A former market research analyst in the film industry, Justin Wyatt is an associate professor of communication studies, journalism, and film/media at the University of Rhode Island. He holds a Ph.D. in film and television studies from UCLA.

• Acknowledgments
• 1. A Critical Redefinition: The Concept of High Concept
  • The Entertainment Industries on High Concept
  • The Critics on High Concept
  • Economics, Aesthetics, and High Concept as "Post" Classical Cinema
  • Micro- and Macro-Analysis: Style, Marketing, and Differentiation of Product
  • "The Look, the Hook, and the Book"
• 2. Construction of the Image and the High Concept Style
  • Advertising as an Influence on Style
  • "You've Got the Look": Perfect Images in High Concept Stars and Style
  • Music as an Element of Style
  • Excess in High Concept: The Promotional Music Video
  • The High Concept Image: Character Types and Genre
  • Style, Classical Hollywood, and the Art Cinema
• 3. High Concept and Changes in the Market for Entertainment
  • The Marketplace and Traditional Definitions
  • Conglomeration and Film Content: The Roadshow, The Youth Picture, The Blockbuster
  • Uncertainty in the Marketplace: The Development of the Contemporary Industry Structure
  • Differentiation of Product
  • High Concept as Product Differentiation
• 4. Marketing the Image: High Concept and the Development of Marketing
  • Changing Distribution Patterns
  • Awareness Marketing: High Concept in Print
  • Maintenance Marketing: Selling through Music and Product
  • Merchandising and Ancillary Tie-ins
• 5. High Concept and Market Research: Movie Making by the Numbers
  • The Growth of Market Research
  • The Model of Market Research within the Film Industry
  • Case Study: Determining Boxoffice Revenue
  • Theorizing the Positive Influences on Boxoffice Gross
  • Specification of the Model
  • Estimation of the Model and Results
  • Manipulation, Control, and High Concept
  • Factors Influencing the Decline of Market Research
• 6. Conclusion: High Concept and the Course of American Film History
  • The Transformation of the Auteur
  • Television and the Ideological Agenda of High Concept
  • The Alternatives to High Concept
• Notes
• Index