**A rare look at the role of special effects in creating fictional
worlds and transmedia franchises
**
From comic book universes crowded with soaring superheroes and
shattering skyscrapers to cosmic empires set in far-off galaxies,
today's fantasy blockbusters depend on visual effects. Bringing science
fiction from the studio to your screen, through film, television, or
video games, these special effects power our entertainment industry.
More Than Meets the Eye delves into the world of fantastic media
franchises to trace the ways in which special effects over the last 50
years have become central not just to transmedia storytelling but to
worldbuilding, performance, and genre in contemporary blockbuster
entertainment.
More Than Meets the Eye maps the ways in which special effects build
consistent storyworlds and transform genres while traveling from one
media platform to the next. Examining high-profile franchises in which
special effects have played a constitutive role such as Star Trek, Star
Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as more
contemporary franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter,
Bob Rehak analyzes the ways in which production practices developed
alongside the cultural work of industry professionals. By studying
social and cultural factors such as fan interaction, this book provides
a context for understanding just how much multiplatform storytelling has
come to define these megahit franchises. More Than Meets the Eye
explores the larger history of how physical and optical effects in
postwar Hollywood laid the foundation for modern transmedia franchises
and argues that special effects are not simply an adjunct to blockbuster
filmmaking, but central agents of an entire mode of production.
