MIT Graduate Program in Comparative Media Studies

Studying Media and Making Media

by on

Orson Welles’ Intermedial Versions of Shakespearian Theatre, Radio and Film

Clara Fernández-Vara

Clara Fernández-Vara
Clara Fernández-Vara
In addition to being a keyfigure in the history of filmmaking, Orson Welles was an original theatre director and radio performer and producer. The aim of this thesis is to study Welles’ achievements and failures in theatre, radio and film, as well as comparing his craft and techniques in each medium during his early career. Welles’ adaptations of Shakespeare will provide the guiding thread of this intermedial exploration. Close reading of these texts will show the recurrence of intermediality in Welles’ work, namely, the way techniques from one medium feed into the other two. Borrowing conventions and devices that are proper to other media and importing them into a target medium is his basic innovative strategy. This use of intermediality brings about innovative effects that favour agile and gripping storytelling, though it can also hamper the understanding of the piece.

Download.

About Clara Fernandez-Vara

Clara is a game scholar, designer and writer. Her main research interest is the study of narrative in games and how it can integrate with game design, focusing on adventure games. She is particularly interested in applying methods from textual analysis and performance studies to the study of video games and transmedia artifacts. Clara’s videogame work is grounded in the humanities, informed by her background in literature, film and theatre. Her first book, Introduction to Game Analysis, has been published by Routledge.

Thesis: Orson Welles’ Intermedial Versions of Shakespearian Theatre, Radio and Film