The Social Science of Cinema

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Edited by James C. Kaufman and Dean Keith Simonton

Type: Studies
Subject: Sociology
Keywords: social aspects, sociology, viewer
Publishing date: 2013
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 336 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-19-979781-3

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Book Presentation:
• The first comprehensive collection of empirical research devoted to the social science of cinema
• Top scholars from psychology, economics, sociology, business, and communications tackle key questions about the film experience
• From a movie's creation to the audience's reaction to its eventual reception by critics and the box office, this book offers insights about all aspects of the movies based on cutting-edge research
• Essays explore such topics as the specific factors that influence whether movies make money, win awards, or flop; how our personality impacts on our viewing preferences; issues of gender inequity on screen; the relationship between visual perception and the way movies are edited; and many more

Ever since motion pictures first landed on screen, there have been many key questions that the studios and movie watchers have tried to answer. What makes a movie an Oscar winner? How does one movie become a hit and another movie flop? Why do some films earn critical acclaim while other films become critical turkeys or bombs? How do audiences perceive film? What makes a movie resonate with a viewer? Are we unduly influenced by negative behaviors on screen? These questions have spurred debates, discussions, and many theories. Until the last two decades, however, it was quite rare to have the issues approached from a scientific viewpoint.

The Social Science of Cinema compiles research from such varied disciplines as psychology, economics, sociology, business, and communications to find the best empirical research being done on the movies, based on perspectives that many filmgoers have never considered. Essays explore such topics as the specific factors that influence whether movies make money, win awards, or flop; how our personality impacts on our viewing preferences; issues of gender inequity on screen; the relationship between visual perception and the way movies are edited; and many more. This book attempts the ultimate act of figuring out the mystery behind the movies - what makes them so memorable to us, what makes them this century's leading works of art, and how this art intersects with the business of making money.

About the authors:
Edited by James C. Kaufman, Associate Professor of Psychology, California State University at San Bernardino, and Edited by Dean Keith Simonton, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis James C. Kaufman, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. An international leader in the field of creativity, he has published 23 books and more than 200 papers. He is the president of the American Psychological Association's Division 10 (Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) and the founding editor of Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Dean Keith Simonton, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. Internationally known for his research on genius, creativity, and leadership, he has produced over 450 publications that have received more than 11,000 citations, and 180 publications have been cited at least 10 times. He is the winner of APA's Division 46 Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Media Psychology. His Google Scholar h index is 51.

See the publisher website: Oxford University Press

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