Analysis of the audiovisual landscape of fantasy and science fiction

Raul Garcia Hemonnet

Fantasy and science fiction are immortal genres because everyone likes to dream of other worlds and other realities. With the aim of unraveling the keys and codes of some of the most relevant productions of recent years, the Visual Arts and Cultural Studies Research Group (GIAVEC) held its 'I Conference on Cinema and Television' on Tuesday. Science fiction and fantasy on streaming platforms.

"We wanted to explore the ways of telling and creating universes that these two genres allow", says Antonio Sánchez-Escalonilla, professor of Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts, organizer of the conference. This teacher has dedicated his presentation to the world phenomenon series 'Stranger Things' and its connection with the ways of narrating the productions of the 80s. “It is interesting to see how, despite the fact that 3 generations have passed, young people see attracted by a very particular way of telling stories”, he indicates.

In addition, they have been able to hear presentations on current science fiction series such as 'Black Mirror' or the epic fantasy that is shown in series such as 'Game of Thrones' or 'The Lord of the Rings: The rings of power'. There has also been time to analyze futuristic stories more related to the 'cyberpunk' concept and the current archetypes of heroes and heroines in the Marvel-Disney era.

Different productions have promoted a 'boom' of audiovisual proposals on fantasy and science fiction, “this boom has to do with the platforms that allow easier access to these titles. It is an imperishable genre. We will always like stories of fantasies and adventures, technological improvements allow us to better recreate those worlds, although there are cases from the 80s that survive better, such as Spielberg's cinema, "says the URJC professor.

The days have registered full capacity on a date that marks the 40th anniversary of iconic films from the 80s such as 'Conan, The Barbarian', 'ET' or 'Blade Runner'. The GIAVEC group plans to hold an event on photography and a film forum for students in the near future at the Fuenlabrada campus.