Rough draft of slides used for Sci-fi module

2. Literary origins
 Science fiction and scholars:
 Raymond Williams (1956/1988)
 Contemporary ‘structure of feeling’
 Darko Suvin (1972; 1979)
 Cognitive estrangement
 Marc Angenot (1979)
 Semiotics
 Tom Moylan (1986)
 Utopian studies
 Fredric Jameson (2005)
 Postmodern history

3. The legacy of network
television

4. Serialized complexity

5. Worlds without
technology

6. Cross-over appeal?

7. Network television
 Dominated by big 3 (NBC, ABC, CBS)
 Pre-1980s success based on audience share
(~30%)
 Science fiction struggled on TV (contrast with
cinema)
 Emergence of cable, satellite, VCR, etc
 Audience fragmentation and establishment of niche
demographics

8. Television:
the perfect home?
 “[Science fiction] has come of age:
not only can it tell stories of cognitive
estrangement, it can deliver them
with persuasively ‘realistic’ visuals”
 Jan Johnson–Smith, 2005: 71

9. The rise of cable TV
 “Cable substantially altered the
viewers’ experience with its
introduction of a vast array of
channels. In 1988, 50 percent of US
households subscribed to cable,
which was the subscription base
analysts believed necessary … to
achieve profitability. This subscription
level marked an increase form just
19.9 percent in 1980, grew to 65.4
percent in 1990, and reached 68
percent in 2000”
 Lotz, 2007: 52-3

11. 2 categories
 Successful niche
shows
 Air on cable networks
that can support ‘high-buzz’
shows with
smaller audiences
 Often small but loyal
fan bases
 Critical acclaim and
awards success
 Problematic shows
 Air on the broadcast
networks
 Often lasted multiple
seasons despite low
ratings
 Continually in danger
of cancellation

12. The Importance of Being
Earnest
 Zombies, dragons, wizards…
 Seldom held in high regard despite the
seriousness of fan investment
 “[Fans] insist on making meaning from
materials others have characterized as
trivial and worthless”
 Henry Jenkins, 1992: p.3.

13. So, why now?
 “The 'Lord of the Rings' films are 10 years old at this
point and they were incredibly lucrative. That’s what
it takes, an investment that shows that the private
sector will go and watch these”
 Ian Bogost, 2012

14. High fantasy
 Lloyd Alexander (1971) essay on ‘High Fantasy and
the Heroic Romance’
 Developed by Kenneth Zahorski and Robert Boyer
 Set in secondary world
 Low fantasy set in primary world with magical
elements

15. What is not high fantasy:
 humorous fantasy,
 animal fantasy,
 ‘myth fantasy’,
 fairly tales,
 gothic fantasy,
 science fantasy,
 and sword and
sorcery.
 …according to
Zahorski and Boyer
 What’s left????

16. Before Game of
Thrones…

17. Wizards and Warriors
(1983)

18. Robin of Sherwood
(1984-1986)

19. Covington Cross (1992)

20. Conan: The Adventurer
(1997)

21. Roar (1997)

22. Legend of the Seeker
(2008-10)

23. Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys
(1995-99)

24. Xenia: Warrior Princess
(1995-2001)

25. Highlander (1992-98)

26. Babylon Fields (2007)

27. Convergence
 General cultural shift towards much
broader audience participation and activity
across the board of audience-media
relationships.
 “fans have become the ideal viewer-consumer”
 Sue Short, 2011: p.6

28. The franchise

29. George R. R. Martin
 A Song of Ice and Fire (1996-present)

30. Big budget
 The pilot reportedly cost HBO between $5-10
million
 The total budget for the first season has been
estimated at $50–60 million.
 Season 2 received a 15% budget increase in order
to stage the epic ‘clash of kings’ battle that the
second Martin book was named after.
 HBO is owned by Time-Warner and can operate at
a loss if needs be.

31. Ratings
 1st series averaged 2.5 million viewers (US)
 2nd series = 3.8 million (total consolidated viewers = 10.3m)
 3rd series = 4.97 million (total consolidated viewers = 11.6m)
 4th series = 6.8 million (total consolidated viewers = 18.6m)
 5.9 million illegal downloads per episode
 The most illegally downloaded show of 2012 and 2013
 Initially very few legal alternatives

33. The franchise

34. Robert Kirkman

35. Big Budget
 Budget of $3.4 million per episode for first season
 Budget of $2.7 million for second season
 Season 3 had an undisclosed budget boost
 As a comparison
 The Big Bang Theory has a budget of $2m per
episode
 Game of Thrones $6 million

36. Ratings
 Series 1 averaged 5.24 million viewers.
 Season 2 averaged 6.9 million viewers
 Season 3 averaged 10.4 million viewers
 Season 4 averaged 13.3 million viewers
 Season 5 opened with 17.3 million viewers
 A record for a basic cable show

38. Patriarchal power?

39. Monstrous feminine?
 “Proper control over wombs, and the anxiety that
they will be captured, polluted, or compromised is a
kind of Ur-myth for the apocalyptic genre in general
and the zombie sub-genre in particular; speaking
broadly, the function of women in most apocalyptic
narratives is to code the ending as “happy” or “sad”
based on their continued ability to bear the male
protagonist’s children when the story is over”
 Gerry Canavan, 2010: 444

40. Cersei S1E7

41. Daenerys S1E1

43. Afterward she could not say how far or how long they had ridden,
but it was full dark when they stopped at a grassy place beside a
small stream. Drogo swung off his horse and lifted her down from
hers. She felt as fragile as glass in his hands, her limbs as weak as
water. She stood there helpless and trembling in her wedding silks
while he secured the horses, and when he turned to look at her, she
began to cry.
Khal Drogo stared at her tears, his face strangely empty of
expression. "No," he said. He lifted his hand and rubbed away the
tears roughly with a callused thumb.
"You speak the Common Tongue," Dany said in wonder.
"No," he said again.
Perhaps he had only that word, she thought, but it was one word
more than she had known he had, and somehow it made her feel a
little better. Drogo touched her hair lightly, sliding the silver-blond
strands between his fingers and murmuring softly in Dothraki. Dany
did not understand the words, yet there was warmth in the tone, a
tenderness she had never expected from this man.
He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she was
looking up into his eyes. Drogo towered over her as he towered
over everyone. Taking her lightly under the arms, he lifted her and
seated her on a rounded rock beside the stream. Then he sat on
the ground facing her, legs crossed beneath him, their faces finally
at a height. "No," he said.
"Is that the only word you know?" she asked him.

44. Drogo did not reply. His long heavy braid was coiled in the dirt
beside him. He pulled it over his right shoulder and began to
remove the bells from his hair, one by one. After a moment Dany
leaned forward to help. When they were done, Drogo gestured. She
understood. Slowly, carefully, she began to undo his braid.
It took a long time. All the while he sat there silently, watching her.
When she was done, he shook his head, and his hair spread out
behind him like a river of darkness, oiled and gleaming. She had
never seen hair so long, so black, so thick.
Then it was his turn. He began to undress her.
His fingers were deft and strangely tender. He removed her silks
one by one, carefully, while Dany sat unmoving, silent, looking at
his eyes. When he bared her small breasts, she could not help
herself. She averted her eyes and covered herself with her hands.
"No," Drogo said.
He pulled her hands away from her breasts, gently but firmly, then
lifted her face again to make her look at him. "No," he repeated.
"No," she echoed back at him.
He stood her up then and pulled her close to remove the last of her
silks. The night air was chilly on her bare skin. She shivered, and
gooseflesh covered her arms and legs. She was afraid of what
would come next, but for a while nothing happened. Khal Drogo sat
with his legs crossed, looking at her, drinking in her body with his
eyes.

45. After a while he began to touch her. Lightly at first, then harder. She
could sense the fierce strength in his hands, but he never hurt her.
He held her hand in his own and brushed her fingers, one by one.
He ran a hand gently down her leg. He stroked her face, tracing the
curve of her ears, running a finger gently around her mouth. He put
both hands in her hair and combed it with his fingers. He turned her
around, massaged her shoulders, slid a knuckle down the path of
her spine. It seemed as if hours passed before his hands finally
went to her breasts.
He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her
nipples with his thumbs, pinched them between thumb and
forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more
insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache.
He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was
flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped
her face in his huge hands and looked into his eyes. "No?" he said,
and she knew it was a question.
She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her
thighs. "Yes," she whispered as she put his finger inside her.

46. Game of Thrones
Dynamite Entertainment
Issue 3

48. Ros S1E7

49. ‘sexposition’

50. @rob_jewitt

52. Context
 ‘The issue of primacy’
 Lefèvre, 2007: 2
 ‘Elegiac discourse of loss’
 Stam, 2005: 3

53. Adaptation is the norm
 There are precious few stories
around that have not been ‘lovingly
ripped off’ from others. In the
workings of the human imagination,
adaptation is the norm, not the
exception
 Hutcheon, 2006: 177

55. 1. Discourse of fidelity in official paratexts
2. Comparison between comic and TV series

56. Comic-Con 2010
Video from Season 1 Blu-Ray ‘Making of’ feature

57. Same but different?
Video from Season 1 Blu-Ray ‘Making of’ feature

58. Managing risk 1
 ‘First, we knew we had something that had not been
done before. There is a lot of pressure in that, but
there is also great opportunity. We knew we had a
great team, and we had total confidence in the
quality of the comics as source material. If we didn't
have the comics as a road map, it would have been
a much harder decision’
 Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of
original programming, production and digital content

59. Managing risk 2
 ‘We also had a healthy interest in the genre, well-executed,
in series form … Notwithstanding the
long history of zombies as a popular film genre, a
zombie series was something we had never seen
on television before. That uniqueness always
interests us.’
 Charlie Collier, AMC’s president

60. Storyboards 1
 ‘The graphic novels are kind of like a rather exotic
storyboard … Some of the more iconic images we
did reproduce pretty accurately’
 David Tattersall, director of photography, Ep1

61. Storyboards 2
Video from Season 1 Blu-Ray ‘Making of’ feature

62. Visual narrative
 We’re very fortunate to have a visual narrative to
draw upon in designing The Walking Dead … You
are able to see the entire arc of the show, and of
course, we found ourselves inspired to use some
key images. First and foremost is Rick’s approach
to the skyline of Atlanta. That was such an iconic
panel from the comic book that it had a great
influence over my work
 Greg Melton, production designer

63. Cleary visible organs/origins?
28 Days Later
Night of the Living Dead

64. Cleary visible organs/origins?
Dawn of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead

65. Cleary visible organs/origins?
I Am Legend

66. Episode 1 – Days Gone Bye

76.  Episode 2 - Guts

81.  Episode 3 – Tell It To The Frogs

86.  Episode 4 - Vatos

89.  Episode 5 - Wildfire

92. Episode 6 – TS-19

94. AMC’s promotional material

95. Comic-Con 2010 poster
(cast)

96. Season 3 promo material

97. Season 3 promo material

98. Characters across
platforms

99. Characters across
platforms

100. Characters across
platforms