This book presents a comprehensive history and analysis of Secret Cinema – the leading producer of large-scale immersive experiences in the UK. It examines how the company has evolved over twelve years from an experimental and artisanal organisation to a global leader in the field. The book focuses on the UK in late-2019, a point at which the immersive sector had grown significantly through its increasing contribution to GDP and its widespread recognition as a legitimate cultural offering. It captures an organisation and a sector transitioning from marginal and subcultural roots to a commodifiable and commercial form, now with recognisable professional roles and practices, which has contributed to the establishment of an immersive experience industry of national importance and global reach.

Bringing together 49 chapters from leading experts in media industries research, this major collection offers an authoritative overview of the current state of scholarship while setting out proposals for expanding, re-thinking and innovating the field. Media industries occupy a central place in modern societies, producing, circulating, and presenting the multitude of cultural forms and experiences we encounter in our daily lives. The chapters in this volume begin by outlining key conceptual and critical perspectives while also presenting original interventions to prompt new lines of inquiry. Other chapters then examine the impact of digitalization on the media industries, intersections formed between industries or across geographic territories, and the practices of doing media industries research and teaching. General ideas and arguments are illustrated through specific examples and case studies drawn from a range of media sectors, including advertising, publishing, comics, news, music, film, television, branded entertainment, live cinema experiences, social media, and music video. Making a vital and significant contribution to media research, this volume is essential reading for students and academics seeking to understand and evaluate the work of the media industries. Chapter 10 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

Film is often conceived as a medium that is watched rather than experienced. Existing studies of film audiences, and of media reception more broadly, have revealed the complexity of viewing practices and cultures surrounding cinema-going and its exhibition spaces. Experiencing Cinema offers the first in-depth study of participant engagement with a range of experiential media forms derived from cinema culture. From sing-a-long screenings to theatrical extravaganzas, a broad spectrum of alternative film-going practices and immersive spaces are explored and analysed in this original audience study. Moving from intimate community gatherings to blockbuster urban venues, from isolated farmhouses to Olympic stadia, Experiencing Cinema considers the lure and value of these popular events. Often attracting a diverse, intergenerational range of participants, from early-adopter urban hipsters to DIY rural communities, the growing demand for participatory cinema within the contemporary marketplace is analysed alongside broader debates circulating around the move away from traditional tiered seating and increased audience mobility and the de-centring of the film text.

Adventures Across Space and Time brings together key academic, critic and fan writings about Doctor Who alongside newly-commissioned work addressing contemporary issues and debates to form a comprehensive guide to the wider Whoniverse. The perennially popular BBC series holds a unique place in the history of television and of TV fandom: the longest running science-fiction show, the series and its fan communities have tracked social and cultural changes over its 60 year lifetime. Adventures Across Space and Time presents classic writings on Who and its fandom by leading scholars including John Fiske, Henry Jenkins, John Tulloch and Matt Hills, but also represents writings and art by fans, including fans who went on to become showrunners, writers or even the Doctor himself, with contributions by Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, Douglas Adams and Peter Capaldi. This innovative anthology addresses Doctor Who's showrunners, Doctors, companions, enemies and collaborators as well as issues and debates around queer fandom, intersectionality, the 'wokeness' of the Doctor, fan media including websites, podcasts and vlogs, fan activism and questions of race and sexuality in relation to the show and its spin offs. It considers Doctor Who as a peculiarly British phenomenon but also one that has delighted, engaged and sometimes enraged viewers around the world.

A uniquely interdisciplinary look at storytelling in digital, analogue, and hybridised contexts, this book traces different ways stories are experienced in our contemporary mediascape. It uses an engaging range of current examples to explore interactive and immersive narratives. Critical Encounters with Immersive Storytelling considers exciting new forms of storytelling that are emerging in contemporary popular culture. Here, immersion is being facilitated in a variety of ways and in a multitude of contexts, from 3D cinema to street games, from immersive theatre plays to built environments such as theme parks, as well as in a multitude of digital formats. The book explores diverse modes and practices of immersive storytelling, discussing what is gained and lost in each of these ‘genres’. Building on notions of experience and immersion, it suggests a framework within which we might begin to understand the quality of being immersed. It also explores the practical and ethical aspects of this exciting and evolving terrain. This accessible and lively study will be of great interest to students and researchers of media studies, digital culture, games studies, extended reality, experience design, and storytelling.

This book studied the newly emerged business format of immersive entertainments experience, mainly focusing on offline forms, which have been proved to contribute a lot to the upgrading of modern culture and tourism industry development. With solid theoretical research on interactive digital narrative and immersive experience etc., it defined the immersive entertainment. Based on comprehensive analysis of immersive entertainment industry development at home and abroad, the research team initiated a thorough investigation of status quo of immersive entertainment in Shanghai. By deep interviewing with professionals, operators and consumers in the immersive entertainment industry, it aims to explore the reasons behind the popularity of immersive entertainment experience and the booming immersive industry, introduce typical formats and classification methods of immersive experiences, compare common development models in the immersive entertainment industry, identify development bottlenecks, and discuss future trends and suggestions in the immersive entertainment industry. This book is the collaborative effort of researchers led by Chen Liying’s research team. Chen Liying established the research framework for the entire project and oversaw the final manuscript and revisions. Tao Tingfang contributed a lot to the original idea and framework of the book. Zhangjing was responsible for the initial draft of Chapter 4, 5, 6. Yin Weihua was responsible for the Shanghai immersive entertainment development. Guan Xu was responsible for international cases and experiences. Chen Liying was responsible for Chapter 1, 2, 3, 7 and the initial draft of Chapter 8, as well as supplementing some case studies. Ma Yingjie was responsible for the technological path of Chapter 7.

Screen-based media, such as touch-screens, navigation systems and virtual reality applications merge images and operations. They turn viewing first and foremost into using and reflect the turn towards an active role of the image in guiding a user’s action and perception. From professional environments to everyday life multiple configurations of screens organise working routines, structure interaction, and situate users in space both within and beyond the boundaries of the screen. This volume examines the linking of screen, space, and operation in fields such as remote navigation, architecture, medicine, interface design, and film production asking how the interaction with and through screens structures their users’ action and perception.