Beyond the Screen ― Emerging Cinema and Engaging Audiences

Within multi-platform films and dramas, the fourth wall - the invisible barrier that separates the onscreen fictional world from the audience - no longer exists. The widespread adoption of technologies such as mobile devices for digital media consumption and social networking, has led to the emergence of hybrid and pioneering forms of fictions where stories are experienced across a multitude of platforms for prolonged periods of time. This is having a profound impact upon production processes and aesthetics. The boundary between reality and fiction blurs, cinematic and televisual genres merge and the audience is able to participate within the fictional world as never before.

Beyond the Screen maps the development of these forms through the examination of various cutting-edge, international case studies of multi-platform fictions. Evaluating and aligning academic debate with industry commentary, Sarah Atkinson provides unique insights into an evolving field, providing foundations for the ongoing study of these emerging, innovative forms.

Sarah Atkinson is Principal Lecturer in Broadcast Media at the University of Brighton, UK, and an audio-visual arts practitioner undertaking explorations into new forms of fictional and dramatic storytelling in visual and sonic media. Her multi-screen interactive film Crossed Lines and her surround sound and hypersonic installation auditoryum have been exhibited internationally.