It is the year 2014 A.D.
In the aftermath of the Blockbuster Wars, producers have lost all faith in the ability of the audience to willingly entertain a fantastical scenario that is not spelled out to them in detail at the very beginning of a film.
The forces of the Exposition, armed with endless title cards, voice-over narrations and laborious illustrations of back-story, rule over science fiction and fantasy film-making with a leaden and clammy hand.
Some there are who talk of a time when screenwriters were able to draw moviegoers into strange, new worlds using only the arcane and subtle arts of image, action and dialogue; when narrative premises were constructed, too rich and ambiguous to be compressed into an elevator pitch; when even TV series could be made which did not have a five-minute explanation of the show’s basic premise at the start of every episode, driving DVD binge-watchers out of their minds with sheer boredom.
These, however, are merely rumours—the fireside tales and ramblings of aged nerds and film scholars. The Exposition’s rule over storytelling seems all but assured…
MIKE LYNCH, SYDNEY
"When I was a lad, all we needed to create some atmosphere was a box of cornflakes and a bit of green bubblewrap. And furthermore..." Fireside reflections - from the art union series of photographs. Wood engraving by Samuel Calvert, published in The illustrated Australian news for home readers. Melbourne: Ebenezer and David Syme, March 25, 1874. State Library of Victoria, IAN25/03/74/33.
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