Immersion, authenticity and the theme park as social space:Experiencing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

This article examines the visitor experience of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWOHP) theme park at Universal Studios Orlando. The park is hugely popular and has been embraced by the series’ devoted but critical fanbase. Prior research on theme parks has generally focused on critiques of their form, leading to a limited understanding of their appeal. This article asks how fan-visitors interpret this simulated environment, and what leads them to embrace it. It does this with an ethnographic approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with 15 visitors combined with participant observation. We show how WWOHP is understood by its visitors as an adaptation of the series into physical space, via the medium of the theme park, and how the visitor’s experience is shaped through use of ironic imagination. In doing so, we present a new understanding of the immersive media experience of theme parks.</p

“I Don’t Think the Two Would Be the Same Without Each Other”: Portmeirion as Unintentional Paratext

This paper investigates the relationship between the fans and fandom of 1960s cult television favorite The Prisoner and its main filming location of Portmeirion in north Wales. Specifically, it explores the way in which Portmeirion has been utilized as a paratext of The Prisoner, a way in which to expand the experience and understanding of the show, and what this suggests about film tourism as a practice. It does so via an ethnographic approach, drawing upon 16 interviews with fans of The Prisoner who are regular visitors to Portmeirion, participatory observation in Portmeirion, and analysis of fan texts. Through these methods, it is shown how Prisoner fans develop their paratextual understanding of Portmeirion, exploring what elements from the narratives of the show, the show’s creation, and Portmeirion’s story are utilized, and how this has worked over time as fans make visiting a regular part of their lives. In doing so, it shows not only how place and tourism have become integral to understanding The Prisoner for many of its long-term fans, but suggests that filming locations can be more generally thought of as "unintentional" (as in, not designed for the purpose) paratexts, and that paratextual theory is necessary for understanding what film tourism as a practice is

Placing Fandom : Film Tourism in Contemporary Fan Culture

Film tourism – visiting places associated with a film or television show – is an increasingly visible and popular practice. It is now almost expected whenever a new movie or television show draws on a particular place as a setting. But how are these places experienced by the fans who make these journeys? And as the practice grows, what role can these places play in contemporary fandom? This dissertation investigates these questions using three case studies of fantastic film tourism – _Game of Thrones_ film tourism in Dubrovnik and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, and Portmeirion, filming location for 60s cult favorite _The Prisoner_. Through interviews, participant observation on site, and online textual analysis, I show how the imaginative experience of these places creates a personal, embodied encounter with all the facets of the text, and how they can become “places of fandom” that structure the contemporary fan experience in certain ways. In doing so, I present a new understanding of our relationship with media, imaginative worlds, and physical place

Editorial

This special issue of VIEW was inspired by a call from the final conference of the project “European History Reloaded: Curation and Appropriation of Digital Audiovisual Heritage” (CADEAH). The project brought together interdisciplinary expertise in the curation of digital audiovisual heritage, contemporary European history and Digital Humanities to study the ‘afterlife’ of digitized audiovisual heritage once it was made accessible and shared online, something that has seen a great deal of growth throughout the first two decades of this century. What happens to digitized audiovisual heritage once it is shared online? How does audiovisual heritage circulate online? To what extent do users re-use or re-mix audiovisual heritage? And, more specifically from an archival perspective: How do strategies of curation shape the appropriation of digitized heritage? What new perspectives on European history and identity do digital curations and appropriations of audiovisual heritage create? How can audiovisual archives better foster the re-use of Europe’s audiovisual heritage? With this issue we wanted to broaden our view and discuss our insights with scholars from diverse disciplines and with diverse professional backgrounds. These articles showcase the methodological and conceptual approaches that are being used across Europe to understand, and encourage, the use of audiovisual heritage, investigating contemporary practices of re-use and the ways that archives themselves think about these challenges

Introduction:locating imagination in popular culture: place, tourism and belonging

This chapter investigates the multifaceted relations between imagination, place, and popular culture in the context of contemporary society. It is time to scrutinize these claims and to investigate in detail how the connections between imagination, place, and popular culture are made in cultural practice. The concept of the imagination can serve as a – thus far — missing link between media studies, cultural geography, cultural studies, and tourism studies. The imagination, as mediator between cognitive, and practiced experiences of place, could be an important concept for efforts in this direction. Within Rationalism and Enlightenment thinking, the imagination was even interpreted as an obstacle to the progress of mankind. Instinctive, organic emotions such as fear, love, hate, and lust will excite the imagination, but it is the schemata of our culture that determine how these emotions take shape and result in certain scenarios and locations. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.<br/

Introduction:locating imagination in popular culture: place, tourism and belonging

This chapter investigates the multifaceted relations between imagination, place, and popular culture in the context of contemporary society. It is time to scrutinize these claims and to investigate in detail how the connections between imagination, place, and popular culture are made in cultural practice. The concept of the imagination can serve as a – thus far — missing link between media studies, cultural geography, cultural studies, and tourism studies. The imagination, as mediator between cognitive, and practiced experiences of place, could be an important concept for efforts in this direction. Within Rationalism and Enlightenment thinking, the imagination was even interpreted as an obstacle to the progress of mankind. Instinctive, organic emotions such as fear, love, hate, and lust will excite the imagination, but it is the schemata of our culture that determine how these emotions take shape and result in certain scenarios and locations. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.<br/