[d@DCC] Call for Papers: DVDs

From: Sara Bannerman <sbannerman _-at-_ canada.com>
To: discuss (at) digital-copyright.ca
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 20:00:18 -0400

>I know there has been some discussion on DVDs on this list...


Sara



>The Velvet Light Trap
>A Critical Journal of Film & Television
>Issue Number 56, Fall 2005
>Issue Theme: DVDs
>
>Less than a decade after their entry into the market, the impact of DVDs 
>has already become visible in media production strategies, legal and 
>economic policy, marketing and distribution, exhibition environments, and 
>audience reception habits. Decisions on style and content during shooting 
>of film and television programs increasingly take into consideration 
>possibilities for cross-media consumption. Recent years have also seen 
>increased visibility of short forms such as making-of documentaries and 
>other bonus features.   Direct to consumer sales have created lucrative 
>markets for otherwise marginal films and television programs and have 
>affected habits of consumption.  The home viewing environment, finally, 
>opens possibilities for interfaces with other end-user entertainment 
>technologies.
>
>The Velvet Light Trap invites papers exploring issues surrounding DVD 
>technology as part of audiovisual culture and practice.  In addition to 
>papers focusing on technology, we seek papers that examine DVDs in 
>relation to questions of aesthetics, narrative construction, genre, 
>production, promotion/distribution, exhibition, and reception--including 
>issues of economic consumption and cultural use--from local, national, or 
>global perspectives.
>
>Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
>
>"  History of technology/emergence of DVD format, with respect to 
>economic, legal, technological, or cultural issues: What noteworthy 
>technological precursors influenced the format?  What industry concerns 
>have shaped the development and marketing of DVDs? What legal battles and 
>cultural discourses have surrounded the technologys emergence?  How have 
>anticipated uses and struggles over use affected its development?
>" How is DVD technology designed to interface with other elements of the 
>expanding home theaterenvironment (HDTV, MP3 players, home stereos, etc)?
>"  Role(s) of region-specific technology: how is this technology being 
>used to define markets for distribution; what are the possible effects on 
>production style?  What impact might new region-free systems have on the 
>economics of distribution, production decisions, and global flow of 
>cultural products?
>"  Copyright protection: what debates have emerged around DVD technology 
>in terms of intellectual property and legal issues such as piracy and fair use?
>" Short forms and "bonus features" (making-of documentaries, "easter 
>eggs," etc): what new formats, aesthetic parameters, or even genres have 
>emerged with the rise of DVDs?  Do these short forms offer new 
>professional and creative possibilities for production staff?
>"  Cross-media production: what synergistic advantages are being exploited 
>in releases of the same story concept in different versions on different 
>media platforms (films, games, home video)? How are notions of the closed 
>text being challenged by such modes of cross-media production?
>"  Effects on experimental filmmaking: what has the reaction to new 
>technology been among "experimental" filmmakers (so-called independents, 
>art films, guerilla, or underground filmmakers)?  Does it open up new 
>possibilities for otherwise marginal filmmakers, or has it worked to 
>further marginalize these groups?
>"  Effects on alternative exhibition venues: have DVDs offered low-cost 
>alternatives for community cinemas?  What, if any, contribution are they 
>making to grass-roots political movements?
>"  Changing exhibition environments: How are films being marketed for home 
>viewing?  Are DVD sales being used to offset production costs for 
>otherwise marginal films?  What changes in aesthetics or narrational style 
>are resulting from efforts to accommodate home viewing environments (e.g. 
>sound designs made to work on both multiplex and home entertainment systems)?
>" Straight-to-DVD movies and programs: has the phenomenon of using VHS 
>technology for straight-to-video productions carried over into DVD 
>releases?  Will it help to create new local genres and offer directors 
>opportunities for career advancement / alternative career paths?  What 
>kind of production modes are emerging for straight-to-DVD releases?
>"  Changes in habits of consumption motivated by shift from former 2-tier 
>(VHS) pricing system favoring rentals to emphasis on direct sales to 
>consumers (USA): what new strategies in rental industries have 
>resulted?  Is this shift in emphasis encouraging a new culture of collecting?
>"  TV on DVD: how do DVD sales figures affect which programs are canceled, 
>continued, revived, or make the jump to the big screen? Are expanded sales 
>through direct-to-consumer marketing fueling the rise of 'boutique' labels 
>that give certain programs added prestige value over others?
>"  Reception: has emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales of television 
>programs opened up new audiences?  Has it changed the face of fan 
>cultures, helping, for example to solidify or expand a fan base for cult 
>seriessuch as Buffy, Star Trek, or Freaks and Geeks?  Has it further 
>entrenched the popularity of other, more mainstream shows such as Friends? 
>Is there a new type of film and TV criticism emerging with criteria for 
>extras and technical level of DVD releases?
>"  Ontology of the 'original': how is the release of alternative versions 
>and director's cuts challenging notions of the 'real' or 'original' 
>work?  What effect does digitally 'cleaning up' images or converting old 
>soundtracks for newer home entertainment systems (stereo, surround sound, 
>etc) have on understandings of old 'classics'?
>"  Changing face of the archive: what films are being preserved; which 
>films are not?  How is this changing the traditional canon or notion of 
>the "classics"?  What economic and technological issues inform problems of 
>archiving with DVDs?
>"  Pedagogy: how are DVDs being used for instructional purposes?  Are they 
>changing teaching styles or enabling new possibilities for instruction?
>
>Papers should be approximately 7500 words long (roughly 20-25 pages 
>double-spaced), plus bibliography and endnotes, in MLA format. Please 
>submit three copies of the paper, plus a one-page abstract with each copy, 
>in a format suitable to be sent to a reader anonymously. Papers should be 
>accompanied by a cover page which includes the authors name and contact 
>information. Papers not formatted in MLA style and carefully proofread 
>will not be considered for publication.  Submissions for the Fall 2005 
>issue will be reviewed by the Wisconsin Editorial Office. All submissions 
>published in the Velvet Light Trap are first approved by the journal's 
>Editorial Advisory Board through a process of blind review.
>
>For more information, contact Stewart Fyfe (shfyfe@wisc.edu), Shawn 
>VanCour (s_vanc@yahoo.com) or Jacquelyn Vinson (jdvinson@wisc.edu, 
>608-263-3997). Submissions are due September 30, 2004, and should be sent to:
>
>The Velvet Light Trap
>University of Wisconsin-Madison
>Department of Communication Arts
>821 University Avenue
>Madison, Wisconsin, USA 53706-1497
>
>The Velvet Light Trap is a journal for academic scholarship on film and 
>television collectively edited by graduate students at the University of 
>Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Austin, with the 
>support of media scholars at those institutions and throughout the 
>country. Each issue provokes debate about critical, theoretical, and 
>historical topics relating to a particular theme. The journal is indexed 
>and/or abstracted in Communication Abstracts, Film Literature Index, 
>International Index to Film Periodicals, Sociological Abstracts, America: 
>History and Life, and Historical Abstracts. Velvet Light Trap homepage: 
><http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/journals/jvlt.html>http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/journals/jvlt.html 
><mailto:pwsewell@wisc.edu>
>
>
>
>------ End of Forwarded Message
>
>Rebecca Sullivan ~ Assistant Professor
>Faculty of Communication and Culture ~ The University of Calgary
>SS110, 2500 University Drive NW ~ Calgary, AB ~ T2N 1N4
>Tel. 403-220-3397 ~ Fax 403-282-6716 ~ rsulliva@ucalgary.ca
>


-
For (un)subscription information and posting guidelines please see
http://digital-copyright.ca/forum.shtml