Danny Boyle is one of contemporary filmmaking's most exciting talents. Since the early 1990s he has steadily created a body of work that crosses genres and defies easy categorisation, from black humour (Shallow Grave), gritty realism (Trainspotting), screwball comedy (A Life Less Ordinary), cult adaptations (The Beach), and horror (28 Days Later), to science fiction (Sunshine), children's drama (Millions), love stories (Slumdog Millionaire) and tales of personal redemption (127 Hours). Unlike many of his peers, Boyle seems most comfortable when working with modest budgets, relying on acting ability rather than special effects, and surrounding himself with a trusted team of writers, cinematographers and production designers. His restless energy, vitality and drive find their expression in the celebratory tone of his films – their lust for life. In this book, Mark Browning provides a rigorous but highly accessible analysis of Boyle’s work, discussing the processes by which he absorbs generic and literary influences, the way he gains powerful performances both from inexperienced casts and A-list stars, his portrayal of regional identity, his use of moral dilemmas as a narrative trigger, and the religious undercurrents that permeate his films.

The author analyzes three books on escapism and the various ways in which it is represented in them. He focuses on Alex Garland’s backpacker cult novel 'The Beach' and William Sutcliffe’s satire of the gap-year traveler 'Are You Experienced?' as well as Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction book 'Into the Wild'.The first part of the analysis deals with the influence of literary genres like the Bildungsroman and travel literature. Unreliable narration as a narrative strategy is taken into consideration, as well as the colonial subtext of 'The Beach' and 'Are You Experienced?'. In 'Into the Wild' nature writing and road narratives are an integral part of the narrative.The second part deals with cultural aspects such as questions of authenticity that are raised during the narratives, the role of drugs as a means of escape, and also the problematic relationship between travelers and tourists. Finally, the author compares two film adaptations, Danny Boyle’s 'The Beach' (2000) and Sean Penn’s 'Into the Wild' (2007), with their corresponding literary source texts.

A humble man from humble beginnings, Danny Boyle (b. 1956) became a popular cinema darling when Slumdog Millionaire won big at the 2009 Academy Awards. Prior to this achievement, this former theater and television director helped the British film industry pull itself out of a decades-long slump. With Trainspotting, he proved British films could be more than stuffy, period dramas; they could be vivacious and thrilling with dynamic characters and an infectious soundtrack. This collection of interviews traces Boyle's relatively short fifteen-year film career, from his outstanding low-budget debut Shallow Grave, to his Hollywood studio films, his brief return to television, and his decade-in-the-making renaissance. Taken from a variety of sources including academic journals, mainstream newspapers, and independent bloggers, Danny Boyle: Interviews is one of the first books available on this emerging director. As an interviewee, Boyle displays an engaging honesty and openness. He talks about his films 28 Days Later, Millions, and others. His success proves that classical storytelling artists still resonate with audiences.

Much more than transgressional entertainment, Irvine Welsh's book Trainspotting and its derivatives is a window into the social mayhem that was everyday life in one of the most deprived areas in 1980s Britain. Thatcherism. Greed. Poverty. Heroin. HIV. Disenfranchised youth. In the back garden of posh, prosperous Edinburgh, Leith had the lot. For 20 years, Bell has interpreted Trainspotting on the streets of Leith for locals, tourists, aficionados and academics. In this book, a critical analysis of Trainspotting – the book, the play, and the film – he splices well-researched erudition with street-level wisdom and lived-experience testimony to tell the story behind the story. This new edition refocuses Trainspotting as a creative chronicle of the early years of the ongoing and uniquely Scottish drug death culture.

50 Movie Music Moments comprises a wide-ranging collection of analyses of some of the most fascinating uses of music in modern Hollywood cinema. Considering narrative strategies, filmmaking techniques, functions of film music, audience engagement and conditioning, cultural implications, and intertextuality, the case studies gathered here introduce music as a crucial element of film. In 50 examples drawn from popular and critically acclaimed Hollywood films from the late 1950s to the present, the collection showcases the many dimensions of film music and its role in cinematic storytelling. Each example includes an analysis addressing the film’s context and providing a close reading of how music, narrative, and visual elements of the scene interact. Case studies exploring the role of music in film include Amadeus, Gladiator, Baby Driver, The Dark Knight, Philadelphia, Schindler’s List, and Black Panther. This invaluable collection offers an ideal resource to support undergraduate and graduate courses in film music history, film scoring, and filmmaking, as well as readers with a general interest in music in film.

"The Oxford Handbook of Music and Advertising assembles an array of forty-two pathbreaking chapters on the production, texts, and reception of advertising through music. Uniquely interdisciplinary, the collection's tripartite structure leads the reader through these stages in the communication of the advertising message as presented by Chris Wharton (2015). The chapters on production study the factors, activities, and people behind the music for the marketing pitch, both past and present. Prominent throughlines in the section include factors influencing the selection of music (and musicians) for advertising, the role of music in corporate branding strategies, the creative forces behind the soundscape of advertising, and industry practices that undergird all aspects of music in commercial contexts. The section on Text focuses on analytic and historical approaches to ads in various media, and includes commentaries on musical genres in ads ranging from Western European art music to American popular genre. Also covered in this section is ad music as used in different ad genres, such as political ads, public service announcements, and television commercials. The analyses used in this section draws from traditional music theory, semiotics, and hermeneutic analysis. Finally, the last section addressing "Reception"-with contributions by researchers in psychology, marketing, and other fields-involves the formulation of models and theories, and implementation of research methods to examine how the presence of music may influence peoples' attitudes, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in the context of advertisements and within service environments such as stores, restaurants, and banks. The editors and chapter contributors of this book bring a diversity of perspectives to the topic but share a united aim: to illuminate music's vital contribution to the advertising message"--

This book traces the evolution of George Clooney's successful career, from his humble start as a television heartthrob to his current position as one of the most powerful figures in film making today. It can be said that George Clooney has crafted his artistic brand through a mixture of smart career choices of roles, carefully nuanced performances, and key relationships with directors. He is not just an accomplished actor but a major Hollywood player, serving as director, producer, and writer on many projects. His work garners critical acclaim, and his influence and creative input have been the main reason why some of his films exist at all. This fascinating book analyzes the impressive career trajectory of one of the industry's most powerful figures today. George Clooney: An Actor Looking for a Role is the first book to examine the full range of Clooney's career. Arranged by genre, sections include early television work, romantic comedies, action films, heist movies, political thrillers, and films that blend a number of different genres. Clooney's contributions have not only resulted in three Oscar acting nominations and one win, but his work continues to challenge the conventions of the traditional form and expands the definition of key genres.

Jack Sutherland, the narrator and protagonist of this memoir has, you might say, led a charmed life in the face of seeming damnation. A confirmed alcoholic in his early teens, by his twenties he was PA and bodyguard to the Hollywood stars most notably Michael Stipe, Ru Paul and Mickey Rourke. His work took him to exotic destinations around the world and bizarre encounters and requests. It also led him back to a smorgasbord of lethal addictions: alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy and perhaps most damaging of all crystal meth and the crazed chem sex that characterises its use. On the shores of death's coastline, a nine stone skeleton in a frame that once boasted the shape and tone of a bodybuilder, Jack is saved. By his father, one of the literary world's most esteemed personalities: John Sutherland.A son's memoir told through the prism and prose of a father will surely take its place among the classics of contemporary addiction and recovery stories like A Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. Stars, Cars & Crystal Meth lifts the lid on the shadow world of the Hollywood PA with grim but ultimately inspiring honesty.

England's Secret Weapon explores the way Hollywood used Sherlock Holmes in a series of fourteen films spanning the years of World War II in Europe, from The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1939 to Dressed to Kill in 1946. Basil Rathbone's portrayal of Holmes has influenced every actor who has since played him on film, TV, stage and radio, yet the film series has, until now, been neglected in terms of detailed critical analysis. The book looks at the films themselves in combination with their historical context and examines how the studio ‘updated' Holmes and recruited him to fight the Nazis, steering a careful course between modernising the detective and making sure he was still recognisable as the ‘old Holmes’ in clothes, locations and behaviour.

In Film Narratology, Peter W.J. Verstraten makes film narratives his primary focus, while noting the unexplored and essentially different narrative effects that film can produce with mise-en-scène, cinematography, and editing.