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Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts

Jonathan Gray 2017
Read the book on NYUP's Open Access Books portal

It is virtually impossible to watch a movie or TV show without preconceived notions because of the hype that precedes them, while a host of media extensions guarantees them a life long past their air dates. An onslaught of information from print media, trailers, internet discussion, merchandising, podcasts, and guerilla marketing, we generally know something about upcoming movies and TV shows well before they are even released or aired. The extras, or “paratexts,” that surround viewing experiences are far from peripheral, shaping our understanding of them and informing our decisions about what to watch or not watch and even how to watch before we even sit down for a show.

Show Sold Separately gives critical attention to this ubiquitous but often overlooked phenomenon, examining paratexts like DVD bonus materials for The Lord of the Rings, spoilers for Lost, the opening credits of The Simpsons, Star Wars actions figures, press reviews for Friday Night Lights, the framing of Batman Begins, the videogame of The Thing, and the trailers for The Sweet Hereafter. Plucking these extra materials from the wings and giving them the spotlight they deserve, Jonathan Gray examines the world of film and television that exists before and after the show.

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ISBN(s)
  • 9780814731949 (hardcover)
  • 9780814731956 (paper)
Subject
  • Media Studies
  • Cultural Studies
Citable Link

  • Table of Contents

  • Resources

  • Stats

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: Film, Television, and Off-Screen Studies
  • 1 From Spoilers to Spinoffs: A Theory of Paratexts
  • 2 Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings
  • 3 Bonus Materials: Digital Auras and Authors
  • 4 Under a Long Shadow: 117 Sequels, Prequels, Pre-Texts, and Intertexts
  • 5 Spoiled and Mashed Up: Viewer-Created Paratexts
  • 6 In the World, Just Off Screen: Toys and Games
  • Conclusion: “In the DNA”: Creating across Paratexts
  • Notes
  • Index
  • About the Author

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A poster for the film, Walking Tall, depicting actor The Rock, a large, muscular man, dressed in dark clothing and holding a large piece of wood in his right hand with the tag line "One man will stand up for what's right."

Walking Tall advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Walking Tall featuring The Rock. Design by Diane Reynolds-Nash.

A film poster for the film, Baby Mama, with actress Tina Fey looking skeptically at actress Amy Poehler, who is wearing pigtails and drinking a soda, with the tag line "Would you put your eggs... in this basket?" The poster also lists other actors in the film, including Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Steve Martin, and Sigourney Weaver.

Baby Mama advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Baby Mama, featuring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Design by Crew Creative Advertising. Photography by Mary Ellen Matthews.

A film poster for the 2010 remake of the film Nightmare on Elm Street, with a close-up of the ominous character Freddy Krueger, reflecting firelight with a large claw-like metal hand with knives for fingers. The numbers "2010" and the website "www.nightmareonelmstreet.com" appear in red at the bottom of the poster.

Nightmare On Elm Street advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the 2010 remake of the film Nightmare On Elm Street. Design by Ignition and LA. Photography by Peter Tangen.

A film poster for the film Bachelor Party, showing a group of seven men coming through a door overflowing with streamers, carrying beer and champagne, who see a woman's leg in fishnet tights, a red garter, and black heels with the tag line "Shocking. Shameless. Sinful. Wicked. And the party hasn't even started." Underneath the title of the film is the additional tag line, "A man's tradition every woman should know about."

Bachelor Party advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Bachelor Party. Design by B.D. Fox Independent.

A film poster for the film Serendipity, of a man and a woman (John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale) embracing in front of a city-scape superimposed with an image of a clock with the tag line "Destiny with a sense of humor" at the top of the poster and "Can once in a lifetime happen twice?" at the bottom.

Serendipity advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Serendipity, featuring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.

A film poster for the film Home Alone, of a young blonde boy in a red sweater (Macaulay Culkin) holding his hands to his face, yelling, with two men in black learing over his shoulders and the tag line "But don't worry. He Cooks. He Cleans. He kicks some butt" above the movie title and the line "A family comedy without the family" underneath the movie title.

Home Alone advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Home Alone, featuring Macaulay Culkin.

A film poster for Steven Spielberg's film E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, of a child's index finger touching a scaly alien's index finger with the starry night sky behind them and the planet earth below them with the taglines "His adventure on earth" and "He is afraid. He is totally alone. And he's 3,000,000 light years from home."

E.T. advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film E.T.. Design by Intralink Film Graphic Design. Artwork by John Alvin.

A film poster for the film Jaws, with the words "JAWS" in large red letters at the top and a young woman swimming across the ocean beneath the letters. A large, great white shark, jaws open, comes up at her from below with the caption "The terrifying motion picture from the terrifying No. 1 best seller." The poster lists the actors in the film, including Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Jaws advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film Jaws, featuring the classic illustration of the great white shark. Artwork by Roger Kastel.

A film poster for the film The Blair Witch Project, of a woman's scared, watery eyes in front of a black forest with the words in white "In October 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary...A year later their footage was found." On the bottom of the poster in white letters below the woman's face are the words "The Blair Witch Project."

The Blair Witch Project advertisement, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A poster for the film The Blair Witch Project.

A photo of an advertisement on a New York City subway train that says in capital purple letters "You and the woman in red have a shared secret." Beneath those words is the website "u-r-connected.com." Another ad on the subway features the tag line "Everyone is Connected. From JJ Abrams, Producer of Lost" with a graphic of 6 degrees beneath that includes images of 6 actors. Below are the words "Six Degrees. Premieres Thursday September 21 10PM. ABC 7."

Six Degrees advertisement 1, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

An advertisement for the television show, Six Degrees on the New York City subway.

A photo of an advertisement on a New York City subway train that says in capital purple letters "The man by the door will someday be your boss." Beneath those words is the website "u-r-connected.com."

Six Degrees advertisement 2, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

An advertisement for the television show Six Degrees on the New York City subway.

A screen grab from the Six Degrees website with the words "The guy at the coffee shop will soon be your good friend" written in white letters on top of a blurry, purple image of various people hurrying along a city street.

Six Degrees teaser 1, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

Screen grab from the Six Degrees teaser website.

A screen grab from the Six Degrees website with the words "Tell us a little bit about yourself and discover a new connection" written in white letters on top of a blurry, purple image of various people hurrying along a city street.

Six Degrees teaser 2, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

Screen grab from the Six Degrees teaser website.

A screen grab from the Six Degrees website with the words "Question one Who are you? I am my Work. I am the sum of my experience. I am my future. I am my contribution" written in white letters on top of a blurry, purple image of various people in downtown New York City on the corner of Fifth Avenue.

Six Degrees teaser 3, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

Screen grab from the Six Degrees teaser website.

A screen grab from the Six Degrees website that shows a small screen with a partially played "character video" next to an image of a woman dressed in business clothes, arms crossed, with a brown pontyail, looking into the camera. The Six Degrees logo is at the top of the image, following by the tagline "Everyone is connected." At the bottom of the image there are 5 other actors, two women and three men, and the words "Make another connection."

Six Degrees teaser 4, image

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

Screen grab from the Six Degrees teaser website.

A mock movie trailer that uses scenes from Stanley Kubrick's classic horror film The Shining starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd and reframes it as being a feel-good, father-son bonding movie called Shining instead of The Shining. The voiceover introduces Jack Torrance as "a writer looking for inspiration" and Danny as "a kid looking for a dad," all while Peter Gabriel's upbeat song "Solsbury Hill" plays in the background. Shots show a woman kissing a man, Jack Nicholson's character playing with a tennis ball, the family driving together in a car, and other such family-oriented scenes.

Mock trailer for Shining, video

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A mock trailer for the 'feel-good comedy,' Shining, reframing the classic horror film.

A mock movie trailer that takes scenes from Jerome Robbins' and Robert Wise's classic musical West Side Story and reframes it as being a zombie thriller using quick shots of dancers jumping, running, and crying to look like zombie attacks.

Mock trailer for West Side Story, video

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

A mock trailer for a zombie-fied version of the classic musical, West Side Story.

The American trailer for the film The Sweet Hereafter in which images from the film flash past (snowy mountains, small town, various characters, etc.) while a voiceover states: "In a town where no one is a stranger, in a place where everyone feels like family, something has happened that will change their lives forever. Now, one man must find the truth. But who can you trust when everyone has a secret? Who can you blame when no one is innocent?"

The Sweet Hereafter, trailer 1, video

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

The American version of the trailer for the film The Sweet Hereafter.

The Canadian trailer for the film The Sweet Hereafter in which images from the film flash past, this time including shots of a school bus filled with children and then shots of the same school bus empty and destroyed. Rather than a voiceover, this trailer uses title cards that read "Sometimes the past can't be forgotten. Sometimes justice can't be found. And sometimes the truth is just the beginning."

The Sweet Hereafter, trailer 2, video

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

The Canadian version of the trailer for the film The Sweet Hereafter.

The opening credit sequence to the animated show The Simpsons. First, the show's title appears through an opening in the clouds. Then the shot settles in the fictional town, Springfield, zooming in through the window of a school where Bart Simpson is writing lines on a blackboard (this time the lines read "I will not pledge allegiance to Bart") until a bell rings and he leaves the classroom, zooming out of the front door of the school on his skateboard. The shot cuts to the inside of a Nuclear Power Plant where Homer Simpson is wearing a suit and using tongs to handle a stick of plutonium, which, after a bell rings, he drops and it falls into the back pocket of his suit as he leaves the room. Next we see Marge Simpson reading a magazine in the checkout line at a supermarket where her baby, Maggie, is traveling down the conveyer belt at which point the supermarket checkout worker accidently "rings her up," puts her in a shopping bag, and puts the bag in the cart. Maggie pops her head out of the shopping bag and Marge looks relieved. In the next shot we see Lisa Simpson playing saxophone at a band rehearsal, but as her conductor calls for the students to stop playing Lisa instead plays a solo and slowly dancing backwards out of the classroom door. Next we see Homer driving home in his car, reaching down the back of his shirt, removing the stick of plutonium and throwing it out the window, at which point Bart zooms by on his skateboard, rushes past people, and illegally skates through a crosswalk as a policeman yells at him. A car then drives erratically through that same intersection and we see a closeup of baby Maggie at a steering wheel. As the shot zooms out, however, we see that Maggie is only pretending to drive, whereas Marge is, in fact, driving the car. They both honk the horns on their respective steering wheels. Homer now pulls up in the driveway of a house, opens the garage door remotely, Bart rides his skateboard over the roof of Homer's car, Homer gets out and slams his car door, Lisa zooms by on her bicycle, almost hitting Homer, and then Marge's car pulls into the driveway as Homer runs out of the way, screaming, trying to avoid being hit. They all run into the living room to go sit on the couch, but, in this particular opening sequence, the couch is gone and they all look around confused. The shot then moves to an animated television screen which reads "Created by Matt Groening," and then "Developed by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon."

The Simpsons opening credits, video

From Chapter 2: Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings

One of many opening credit sequences to The Simpsons, in this case, the twist being that the couch is missing from the very end.

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