Consuming Images

Consuming Images: Film Art and the American Television Commercial
By Gary D. Rhodes and Robert Singer

The American television commercial has an aesthetic and historical dynamic linking it directly to cinematic and media cultures. Consuming Images: Film Art and the American Television Commercial establishes the complex vitality of the television commercial both as a short film and as an art form. Through close and comparative readings, the book examines the influence of Hollywood film styles on the television commercial, and the resulting influence of the television commercial on Hollywood, exploring an intertwined aesthetic and technical relationship.
Analysing key commercials over the decades that feature new technologies and film aesthetics that were subsequently adopted by feature filmmakers, the book establishes the television commercial as a vital form of film art.

Robert Singer is Professor of English at Kingsborough, CUNY and Liberal Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Gary D. Rhodes has been involved in professional filmmaking for over two decades, his work ranging from writing and directing films to managing production companies. He is the author of numerous books and journal essays on cinema.