Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema: Disaster Movies

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Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Mark Kermode reveals the film-making tricks and techniques behind classic movie genres.

Mark Kermode reveals the film-making tricks and techniques behind classic movie genres, from romcoms to horrors.

Mark Kermode

Kim Newman

Kath Pick

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema: Mark Kermode's Disaster Movies

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Mark Kermode's Disaster Movies

BBC Four - Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema, Mark Kermode's Disaster Movies

Mark Kermode uncovers the cinematic and storytelling secrets of disaster movies.

Mark Kermode uncovers the cinematic and storytelling secrets of one of the oldest and most spectacular genres of all, the disaster movie.

Earthquakes, explosions, eruptions… since the earliest days of cinema, film-makers have understood that true spectacle lies not in building things up, but in bringing them crashing down. 

Mark Kermode grew up in the 1970s, the heyday of the all-star Hollywood disaster movie, and he has always been fascinated by the genre, which continues to thrive today. Mark shows how disaster movies use stunts and sound, editing and special effects to bring us jaw-dropping visions of destruction. 

But spectacle alone is not enough, and Mark reveals how film-makers rely on recurring story devices, themes and character types to build drama and maintain our sense of jeopardy. Mark also showcases the remarkable range of disaster movies, from claustrophobic solo survival stories to films that explore the ultimate catastrophe – the end of the world.


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