%0 Journal Article
%T Massive movie waves and the anthropic ocean
%A Stefan Helmreich
%J Social Science Information
%@ 1461-7412
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0539018418783073
%X This article examines representations of ocean waves in disaster and science fiction movies, reading these for what they can indicate about shifting ideological accounts of human¨Cocean relations. I track the technical conjuring of such on-screen waves ¨C made using everything from scale model wave tanks to computer-generated imagery (CGI) ¨C and explicate how these enable wavesĄŻ narrative purposes and effects. I argue that towering waves in film have operated as emblems of (a) the elemental power of cosmic, inhuman, arbitrary forces, (b) the return of the social-environmental repressed, and (c) the power and limits of cinematic media themselves. The most recent fantastical waves, rendered digitally, I suggest, now generate reflexive usages that underwrite either optimistic aesthetics of a nature crafted in partnership with humanity or ironic pessimism about human enterprise in the face of looming ecological disaster
%K Anthropocene
%K animation
%K disaster
%K film
%K waves
%K animation
%K Anthropoc¨¨ne
%K catastrophe
%K film
%K vagues
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0539018418783073