TV goes to the movies: cinematic style in the Coen Brothers' 'Fargo' - the TV series

Lees, Dominic and Sexton, Max (2018) TV goes to the movies: cinematic style in the Coen Brothers' 'Fargo' - the TV series. Journal of Popular Film and Television. ISSN 0195-6051 (Print); 1930-6458 (Online) (Submitted)

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Creators:

Lees, Dominic and Sexton, Max

Description/Abstract:

This article responds to current debates on transmediality to introduce a close style-based reading of the Coen Brothers’ feature film, Fargo (1996). The term ‘post-classicism’ has been used to describe the work of the Coen Brothers to explain how their films demand coherence as a sign of auteurship, but unlike the realist transparency of classic Hollywood also pivots towards art/experimental cinema due to its reflexive use of pastiche. This article investigates how these features have (or have not) been translated to the television series, Fargo (2014-17). Using Jason Mittel's concept of the 'operational aesthetic', the article interrogates to what extent the visual style of the film Fargo has been adopted by the directors of the TV series. The empirical methodology of the article seeks to evidence the increasing use of cinematic approaches in the making of high-end TV drama, as well as examining the limits to transmediality in visual style.

Item Type:

Article

Date:

30 September 2018