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Matthew Hipps - Diss. - as of 12_11_2023 - final for deposit5.19 MB
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Dissertation
Riding the movies: alternative cinema exhibition and kinetic spectatorship in theme park movie rides
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Autumn 2023
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006845
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes and historicizes the films and cinematic exhibition structures of theme park ride systems and kinetic theaters which support the popular appeal of a phenomenon known as movie rides. Synthesizing amusement park thrill rides, visual effects craftsmanship, world’s fair attractions, and movie studio filmmaking, contemporary theme park movie rides purport to offer audiences the opportunity to “ride” the movie or become immersed within a film franchise. Through forms of spectacular exhibition in audiovisual and haptic experiential traditions, movie rides have become popular contemporary film venues that seek to restage deep rooted anxieties associated with embodiment and immersion in the digital age. My project argues that theme park movie rides have redefined the scope of contemporary nonstandard film exhibition as a unique form of visceral cinematic spectatorship. Through a close analysis of several movie ride systems, as well as detailing fundamental design characteristics which span across a range of ride examples, I show that movie ride systems are significant objects of study which help to better understand film exhibition and spectatorship found beyond the mainstream movie theater.
To organize this work, my dissertation’s chapters progress geographically from the outside towards the center, starting with peripheral spectacles surrounding movie rides in ride systems, then to kinetic movie theaters and moving chairs, and culminating with an investigation of the rube-like tactile and playful movie spectator at the epicenter. The struggle to effectively define theme park exhibition spaces in film studies coincides directly with my dissertation’s aim to bring these undertheorized spaces into greater conversation with film history and the rich array of “alternative” media practices which have been part of the moviegoing landscape for more than a century. By sketching a more complete history of the theme park movie ride experiences and v detailed explanations regarding the specificity of various embodied aesthetic practices found in these exhibition systems, my project aims to bring greater clarity to movie ride system designs and narrative structures. Largely run by American film studios, theme parks and their movie rides create popular attractions which hold important implications on how they contribute to, and work in conjunction with, the contemporary American film industry. A more nuanced understanding of movie rides can also help to illustrate how film spectatorship becomes transformed in the blockbuster age through ideations of the human body as it relates to technology studies, phenomenology, and the recent re-emergence of trends in visceral cinema spectatorship. In detailing a more expansive view of film exhibition and spectatorship practices, my project’s comprehensive history and analysis of theme park movie rides’ show how their impact on the film spectator challenges the traditional notion of moviegoing as primarily seated and immobile. Overall, my project sheds light on the multifaceted nature of movie rides, their immersive and participatory elements, and their influence on film spectatorship both within theme parks and within contemporary film culture more broadly.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Riding the movies: alternative cinema exhibition and kinetic spectatorship in theme park movie rides
- Creators
- Matthew Hipps
- Contributors
- Paula Amad (Advisor)Corey Creekmur (Committee Member)Christopher Goetz (Committee Member)Rosemarie Scullion (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Film Studies
- Date degree season
- Autumn 2023
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006845
- Number of pages
- xiii, 288 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2023 Matthew Hipps
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 12/04/2023
- Description illustrations
- illustrations, facsimiles
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 270-288).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- This dissertation analyzes and historicizes alternative cinema exhibition venues and embodied forms of film spectatorship found in theme park movie rides. Movie rides specialize in a type of kinetic storytelling which offers audiences the opportunity to “ride” the movie or be within a film franchise by boarding a vehicle which simulates immersion into the world of film. Through a close analysis of several movie ride systems, as well as detailing fundamental design characteristics which span across a range of movie ride examples, I show that movie ride systems are important objects of study when looking to better understand types of film exhibition and spectatorship found beyond the mainstream movie theater. By sketching a more complete history of theme park movie ride experiences and detailed explanations of various embodied aesthetic practices found in these haptic exhibition systems, my project aims to bring greater clarity on how film spectatorship becomes transformed in contemporary movie ride sites.
- Academic Unit
- Cinematic Arts
- Record Identifier
- 9984546541102771
Metrics
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