Kristin Thompson, Handcrafting a Blockbuster

(In The Frodo Franchise)

Discussing the design aspects and attention to detail in developing the Lord of the Rings films, Thompson notes Bordwell's idea of world-building, which suggests that modern Hollywood films (especially blockbusters, Thompson adds) are engaged in creating elaborately detailed universes in which their stories are contextualized. In many cases, this occurs across media and helps to integrate the franchise, and Thompson cites the Star Wars franchise as exemplary in this respect. I would argue that although this is true, this world-building does not necessarily result in an integrated universe, but rather in many cases creates a wide variety of different versions of the same universe, such as in superhero franchises.

In either case, however, the intense levels of detail seem to translate for fans into greater authenticity (historical, fantastical or otherwise). This serves not only to create an ambient environment for the action and a believable world, but also (as I have discussed in the Terminator franchise) a network of self-reflexive links between different franchise texts. Not only are we given clues in the set-dressing, costuming and design of Terminator 3 that we are dealing with the same characters in the same world, we are also given stylistic and structural cues that we are dealing with the same franchise. Narrative and formal elements dovetail to create a worthy reintroduction.