Introduction to Smart Cinema

Abstract

This study examines a broad range of post-1990s indie films, alongside a few mainstream films which break many of the old classic linear narrative and generic rules that have helped to define Hollywood and its alternative ‘art’ cinema. This work will also explore how bonus features attached to smart films are capable of speaking to and affirming a more contemporary branding of identity for new-generational audiences. There is a continuing need for a creative and critical dialogue with new generations of students and audiences to help reinvigorate the study of film. With a growing preoccupation with convergence within new media research,¹ DVD add-ons provide a useful bridge between new media and conventional film study, while assisting in exploring how new-generational cineastes might relate to smart cinema. Nonetheless, this study remains primarily focused on a broadly textual analysis approach to the films under discussion. A further volume is required to provide an empirical analysis of audience pleasures.