Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface

The Graphic User Interface, or GUI, is the adhesive centre of today's screen entertainment web. Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface examines this residue and its consequences, revealing how the GUI exerts a powerful influence on contemporary media.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

The Graphic User Interface (GUI) is a crucial component of modern screen entertainment, playing a pivotal role in shaping the way we interact with various forms of media. From films and television to apps and videogames, the GUI binds these diverse media together and influences how we consume, create, and manipulate them. However, this influence extends beyond the realm of screen entertainment, as Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface argues. In this book, author Jones takes a media agnostic approach, exploring the aesthetics of cinema, streaming platforms, television, user-generated content, videogames, apps, virtual reality, VFX, design software, and more. By examining how these media intersect with our desktop interfaces, Jones offers a fresh perspective on analyzing convergent media in the digital era.

One of the key insights of Gooey Media is that the GUI is not just a tool for creating and consuming media but also a medium in its own right. The book argues that the GUI has a significant impact on the aesthetics and narrative structure of screen media. For example, Jones explores how the GUI can be used to create immersive and engaging experiences, such as the use of 3D graphics and interactive interfaces in videogames. He also examines how the GUI can be used to convey information and narrative in films and television, such as the use of visual effects and typography.

In addition to its impact on aesthetics, Gooey Media also explores the political and social implications of the GUI. The book argues that the GUI has the power to shape our perceptions and attitudes towards media, and can be used to promote or perpetuate stereotypes and biases. For example, Jones examines how the GUI can be used to create immersive and engaging experiences that reinforce gender stereotypes or promote consumerism. He also examines how the GUI can be used to control and manipulate our behavior, such as through the use of algorithms and data mining in streaming platforms.

Gooey Media is an innovative and interdisciplinary exploration of digital screen media, drawing on a wide range of disciplines such as film studies, new media studies, videogame studies, urban theory, and more. By placing interfaces, videogames, films, television, apps, VR, and other media on equal footing, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which these media intersect and influence one another. Through a series of case studies from various contemporary mainstream media, the book demonstrates the connections and influences that these media have on one another, updating ideas of media convergence and remediation for today's overlapping media environment.

In conclusion, Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of screen media and technology. By examining the GUI's impact on aesthetics, narrative structure, political and social implications, and interdisciplinary exploration, the book offers a fresh perspective on analyzing convergent media in the digital era. Whether you are a media scholar, industry professional, or simply a media consumer, this book will provide you with valuable insights and tools for understanding the complex and ever-changing landscape of screen entertainment.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399522762