Category: Uncategorized
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Post-Cinematic Crisis: Editing and Affect in The Big Short
By Lauren Perera Adam McKay’s The Big Short (2015) operates not only as a narrative explanation of the 2008 financial crisis, but as an affective experience shaped by what Steven Shaviro defines as post-cinematic affect. Rather than prioritising classical storytelling, character psychology, or narrative immersion, the film works through intensity, rhythm, and emotional modulation, producing…
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The Horror of Perfection: The Substance and the Violence of Post-Cinematic Beauty
BY LAI WEI 33870474 One of the most striking aspects of The Substance (2024), directed by Coralie Fargeat, is the extent to which its critique of female body anxiety extends beyond the screen and feeds back into the conditions of its own production. While the film presents itself as a satirical body-horror allegory about women…
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From MTV Flow to Networked Circulation: Music Video after Television
By Lai Wei 33870474 Music videos have long occupied an unstable position within screen media. Emerging as promotional tools for recorded music, they quickly developed into a hybrid form that combined commercial imperatives with aesthetic experimentation. The MTV era of the 1980s and 1990s marked a crucial moment in this history, establishing music video as…
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When Spectacle Becomes a System: Avatar: Fire and Ash and the Limits of Post-Cinematic Affect
by LAI WEI 33870474 The Avatar series occupies a peculiar position in contemporary cinema. Few franchises can rival its box-office success or technical ambition, yet its cultural presence remains surprisingly faint. Unlike Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Dune, Avatar rarely becomes a shared language for political metaphor, identity formation, or sustained reinterpretation. This paradox—enormous industrial…
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Beyond the Screen: Why Interstellar Hits You in the Gut (Not Just the Heart)
By LAI WEI 33870474 We often talk about movies in terms of plot or character development—did the ending make sense? Did the protagonist grow? But have you ever watched a film where the story seemed secondary to a sheer, vibrating physical intensity? If you’ve seen Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) in IMAX, or Adam McKay’s The…
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When Spectacle Becomes a System: Avatar: Fire and Ash and the Limits of Post-Cinematic Affect
By 33870474 The Avatar series occupies a peculiar position in contemporary cinema. Few franchises can rival its box-office success or technical ambition, yet its cultural presence remains surprisingly faint. Unlike Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Dune, Avatar rarely becomes a shared language for political metaphor, identity formation, or sustained reinterpretation. This paradox—enormous industrial weight with…
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Are You Watching Netflix, or Is Netflix Watching You?
By: Lai Wei 33870474 We have all been there. You sit down for a “quick” 45-minute episode to unwind after work. Three hours later, you are deep in a rabbit hole, bleary-eyed, as the “Next Episode” countdown circle spins on the screen. It feels like a guilty pleasure, but from a media studies perspective, this…
Digital Audiovisual Media Class Blog 