. His film theory course was extremely important in the development of my ideas for my dissertation. I was deeply honored to be part of his long take panel at the SCMS conference in 2011. I thank him for introducing me to many great novelists and film scholars, especially Dana Polan’s work. I want to thank Dana Polan for being my outside reader. Dana’s writings on cinema and television greatly contributed to my project. His book on The Sopranos inspired me to re-watch all seven seasons this past summer, which became a central object of study for this project. It is a tremendous honor to have Dana as a part of my dissertation committee. I want to thank my friends and family for their support these past four years. I especially want to thank Paul Biagiotti for all of our great conversations about cinema and for introducing me to mumblecore. I want to give gratitude to the faculty at the department of English at the University of Vermont. I especially thank Todd McGowan for encouraging me to pursue my Ph.D., and for connecting me with Henry Krips. I want to thank the staff members at the Arts & Humanities office at CGU for their assistance. Writing a dissertation can be a lonely process. I thank my dog Beatrice for being a presence and not barking too much! Lastly, I want to thank my wonderful and beautiful wife and best friend, Katie. Without her support, I would not have been able to pursue my Ph.D. I thank her for listening as I attempted to problem-solve the many obstacles encountered during the writing and researching of this project. I thank her for her editing expertise. Most of all, I thank her for always being there for me. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………v Introduction: Accelerated Culture………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: The Velocity of the Long Take…………………………………………….……37 Chapter 2: The Politics of the Long Take: Gus Van Sant’s Elephant...…………..................72 Chapter 3: “Made in America:” The Television of Delay in Twin Peaks and The Sopranos……………………………….…………………………………..103 Chapter 4: “An Uncertain Future:” The Instant, Narrative Closure, and the Pensive and Possessive Spectator in Twin Peaks and The Sopranos………...………………132 Chapter 5: Exploring Mumblecore: Speed, Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, Publics and Counterpublics……………………….............................................164 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...188 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….194 vi Introduction: Accelerated Culture The end of the 1950s witnessed two major inventions in the world of science and technology that would significantly reshape experiences of time and space. The first was the FAA’s certification of Pan American World Airways’ new Boeing 707, ushering in what became known as the jet age. The Boeing 707 would not only alter the entire infra- structure of airline transportation, but also reconfigure the way goods and services were trafficked and circulated around the globe. The second invention was a device created by Jack Kilby called the microchip, which would dramatically influence the future of computer technologies, spawning what is termed “miniaturization.” The advent of the microchip, for example, led to the creation of IBM’s 1401—the first modern computer. Fred Kaplan notes that the IBM 1401 took up 34 square feet, whereas IBM’s previous computer (the UNIVAC), without the microchip, had taken up 220 square feet (76-83). Decades later, the fusion of the microchip with computer technology would inspire the creation of the Internet and media devices, such as iPods, laptops, and smart phones. The jet airliner and microchip are clear examples of new technologies that have augmented perceptions of time and space in everyday life. There is no denying that taking a jumbo airliner from Los Angeles to New York City, within roughly five to six hours, is a significant advancement for the travel industry. The same goes for the invention of the microchip and the process of miniaturization for the computer and electronic industries. The New York Times recently reported that 70 million iPhones and 30 million iPads were sold last year alone (Duhigg and Bradsher, “iPhone”). But determining the narratives and practices that are generated out of the uses of technology is a far more complex task, not only because they can be unpredictable, but because 1 consumption can potentially inform production and vice versa, creating a complex circuit of meaning in the