Skip to main content
Plastic Time

Plastic Time

By Vermeulen, Timotheus

Published by State University of New York Press

English 218 pages 2026
Estimated reading time: 4 h
PDF

About this book

Challenges dominant approaches in screen studies by rethinking time not as a function of narrative or montage, but as something actively constructed through performance—through the expressions, gestures, and movements of bodies on screen. Plastic Time radically rethinks how we experience time in screen media—not through plot or montage but through performance. The book explores how actors shape time through the movements and manipulations of their bodies: a quick glance, a recurrent shrug, an awkward embrace. Drawing on examples ranging from Duck Soup to This Is America and from Father Knows Best to Friday Night Lights, it shows how bodily gestures and facial expressions sculpt history and contemporaneity, age, rhythm, and tense. Combining media theory, philosophy, and performance studies, Plastic Time argues that performance doesn't merely represent time—it actively figures it, stretching here and contracting there, now folding together, then tearing apart. Time in film, TV, and video is not fixed but elastic, not given but constantly made and remade, molded anew; it is as plastic as the actors' bodies that enact it.

Availability

Plastic Time is available as PDF at 7 online bookshops. Bookshops carrying it include Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam, Crisol Ebooks.

Language
English
Share

Frequently asked questions

In what formats is Plastic Time available?
Plastic Time is available as PDF at 7 online bookshops.
Where can I buy Plastic Time?
You can buy Plastic Time at Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam, Crisol Ebooks. Compare every option in the list on this page.
How long does it take to read Plastic Time?
At an average reading pace, Plastic Time takes about 4 h to read (218 pages).

Ratings & reviews

No ratings yet. Be the first to review this book.

Sign in to rate and review this book.

Comments

Sign in to join the conversation.

No comments yet.