H. G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies (Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies)

Everyone is familiar with H.G. Wells’s pioneering works of science fiction, The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man—but fewer realize how these works helped to technically develop the cinematic narrative. An appealing and accessible study aimed at the student of modernism and early cinema, H.G. Wells, Modernity, and the Movies reconsiders Well’s advancement of the cinematic narrative alongside the social and political impact of early media. Including rare illustrations from the original magazines which published Wells’s early work, this groundbreaking study will be of interest to anyone concerned with Wells, his work, and the technological parameters of modern culture. This book investigates Wells's interest in cinema and related media technologies, by placing it back into the contemporary cultural and scientific contexts giving rise to them. It plugs a gap in understanding Wells's contribution to exploring and advancing the possibilities of cinematic narrative and its social and ideological impacts in the modern period. Previous studies concentrate on adaptations: this book accounts for the specifically (proto) cinematic techniques and concerns of Wells's texts. It also focuses on contemporary film-making 'in dialogue' with his ideas. Alongside Hollywood's later transactions, it gives equal weight to neglected British and continental European dimensions. Chapter 1 shows how early writings (The Time Machine and short stories) feature many kinds of radically defamiliarised vision. These constitute imaginative speculations about the forms and potentials of moving image and electronic media. Chapter 2 discusses the power of voyeurism, 'absent presence' and the disjunction of sound-image reproduction implied in The Invisible Man and its topical politics, updated in notable screen versions. Chapter 3 extends this to dystopian warnings of systematic surveillance, broadcasting of celebrity personae and 'post-literate' video culture in When the Sleeper Wakes, a crucial template for urban futures on film. Chapter 4 analyses Wells's belated return to screenwriting in the 1930s. It accounts for his 'broadbrow' ambition of mediating between popular and avant-garde tendencies to promote his cause and its mixed results in Things to Come, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, etc. Chapter 5 finally surveys Wells's legacy on both small and large screens. It considers whether, as well as being raided for scenarios for spectacular effects, his subtexts still nourish an evolving tradition of alternative SF, which duly critiques the innovations and applications of its host media This book investigates H. G. Wells's interest in cinema and related media technologies, by placing it back into the contemporary cultural and scientific contexts giving rise to them. It plugs a gap in understanding Wells's contribution to exploring and advancing the possibilities of cinematic narrative and its social and ideological impacts in the modern period. Previous studies concentrate on adaptations; this book accounts for the specifically (proto)cinematic techniques and concerns of Wells's texts, and also focuses on contemporary film-making ‘in dialogue’ with his ideas. Alongside Hollywood's later transactions, it gives equal weight to neglected British and continental European dimensions. Chapter 1 shows how early writings ( The Time Machine and short stories) feature many kinds of radically defamiliarised vision. These constitute imaginative speculations about the forms and potentials of moving image and electronic media. Chapter 2 discusses the power of voyeurism, ‘absent presence’, and the disjunction of sound-image reproduction implied in The Invisible Man and its topical politics, updated in notable screen versions. Chapter 3 extends this to dystopian warnings of systematic surveillance, broadcasting of celebrity personae and ‘post-literate’ video culture in When the Sleeper Wakes , a crucial template for urban futures on film. Chapter 4 analyses Wells's belated return to screenwriting in the 1930s. It accounts for his ‘broadbrow’ ambition of mediating between popular and avant-garde tendencies to promote his cause and its mixed results in Things to Come , The Man Who Could Work Miracles , etc. Chapter 5 finally surveys Wells's legacy on both small and large screens This Book Investigates Wells's Interest In Cinema And Related Media Technologies, By Placing It Back Into The Contemporary Cultural And Scientific Contexts Giving Rise To Them. Previous Studies Have Concentrated On Adaptations: This Study Accounts For The Specifically (proto)cinematic Techniques And Concerns Of Wells's Texts. It Also Focuses On Contemporary Film-making 'in Dialogue' With His Ideas. Alongside Hollywood's Later Transactions, It Gives Equal Weight To Neglected British And Continental European Dimensions.--jacket. Optical Speculations In The Early Writings: The Time Machine And The Short Stories -- The Dis/appearance Of The Subject: Wells, Whale And The Invisible Man -- 'seeing The Future': Visual Technology In When The Sleeper Wakes And Fritz Lang's Metropolis -- The 'broadbrow' And The Big Screen: Wells's Film Writing -- Afterimages: Adaptations And Influences. Keith Williams. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [247]-268) And Index. Title Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Abbreviations......Page 9 Introduction: Wells’s Prescience......Page 10 1: Optical Speculations in the Early Writings: The Time Machine and the Short Stories......Page 33 2: The Dis/Appearance of the Subject: Wells, Whale and The Invisible Man......Page 58 3: ‘Seeing the Future’: Visual Technology and Urban Dystopia in When the Sleeper Wakes and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis......Page 82 4: The ‘Broadbrow’ and the Big Screen: Wells’s Film Writing......Page 103 5: Afterimages: Adaptations and Influences......Page 139 Conclusion......Page 187 Notes......Page 192 Bibliography......Page 256 Index......Page 278