The story of the British propaganda film is the story of mass democracy in 20th-century Britain, as the nation has shifted from global superpower to post-colonial state via globalisation, entanglements with Europe and experiments with various types of liberal economics. Diving into the BFI's unique National Archive and examining the output of organisations and institutions such as the British Council, the GPO Film Unit, the Ministry of Information and the Central Office of Information, this book traces the history of British propaganda film, from documentaries about British sporting prowess to the influencing possibilities of emerging applications and technologies such as Face2Face and AI.
Propaganda in the early 20th century was an expression of power and patronage: an entreaty to believe in, join or fight for a cause. The propaganda film now exists as much to confuse, misdirect and occlude the ability to understand or interrogate power. Though it is commonly understood as a kind of state-sponsored psychological warfare, this book examines propaganda in its widest sense, from campaign films that aimed to manage mass democracy to videos micro-targeted to niche audiences and delivered through digital platforms such as YouTube.
Recenzijas
Deeply researched, smartly written, and admirably capacious, this engaging book spans a century without losing site of the fascinating people, films, and ideas that have shaped Britains view of itself and its place on the world stage. Scott Anthony brings both deep knowledge and a keen storytellers eye to this vital story of films enduring power to persuade. Let yourself be convinced that the history of British propaganda film is also an important history of Britain itself. -- Brian R. Jacobson, California Institute of Technology, USA, and author of The Cinema of Extractions and Studios Before the System: Architecture, Technology, and the Emergence of Cinematic Space Scott Anthony deftly weaves together the deep and pressing histories of the British states use of media as a tool of governance shaping reality and conduct and affect against the backdrop of the political and economic transformation of that state and its place in the world. It is a brilliant expansive and readable and beautifully produced history of the deployment of mediated propaganda across time and space and amid too the radical transformations of the digital era. The Story of British Propaganda Film will be a very useful book. -- Lee Grieveson, Professor of Media History, University College London, UK
Papildus informācija
This book traces the history of British propaganda film, from documentaries about British sporting prowess to the influencing possibilities of recent and emerging applications and technologies such as YouTube and AI.
Contents
Foreword
1: What is Propaganda?
2. The challenge of democracy
- Close-up: Sports & pastimes
3. The tiger in the smoke: The Second World War and after
- Close-up: Work & Workers
4. Winds of Change and White Heat: Decolonisation & Cold War
- Close-up: Landmarks & Landscapes
5. The Deindustrial Revolution: from the Oil Crisis to the GFC
- Close-up: State & Ceremony
6. Nothing is true and everything is possible: propaganda film in the 21st Century
Scott Anthony is Deputy Head of Research at the UK Science Museum Group. His books include Night Mail (BFI Film Classics, 2007), Public Relations and the Making of Modern Britain (Manchester University Press, 2012) and the co-edited volume The Projection of Britain: A History of the GPO Film Unit (BFI, 2012). His novel Changi was published by Penguin and he has written for the BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Critic, Tribune, and the LRB Blog among many others.
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