Show Sold Separately : Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts

Highlights the trailers, merchandising and cultural conversations that shape our experiences of film and television It is virtually impossible to watch a movie or TV show without preconceived notions because of the hype that precedes them, while a host of media extensions guarantees them a life long past their air dates. An onslaught of information from print media, trailers, internet discussion, merchandising, podcasts, and guerilla marketing, we generally know something about upcoming movies and TV shows well before they are even released or aired. The extras, or paratexts, that surround viewing experiences are far from peripheral, shaping our understanding of them and informing our decisions about what to watch or not watch and even how to watch before we even sit down for a show. Show Sold Separately gives critical attention to this ubiquitous but often overlooked phenomenon, examining paratexts like DVD bonus materials for The Lord of the Rings , spoilers for Lost , the opening credits of The Simpsons , Star Wars actions figures, press reviews for Friday Night Lights, the framing of Batman Begins , the videogame of The Thing , and the trailers for The Sweet Hereafter . Plucking these extra materials from the wings and giving them the spotlight they deserve, Jonathan Gray examines the world of film and television that exists before and after the show.

It is virtually impossible to watch a movie or TV show without preconceived notions because of the hype that precedes them, while a host of media extensions guarantees them a life long past their air dates. An onslaught of information from print media, trailers, internet discussion, merchandising, podcasts, and guerilla marketing, we generally know something about upcoming movies and TV shows well before they are even released or aired. The extras, or “paratexts,” that surround viewing experiences are far from peripheral, shaping our understanding of them and informing our decisions about what to watch or not watch and even how to watch before we even sit down for a show.

Show Sold Separately gives critical attention to this ubiquitous but often overlooked phenomenon, examining paratexts like DVD bonus materials for The Lord of the Rings, spoilers for Lost, the opening credits of The Simpsons, Star Wars actions figures, press reviews for Friday Night Lights, the framing of Batman Begins, the videogame of The Thing, and the trailers for The Sweet Hereafter. Plucking these extra materials from the wings and giving them the spotlight they deserve, Jonathan Gray examines the world of film and television that exists before and after the show.

Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Introduction: Film, Television, and Off-Screen Studies (page 1) 1 From Spoilers to Spinoffs: A Theory of Paratexts (page 23) 2 Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings (page 47) 3 Bonus Materials: Digital Auras and Authors (page 81) 4 Under a Long Shadow: Sequels, Prequels, Pre-Texts, and Intertexts (page 117) 5 Spoiled and Mashed Up: Viewer-Created Paratexts (page 143) 6 In the World, Just Off Screen: Toys and Games (page 175) Conclusion: "In the DNA": Creating across Paratexts (page 207) Notes (page 223) Index (page 239) About the Author (page 247) Introduction: Film, Television, And Off-screen Studies -- From Spoilers To Spinoffs: A Theory Of Paratexts -- Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, And Textual Beginnings -- Bonus Materials: Digital Auras And Authors -- Under A Long Shadow: Sequels, Prequels, Pre-texts, And Intertexts -- Spoiled And Mashed Up: Viewer-created Paratexts -- In The World, Just Off Screen: Toys And Games -- Conclusion: In The Dna: Creating Across Paratexts. Jonathan Gray. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Thanks to an onslaught of information from print media, trailers, internet discussion, merchandising, podcasts, and guerrilla marketing, we generally know something about upcoming movies and TV shows well before they are even released or aired. This book examines the world of film and television that exists before and after the show. This work examines the world of film and television that exists before and after the show. It may rewrite the rules of what we look at when we want to understand how audiences make meaning of media franchises as profoundly as Tony Bennett and Janet Woollcott's 'Bond and Beyond' did for a previous generation