Keepers of the Flame : NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media

NFL Films changed the way Americans view football. Keepers of the Flame: NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media traces the subsidiary's development from a small independent film production company to the marketing machine that Sports Illustrated named "perhaps the most effective propaganda organ in the history of corporate America." Drawing on research at the NFL Films Archive and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and interviews with media pioneer Steve Sabol and others, Travis Vogan shows how NFL Films has constructed a consistent, romanticized, and remarkably visible mythology for the National Football League. The company packages football as a visceral and dramatic sequence of violent, beautiful, graceful, and heroic gridiron battles. Historically proven formulas for presentation—such as the dramatic voiceovers once provided by John Facenda's baritone, the soaring scores of Sam Spence's rousing background music, and the epic poetry found in Steve Sabol's scripts—are still used today. From the Vincent Price-narrated Strange but True Football Stories to the currently running series Hard Knocks , NFL Films distinguishes the NFL from other sports organizations and from other media and entertainment. Vogan tells the larger story of the company's relationship with and vast influence on our culture's representations of sport, the expansion of sports television beyond live game broadcasts, and the emergence of cable television and Internet sports media. Keepers of the Flame: NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media presents sports media as an integral facet of American popular culture and NFL Films as key to the transformation of professional football into the national obsession commonly known as America's Game.| Cover Title Contents Acknowledgments Introduction. NFL Films and Pro Football Chapter 1. Creating and Sustaining America's Game Chapter 2. More Movies than News Chapter 3. The NFL's Smithsonian Chapter 4. The Shakespeares of Sports Films Chapter 5. Keeping the Flame in the Broadcast Era Chapter 6. Cable, NFL, Media, and NFL Films' Dinosaur Television Conclusion. The Persistence and Obsolescence of NFL Films Notes Bibliography Index |"Vogan is able to conclude that by NFL Films' "manufacturing pro football's significance" the average fan was "taught" how to watch football, eventually leading to the replacement of baseball as "America's Pastime" with NFL football as "America's Game."— Journalism History " Keepers of the Flame is the definitive study of major-league media subsidiaries in the United States. It merits wide readership by historians of sports, media, and journalism."— Sport History Review "A readable and interesting book with a lot of descriptive history. Recommended."— Choice | Travis Vogan is an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication and American studies at the University of Iowa. NFL Films changed the way Americans view football. This book traces the subsidiary's development from a small independent film production company to the marketing machine that __Sports Illustrated__ named “perhaps the most effective propaganda organ in the history of corporate America.” Drawing on research at the NFL Films Archive and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and interviews with media pioneer Steve Sabol and others, the book shows how NFL Films has constructed a consistent, romanticized, and remarkably visible mythology for the National Football League. The company packages football as a visceral and dramatic sequence of violent, beautiful, graceful, and heroic gridiron battles. Historically proven formulas for presentation are still used today. From the Vincent Price-narrated __Strange but True Football Stories__ to the currently running series __Hard Knocks__, NFL Films distinguishes the NFL from other sports organizations and from other media and entertainment. The book tells the larger story of the company's relationship with and vast influence on our culture's representations of sport, the expansion of sports television beyond live game broadcasts, and the emergence of cable television and Internet sports media. This book presents sports media as an integral facet of American popular culture and NFL Films as key to the transformation of pro football into the national obsession commonly known as America's Game. NFL Films changed the way Americans viewed professional football. In Keepers of the Flame: NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media, Travis Vogan presents NFL Films' rise from a small independent production company to a marketing machine Sports Illustrated called "perhaps the most effective propaganda organ in the history of corporate America." Drawing on research at the NFL Films Archive and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and interviews with media pioneer Steve Sabol and others, Vogan traces how NFL Films constructed a romanticized, remarkably visible mythology for the National Football League by packaging pro football as a heroic sequence of violent and beautiful gridiron battles. John Facenda's honeyed "Voice of God" baritone and Sam Spence's soaring scores merged with the epic poetry in Steve Sabol's scripts to create a hugely successful entertainment formula still used today. Vogan also shows the company's relationship with and vast influence on our culture's representations of sport, the expansion of sports television beyond live game broadcasts, and the emergence of cable television and Internet sports media. His analysis presents sports media as an integral facet of American popular culture, and NFL Films as key to the transformation of pro football into the national obsession known as America's Game.--Provided by publisher NFL Films changed the way Americans view football. This work traces the subsidiary's development from a small independent film production company to the marketing machine that 'Sports Illustrated' named 'perhaps the most effective propaganda organ in the history of corporate America.' Drawing on research at the NFL Films Archive and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and interviews with media pioneer Steve Sabol and others, Travis Vogan shows how NFL Films has constructed a consistent, romanticized, and remarkably visible mythology for the National Football League. -- Provided by publisher