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Amateur Filmmaking: The Home Movie, the Archive, the Web
by Laura Rascaroli Gwenda Young Barry MonahanWith the advent of digital filmmaking and critical recognition of the relevance of self expression, first-person narratives, and personal practices of memorialization, interest in the amateur moving image has never been stronger. Bringing together key scholars in the field, and revealing the rich variety of amateur filmmaking-from home movies of Imperial India and film diaries of life in contemporary China, to the work of leading auteurs such as Joseph Morder and Péter Forgács-Amateur Filmmaking highlights the importance of amateur cinema as a core object of critical interest across an array of disciplines. With contributions on the role of the archive, on YouTube, and on the impact of new technologies on amateur filmmaking, these essays offer the first comprehensive examination of this growing field.
Amateur Filmmaking: The Home Movie, the Archive, the Web
by Laura Rascaroli Gwenda Young Barry MonahanWith the advent of digital filmmaking and critical recognition of the relevance of self expression, first-person narratives, and personal practices of memorialization, interest in the amateur moving image has never been stronger. Bringing together key scholars in the field, and revealing the rich variety of amateur filmmaking-from home movies of Imperial India and film diaries of life in contemporary China, to the work of leading auteurs such as Joseph Morder and Péter Forgács-Amateur Filmmaking highlights the importance of amateur cinema as a core object of critical interest across an array of disciplines. With contributions on the role of the archive, on YouTube, and on the impact of new technologies on amateur filmmaking, these essays offer the first comprehensive examination of this growing field.
The Amazing Book is Not on Fire: The World of Dan and Phil
by Dan Howell Phil LesterHello reader!In this book is a world. A world created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the internet! We are Dan and Phil and we invite you on a journey inside our minds! From the stories of our actual births, to exploring Phil’s teenage diary and all the reasons why Dan’s a fail. Learn how to draw the perfect cat whiskers, get advice on how to make YouTube videos and discover which of our dining chairs represents you emotionally. With everything from what we text each other, to the time we met One Direction and what really happened in Vegas... This is The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire!
Amazing Disgrace: A Book About "Shame"
by Grace Campbell'An outpouring of truth, wit, and beautiful comedic wisdom from the hilarious and laudably liberated Grace Campbell. I loved it.'-Katherine Ryan 'Grace has written such a funny and interesting book, partly because she has a unique perspective of the world, but mostly because of her own brilliant mind.'-Sara Pascoe'This book is hilarious, Grace is a bloody badass, finally my vagina has a voice!'-London Hughes 'This book is revolutionary. It's powerful, bold, vulnerable, beautiful, hilarious, universal, unique.'-Scarlett Curtis 'Furiously funny, gloriously frank...For a book about shame, Grace is unashamedly herself.'-Amelia DimoldenbergFor as long as she can remember, Grace Campbell has been told that she doesn't suit her name. But being graceful is no fun anyway.Growing up in a world of privilege and politics, she had a lot to feel confident about. But she was also a record-breaker when it came to feeling shame. Shame about sex, shame about rejection, shame about mental health.But over time, and with a 24 carat gold dose of female friendship, Grace has turned shame into a defiant sense of self. At only 26, Grace has got a lot to learn about being an adult, but she's already got a lot to share about being a disgrace, and how she came to be utterly, disgustingly, disgracefully proud of it.It's the book every young woman should read, and every young man should worry about.
Amazing Esme: Book 1 (Amazing Esme)
by Tamara MacfarlaneFollow the wildly imaginative adventures of Esme as she leaves behind her circus home for the first time to spend the summer with her cousins Magnus, Cosmo and Gus at Maclinkey Castle where it's easy to get lost and where you can discover all sorts of weird and wonderful animals in unlikely places - there are porcupines in beds, lizards in drawers and giraffes on the loo. It's all a little wonderful and a lot overwhelming and when her pet donkey, Donk, turns up in a parcel sent from her parents, the fun really begins.When hundreds of baby penguins hatch in Esme's top floor bedroom, the children have to figure out how to get them outside. Esme and her cousin have the ingenious idea of building a helter skelter around the castle turret, but this is just the start - soon Maclinkey Castle is turned into a full-on Fairground Circus with a big wheel, Bumper Bears, and the show stopping Flying Tigers starring Esme herself!
Amazing Esme and the Pirate Circus: Book 3 (Amazing Esme)
by Tamara MacfarlaneIt's time to send the animals rescued from the pirate circus home. Uncle Mac sets sail with amazing Esme and her fearless cousins on a journey to hot and cold and distant lands - from Scotland to Siberia to Peru! It's a voyage filled with excitement and danger. And dastardly pirates who will stop at nothing to recapture the animals. This is the third of Tamara Macfarlane's Esme stories which are perfect for newly confident readers to read by themselves, or for parents to read aloud. High in action and with plenty of humour, the stories are brought to life by Michael Fowkes' drawings on every double-page spread.
Amazing Esme and the Sweetshop Circus: Book 2 (Amazing Esme)
by Tamara MacfarlaneEsme is seriously bored of all the work and practice her mother keeps insisting she does in order to perfect her circus performance. So when an idea forms in Esme's head of adding some fun animals to her performance, she knows just who to call ... her cousins at Maclinkey Castle who have all manner of odd pets. With little rehearsal Esme and her act perform on the high wire. But disaster strikes and her co-stars tumble to the ground. Donk won't wake up and now everyone in town thinks that Circus Miranda is cruel to animals. What can Esme do to stop the crowds from leaving the circus? The answer lies in her punishment of being made to run the lowly sweet treats stand and being banned from performing. With a little bit of maple syrup, chocolate, caramel and a dash of teamwork, surely the kids can tempt the crowds back...?
Amazing, Weird, Mind-blowing Facts for Curious Minds from TheDadLab
by Sergei UrbanFrom popular online educational sensation TheDadLab comes an amazingly weird collection of over 300 mind-blowing facts and eight activities for curious minds!Did you know?· Giraffes can't swim, but kangaroos are surprisingly good at it!· All watermelons have an even number of stripes· Honey we can eat today has been found in 3,000-year-old Egyptian tombs!· Every odd number contains the letter 'e'· If you were at Point Nemo in the ocean, you'd be closer to astronauts in space than anyone on Earth!Nothing beats discovering something new, especially when it's as surprising as the fact that you are hurtling through space at the speed of 107,000 kilometres per hour at this very moment!Educational sensation Sergei Urban from TheDadLab shares the most curious facts to blow your mind, from real-life super-animals and flying cars to robot rock bands and golf on the moon. Find out for yourself just how incredible, strange and mind-boggling our universe really is with experiments and activities to wow your friends and stagger your family with too!Find Sergei and join his millions of followers @thedadlab on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and on his website at www.thedadlab.com.
Ambiguity and Film Criticism: Reasonable Doubt (Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television)
by Hoi Lun LawThis book defends an account of ambiguity which illuminates the aesthetic possibilities of film and the nature of film criticism. Ambiguity typically describes the condition of multiple meanings. But we can find multiple meanings in what appears unambiguous to us. So, what makes ambiguity ambiguous? This study argues that a sense of uncertainty is vital to the concept. Ambiguity is what presses us to inquire into our puzzlement over a movie, to persistently ask “why is it as it is?” Notably, this account of the concept is also an account of its criticism. It recognises that a satisfying assessment of what is ambiguous involves both our reason and doubt; that is, reason and doubt can work together in our practice of reading. This book, then, considers ambiguity as a form of reasonable doubt, one that invites us to reflect on our critical efforts, rethinking the operation of film criticism.
Amélie: French Film Guide (Ciné-File French Film Guides)
by Isabelle VanderscheldenLe Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain was the surprise boxoffi ce success of 2001, with nine million spectators in France, and more than 30 million worldwide. The fi lm turned Audrey Tautou into an international star, in her iconic role as Amélie, a naïve French Parisian who devotes herself to mending the lives of the people around her. Shot on location in Paris, the fi lm combines poetic and magical realism with stylish cinematography, original use of colour, state-of-the-art special effects, and an evocative soundtrack; together these have produced a popular fi lm of universal appeal. Isabelle Vanderschelden examines the fi lm's production within the French fi lm industry. She analyzes the issues of genre and narrative that it presents so well. She looks in depth at the fi lm's key scenes, as well as at Jeunet's distinctive visual style and cinematography and his use of digital technology. The national and international receptions of Amélie are explored to establish why the fi lm has caught the public imagination and whether it marks a renewal in the cultural diversity and distinctive identity of the French fi lm industry. This book will be essential reading for cinema lovers and students alike.
America 51: A Probe into the Realities That Are Hiding Inside "The Greatest Country in the World"
by Corey TaylorA skewering of the American underbelly by the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Deadly Sins, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven, and You're Making Me Hate YouThe always-outspoken hard rock vocalist Corey Taylor begins America 51 with a reflection on what his itinerant youth and frequent worldwide travels with his multiplatinum bands Slipknot and Stone Sour have taught him about what it means to be an American in an increasingly unstable world. He examines the way America sees itself, specifically with regard to the propaganda surrounding America's origins (like a heavy-metal Howard Zinn), while also celebrating the quirks and behavior that make a true-blue American. Taylor likewise takes a look at how the world views us, and his findings should come as a surprise to no one. But behind Taylor's ranting and raving is a thoughtful and intelligent consideration, and even a sadness, of what America is compared to what it could and should be.Expertly balancing humor, outrage, and disbelief, Taylor examines the rotting core of America, evaluating everything from politics and race relations to modern family dynamics, millennials, and "man buns." No element of what constitutes America is safe from his adept and scathing eye. Continuing the wave of moral outrage begun in You're Making Me Hate You, Taylor flawlessly skewers contemporary America in his own signature style.
America 51: A Probe into the Realities That Are Hiding Inside "The Greatest Country in the World"
by Corey TaylorA skewering of the American underbelly by the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Deadly Sins, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven, and You're Making Me Hate You The always-outspoken hard rock vocalist Corey Taylor begins America 51 with a reflection on what his itinerant youth and frequent worldwide travels with his multiplatinum bands Slipknot and Stone Sour have taught him about what it means to be an American in an increasingly unstable world. He examines the way America sees itself, specifically with regard to the propaganda surrounding America's origins (like a heavy-metal Howard Zinn), while also celebrating the quirks and behavior that make a true-blue American. Taylor likewise takes a look at how the world views us, and his findings should come as a surprise to no one. But behind Taylor's ranting and raving is a thoughtful and intelligent consideration, and even a sadness, of what America is compared to what it could and should be. Expertly balancing humor, outrage, and disbelief, Taylor examines the rotting core of America, evaluating everything from politics and race relations to modern family dynamics, millennials, and "man buns." No element of what constitutes America is safe from his adept and scathing eye. Continuing the wave of moral outrage begun in You're Making Me Hate You, Taylor flawlessly skewers contemporary America in his own signature style.
America Dancing: From the Cakewalk to the Moonwalk
by Megan PughThe history of American dance reflects the nation’s tangled culture. Dancers from wildly different backgrounds learned, imitated, and stole from one another. Audiences everywhere embraced the result as deeply American. Using the stories of tapper Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, ballet and Broadway choreographer Agnes de Mille, choreographer Paul Taylor, and Michael Jackson, Megan Pugh shows how freedom—that nebulous, contested American ideal—emerges as a genre-defining aesthetic. In Pugh’s account, ballerinas mingle with slumming thrill-seekers, and hoedowns show up on elite opera house stages. Steps invented by slaves on antebellum plantations captivate the British royalty and the Parisian avant-garde. Dances were better boundary crossers than their dancers, however, and the issues of race and class that haunt everyday life shadow American dance as well. Deftly narrated, America Dancing demonstrates the centrality of dance in American art, life, and identity, taking us to watershed moments when the nation worked out a sense of itself through public movement.
America First: Naming the Nation in US Film
by Mandy MerckAt a time when the expanded projection of US political, military, economic and cultural power draws intensified global concern, understanding how that country understands itself seems more important than ever. This collection of new critical essays tackles this old problem in a new way, by examining some of the hundreds of US films that announce themselves as titularly 'American'. From early travelogues to contemporary comedies, national nomination has been an abiding characteristic of American motion pictures, heading the work of Porter, Guy-Blaché, DeMille, Capra, Sternberg, Vidor, Minnelli and Mankiewicz. More recently, George Lucas, Paul Schrader, John Landis and Edward James Olmos have made their own contributions to Hollywood’s Americana. What does this national branding signify? Which versions of Americanism are valorized, and which marginalized or excluded? Out of which social and historical contexts do they emerge, and for and by whom are they constructed? Edited by Mandy Merck, the collection contains detailed analyses of such films as The Vanishing American, American Madness, An American in Paris, American Graffiti, American Gigolo, American Pie and many more.
America First: Naming the Nation in US Film
by Mandy MerckAt a time when the expanded projection of US political, military, economic and cultural power draws intensified global concern, understanding how that country understands itself seems more important than ever. This collection of new critical essays tackles this old problem in a new way, by examining some of the hundreds of US films that announce themselves as titularly 'American'. From early travelogues to contemporary comedies, national nomination has been an abiding characteristic of American motion pictures, heading the work of Porter, Guy-Blaché, DeMille, Capra, Sternberg, Vidor, Minnelli and Mankiewicz. More recently, George Lucas, Paul Schrader, John Landis and Edward James Olmos have made their own contributions to Hollywood’s Americana. What does this national branding signify? Which versions of Americanism are valorized, and which marginalized or excluded? Out of which social and historical contexts do they emerge, and for and by whom are they constructed? Edited by Mandy Merck, the collection contains detailed analyses of such films as The Vanishing American, American Madness, An American in Paris, American Graffiti, American Gigolo, American Pie and many more.
America in Literature and Film: Modernist Perceptions, Postmodernist Representations
by Ahmed ElbeshlawyUtilizing Lacan's psychoanalytic theory and Zizek's philosophical adaption of it, this book brings into dialogue a series of modernist and postmodernist literary works, films, and critical theory that are concerned with defining America. Ahmed Elbeshlawy demonstrates that how America is perceived in certain texts reveals not only the idealization or condemnation of it, but an imago, or constructed image of the perceiver as well. In turn, texts which particularly focus on demonstrating how other texts about America communicate an untrustworthy message themselves communicate an unreliable message, inventing and reinventing a series of imagos of America. These imagos refer to both idealized and deformed images of America constructed by the perceivers of America. The first part of this book is concerned with modernist perceptions of America, and includes discussion of Adorno, Benjamin, Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, as well as Emerson and Seymour Martin Lipset. The second part is dedicated to postmodernist representations of America, focusing on texts by Edward Said, Ihab Hassan, Susan Sontag, David Shambaugh and Charles W. Brooks, and films including Lars von Trier's Dogville and D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
America in Literature and Film: Modernist Perceptions, Postmodernist Representations
by Ahmed ElbeshlawyUtilizing Lacan's psychoanalytic theory and Zizek's philosophical adaption of it, this book brings into dialogue a series of modernist and postmodernist literary works, films, and critical theory that are concerned with defining America. Ahmed Elbeshlawy demonstrates that how America is perceived in certain texts reveals not only the idealization or condemnation of it, but an imago, or constructed image of the perceiver as well. In turn, texts which particularly focus on demonstrating how other texts about America communicate an untrustworthy message themselves communicate an unreliable message, inventing and reinventing a series of imagos of America. These imagos refer to both idealized and deformed images of America constructed by the perceivers of America. The first part of this book is concerned with modernist perceptions of America, and includes discussion of Adorno, Benjamin, Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, as well as Emerson and Seymour Martin Lipset. The second part is dedicated to postmodernist representations of America, focusing on texts by Edward Said, Ihab Hassan, Susan Sontag, David Shambaugh and Charles W. Brooks, and films including Lars von Trier's Dogville and D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies (Wiley Desktop Editions Ser.)
by Harry M. Benshoff Sean GriffinAmerica on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in the Movies, 2nd Edition is a lively introduction to issues of diversity as represented within the American cinema. Provides a comprehensive overview of the industrial, socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors that contribute to cinematic representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality Includes over 100 illustrations, glossary of key terms, questions for discussion, and lists for further reading/viewing Includes new case studies of a number of films, including Crash, Brokeback Mountain, and Quinceañera
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies
by Harry M. Benshoff Sean GriffinA comprehensive and insightful examination of the representation of diverse viewpoints and perspectives in American cinema throughout the 20th and 21st centuries America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality at the Movies, now in its third edition, is an authoritative and lively examination of diversity issues within American cinema. Celebrated authors and academics Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin provide readers with a comprehensive discussion and overview of the industrial, socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors that contribute to cinematic representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. The book incorporates several different theoretical perspectives, including film genre, auteurism, cultural studies, Orientalism, the "male gaze," feminism, and queer theory. The authors examine each selected subject via representative films, figures, and movements. Each chapter also includes an in-depth analysis of a single film to illuminate and inform its discussion of the chosen topic. America on Film fearlessly approaches and tackles several controversial areas of representation in film, including the portrayal of both masculinity and femininity in film and African- and Asian-Americans in film. It devotes the entirety of Part V to an analysis of the depiction of sex and sexuality in American film, with a particular emphasis on the portrayal of homosexuality. Topics covered include: The structure and history of American filmmaking, including a discussion of the evolution of the business of Hollywood cinema African Americans and American film, with a discussion of BlacKkKlansman informing its examination of broader issues Asian, Latin/x, and Native Americans on film Classical Hollywood cinema and class, with an in-depth examination of The Florida Project Women in classical Hollywood filmmaking, including a discussion of the 1955 film, All that Heaven Allows Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students in film, media, and diversity-related courses, the book also belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in diversity issues in the context of American studies, communications, history, or gender studies. Lastly, it's ideal for use within corporate diversity training curricula and human relations training within the entertainment industry.
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies
by Harry M. Benshoff Sean GriffinA comprehensive and insightful examination of the representation of diverse viewpoints and perspectives in American cinema throughout the 20th and 21st centuries America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality at the Movies, now in its third edition, is an authoritative and lively examination of diversity issues within American cinema. Celebrated authors and academics Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin provide readers with a comprehensive discussion and overview of the industrial, socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors that contribute to cinematic representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. The book incorporates several different theoretical perspectives, including film genre, auteurism, cultural studies, Orientalism, the "male gaze," feminism, and queer theory. The authors examine each selected subject via representative films, figures, and movements. Each chapter also includes an in-depth analysis of a single film to illuminate and inform its discussion of the chosen topic. America on Film fearlessly approaches and tackles several controversial areas of representation in film, including the portrayal of both masculinity and femininity in film and African- and Asian-Americans in film. It devotes the entirety of Part V to an analysis of the depiction of sex and sexuality in American film, with a particular emphasis on the portrayal of homosexuality. Topics covered include: The structure and history of American filmmaking, including a discussion of the evolution of the business of Hollywood cinema African Americans and American film, with a discussion of BlacKkKlansman informing its examination of broader issues Asian, Latin/x, and Native Americans on film Classical Hollywood cinema and class, with an in-depth examination of The Florida Project Women in classical Hollywood filmmaking, including a discussion of the 1955 film, All that Heaven Allows Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students in film, media, and diversity-related courses, the book also belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in diversity issues in the context of American studies, communications, history, or gender studies. Lastly, it's ideal for use within corporate diversity training curricula and human relations training within the entertainment industry.
America Under the Influence: Drinking, Culture, and Immersive Performance (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Chloë Rae EdmonsonIn this book, Chloë Rae Edmonson analyzes performance sites from throughout U.S. history to reveal the material ways that drinking culture is performative, immersive performance is intoxicating, and how alcohol shapes performance space. Combining archival research with first-hand accounts of immersive spaces, this study demonstrates how social drinking and performance in themed spaces often collude to reify power dynamics latent to mainstream American culture, such as patriarchal values, racial and wealth inequality, and labor exploitation. Yet there are also examples of how performers, designers, and consumers creatively subvert such dominant attitudes in pursuit of their own creative expression and fulfilment.Part one examines historic bars and clubs that are immersive by design, while part two explores immersive theatre productions from the 1980s to today. At the heart of all these American examples, of course, is alcohol, its associated cultures of immersive consumption, and the wide range of influence it can have on the bodies and minds of participants. In addition to its pop cultural appeal, this study will be relevant to scholars and university students interested in immersive theatre and performance, drinking culture, and American Studies.
America Under the Influence: Drinking, Culture, and Immersive Performance (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Chloë Rae EdmonsonIn this book, Chloë Rae Edmonson analyzes performance sites from throughout U.S. history to reveal the material ways that drinking culture is performative, immersive performance is intoxicating, and how alcohol shapes performance space. Combining archival research with first-hand accounts of immersive spaces, this study demonstrates how social drinking and performance in themed spaces often collude to reify power dynamics latent to mainstream American culture, such as patriarchal values, racial and wealth inequality, and labor exploitation. Yet there are also examples of how performers, designers, and consumers creatively subvert such dominant attitudes in pursuit of their own creative expression and fulfilment.Part one examines historic bars and clubs that are immersive by design, while part two explores immersive theatre productions from the 1980s to today. At the heart of all these American examples, of course, is alcohol, its associated cultures of immersive consumption, and the wide range of influence it can have on the bodies and minds of participants. In addition to its pop cultural appeal, this study will be relevant to scholars and university students interested in immersive theatre and performance, drinking culture, and American Studies.
The American Abroad: The Imperial Gaze in Postwar Hollywood Cinema
by Anna CooperAn American Abroad reframes postcolonial film aesthetics through a close textual study of Hollywood films about European travel from the long 1950s. The heterogeneous cycle of films made from 1948 to 1964 that depict Americans traveling in contemporary Europe portray a complex and fraught cultural encounter between American hegemonic power and a Europe that is being economically, socially and culturally dominated from across the Atlantic. Dr. Anna Cooper explores how discourses of European travel – Parisian shopping trips, Roman holidays, Berlin political intrigues and so on – are harnessed in service of American domination, often positioning America as the benevolent savior of postwar Europe, although this positioning is also often problematized by various details of the films, or resisted through a European actor's performance. By exploring a mix of European locations and Hollywood genres, Cooper's study opens up a plethora of theoretical and aesthetic considerations in their approaches to the colonial text: orientalism, gaze theory, the picturesque, the sublime, the ethnographic, and theories of space/place/the urban, among others.
The American Abroad: The Imperial Gaze in Postwar Hollywood Cinema
by Anna CooperDrawing on cinema and media studies, art history, American studies, and postcolonial studies, this innovative book offers a fresh way of thinking about Hollywood film aesthetics. It explores how eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western colonial formations of vision influenced classical Hollywood film style, and thus provides a new and unique perspective on the origins of the cinematic gaze. Classical Hollywood cinema constructs global spaces as an imaginative dreamworld,subsuming geographical and cultural differences into utopian fantasy. Yet, this characteristically Hollywoodian aesthetic has rarely been explored in detail. How are such representations constructed within film texts? Is this utopian aesthetic really as uniform and transparent as it appears? What is its relationship to the United States' status as an imperial power? In The American Abroad, Anna Cooper explores how postwar Hollywood cinema adopted elements of British and French imperial visual culture, transforming them to suit a new United Statesian context. Cooper argues that four visual discourses in particular-the sublime, the ethnographic, the picturesque, and glamour-became building blocks in the development of a new American visual language.
American Accent Drills for British and Australian Speakers
by Amanda QuaidAmerican Accent Drills for British and Australian Speakers provides a comprehensive guide to learning a "General American" accent, made specifically for native English speakers. Unlike most American accent guides, which are geared toward ESL learners, this handbook covers only the shifts that English speakers need to make – nothing more, nothing less. In addition to vowel and consonant drills, it covers the finer points of American intonation and elision, features that often elude English speakers of other dialects. Finally, it provides exercises for "owning" the dialect, finding authenticity and making it work for each individual actor in their own way. This is an excellent resource for students of speech and dialects, actors from the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and advanced ESL learners who need to use an American accent on screen or on stage. American Accent Drills for British and Australian Speakers also includes access to downloadable audio files of the practice drills featured in the book, to help students practice and perfect their American accent.