RTF 359 Convergent Hollywood-W

Unique No. see course schedule

Faculty: Sebok, B

Class Time: TTH 1100 - 1230P

Room: BIO 301

Discussion: W 730P - 1000P

Room: CMA 3.120

Writing Comp: Y

Comm/Cult Req: N

Closing Limit: 35

Cross-Listed N

PREREQUISITES

For RTF majors: upper division standing and the following coursework with a grade of at least C in each: RTF 305, either 314 or 316, and 6 additional semester hours of lower-division coursework in RTF.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

This course does not require consent. Registration is open via the online registration system to all RTF majors.

FIRST CLASS DAY POLICY

Students must attend the first class or they will be dropped.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to introduce you to a variety of digital technologies and their impacts on Hollywood's business model and product output, as Hollywood has shifted from what might be called "Conglomerate Hollywood" to "Convergent Hollywood." We will examine both practical and theoretical aspects of digitalization, including the various industrial, cultural, economic, political, and technological contexts into which digital technologies are introduced and diffuse. In so doing, we will work to develop critical skills to analyze and contextualize recent and dramatic shifts in the nature of Hollywood business practices. Our concentration for the first half of the semester will be on digital technologies impacting the processes of production and exhibition and their impacts on Hollywood revenue streams.

The second half of the semester will focus on digital distribution and the commercialization of DVD. This section of the course will examine DVD as a case study in digital distribution, industrial formation and technological diffusion in the post-internet age. We'll investigate the past, present, and future of ancillary markets and explore how the DVD story demonstrates the collective power of the Big Six media conglomerates and their counterparts in the consumer electronics and IT industries. The course will conclude with discussion of the future of digital entertainment in television, film, and in advertising.

Finally, the debates we have in class should highlight the continuing cultural relevancy of digital technology in shifting "Conglomerate Hollywood" to "Convergent Hollywood."