Ways of Showing it: Feature and gonzo in mainstream pornography

Objective of this chapter is to consider feature and gonzo as pornographic stylistic models. Drawing on some recent reflections on film style (Quaresima, 2007; Buccheri, 2010; Martin, 2014), I describe a stylistic model as a ‘coherent system of technical, grammatical, narrative, and communicative options’ which are ‘historically and socially situated, that is in close connection with the historical, technological, industrial, economic, and cultural context in which the texts are produced and consumed’ (Buccheri, 2010: 36–37). Defining feature and gonzo as stylistic models means I regard them as complex and multi-layered systems, within which different kinds of elements (technical, expressive, narrative, representative, enunciative, etc.) interact and connect with each other – elements that are, in turn, shaped by social and economic constraint.