Spectator as passenger: the thrill rides of the early cinema and their presence in Brazil

• Grant number: 14/17621-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Victorio Morettin
• Grantee: Carolina Azevedo di Giacomo
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/26688-4 - Spectator as passenger: the thrill rides of the early cinema, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

Attempting to comprehend cinematic practice in a broader sense - that is, taking into account apart from the filmic object itself also the exhibition and reception processes - this project aims to carry out a historical and theoretical research on the spectator of the "Hale's Tours" phenomenon and its presence in Brazil during 1907 and 1908. The "Hale's Tours", movie theatres disguised as train wagons, that emerged in 1905 in the USA, are a privileged phenomenon for the discussion concerning the spectator in early cinema. The starting point will be the analogy between the subjects forged by the railway (passenger) and by the cinema (spectator). In the case of the theoretical debate on the North American phenomenon, we inquire: what sort of spectator is this, who seemingly participates actively in the construction of a virtual environment? Regarding the Brazilian imitations, the major enquiry is the following: how do the underlying concepts of industrialization, modernity and imperialism in the "travel films" and in the "Hale's Tours" acquire specificity in Brazil?