[Commlist] CFP - ReFocus (EUP series): The Films of Tony Scott

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ReFocus: The Films of Tony Scott

Edinburgh University Press

Edited by Ben McCann

Series Editors: Gary D. Rhodes, Frances Smith, Robert Singer, and Alicia 
Kozma

British director Tony Scott (1944-2012) was and remains a highly 
influential figure in Hollywood cinema. His work, spanning from the 
early 1980s to the early 2010s, includes highly commercial action films 
such as /Top Gun/ (1986), /Crimson Tide/ (1995) and /Man on Fire/ 
(2004), each combining Scott’s signature visual excess, bold editing 
style and propulsive approach to narrative and plot. After an early 
career in advertising, Scott became a master of fast-paced, emotionally 
charged genre filmmaking, developing a frenetic, hyper-saturated 
aesthetic that shaped the beats and rhythms of Hollywood action cinema 
for over two decades. Described by critic Manohla Dargis as “one of the 
pop futurists of the contemporary blockbuster,” Scott helped redefine 
what it meant to make mainstream action films with bona fide movie 
stars, and his legacy endures in the way today’s filmmakers approach 
chases, explosions, suspense and storytelling.

Scott’s sixteen films, from /The Hunger/ (1983) to /Unstoppable /(2010), 
with a collective worldwide gross of over $2 billion, were wildly 
entertaining. His background in commercials and music videos allowed the 
‘high concept’ to merge with a range of thematic fixations – digital 
surveillance, the anti-hero, revenge and paranoia, and masculinity in 
peril. /The Fan /(1996) and /Domino/ (2005) offered subversive takes on 
stardom, masculinity and gender, while /Enemy of the State/ (1998) and 
/The Taking of Pelham 123/ (2009) retooled 1970s pulpy paranoia and 
crime for a post-MTV Generation. He directed scripts by Shane Black and 
Quentin Tarantino – /The Last Boy Scout/ (1991) and /True Romance/ 
(1993) remain two of Hollywood’s most accomplished blends of action, 
humor and violence.  For some, Scott’s work was slick and bombastic; for 
others, this ‘vulgar auteur’ provided a glorious shot in the arm to the 
Hollywood blockbuster. In Scott’s own words – “I think my films are more 
rock ’n’ roll.”

This proposed ReFocus edited collection will consider papers on the 
films of Tony Scott. Some of the themes that authors can think of are:

•              Scott’s early work (short films, advertising and 
commercials, music videos)

•              Scott as executive producer (/Numb3rs/; /The Good Wife/) 
+ Scott Free Productions

•              Male bonding and betrayal in Scott’s work

•              Scott and the revenge film

•              Scott’s relationship to other British directors (Alan 
Parker; Adrian Lyne; Ridley Scott)

•              Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer

•              Scott and his writers (Shane Black; Quentin Tarantino; 
Robert Towne)

•              Humor in Scott’s films

•              Tony Scott as (vulgar) auteur

•              Scott and stuntwork/special effects/VFX

•              Scott and the critics

•              Reception of Scott’s work (esp. abroad)

•              Stardom in Scott’s work (Tom Cruise; Denzel Washington; 
Brad Pitt; Kiera Knightley; Catherine Deneuve, etc.)

•              Scott’s visual style (color, editing, cinematography)

•              Scott’s legacy (in terms of contemporary Hollywood action 
cinema)

•              Your suggested topic

If you have any questions regarding the topics, please feel free to 
discuss with the editor. The suggested themes are not exhaustive.

Please send expressions of interests and abstracts of up to 500 words 
(accompanied by a 100-word bio) to *(Benjamin.mccann /at/ adelaide.edu.au)* by 
31 July 2025.

We will aim to announce successful proposals by 30 September 2025.

Accepted contributors are expected to submit their full chapters of 
(approximately) 6000-7000 words including endnotes (referenced in 
Chicago style) by 31 January 2026.

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