Special Guest Editors: Marie Pruvost-Delaspre &
Sébastien François
If you are a scholar studying the working conditions in the
animation sector, the economics of animation, or any subject related to the
production of animated contents, please consider submitting to this special
issue. Feel free to disseminate the CFP too!
Even though academic interest for the animated medium
remains on the fringe of media studies, it seems to have gained much importance
during in the last few decades (Crafton, 1982; Pilling, 1997; Lamarre, 2008;
Wells, 2012). Following the impetus of the thriving “animation studies” in the
English-speaking context and the pioneering work of the Society for Animation
Studies (SAS) founded in 1987, scientific research on animation has started to
spread across different linguistic areas and countries. Nevertheless, animation
as a field of research still appears in a state of dispersal and fragmentation,
marked by recurrent tropisms. Indeed, due to their dependence to related
scientific projects or events, the works conducted on animation and its
multiple formats and techniques have been developed within different
disciplinary fields, such as film and media studies, communication studies,
history or sociology, but in a certain state of unawareness of one another
(Pilling, 1998; Denis, 2011). They also have been mainly focused on aesthetics
and contents –and to some extent on reception–, putting aside the practical
conditions of the making of animation.
A growing number of books, documentaries or DVD-bonuses may
have already offered some insights into what happens “behind-the-scene”, as did
so –more seriously– some general historical and theoretical works on animation
(Furniss, 2016), studies devoted to major studios like Disney or Pixar (Wasko,
2001), or others focused on specialized television channels (Hendershot, 2004).
Nevertheless, the design and production process of animated programs have
rarely been systematically tackled by social sciences, and socio-economical
approaches of the animation market appears almost non-existent. Those blind
spots left by academia are related the periodic illegitimacy of animation,
which is clearly linked to its reduction both to television programs and
children products. In this context, ethnographical studies like Ian Condry’s
work on /anime/ studios (Condry, 2013) or Dana Lemish’s on gender in animated
cartoons (Lemish, 2010), can be considered as pioneering. More recently, the
one-day symposium “La fabrique de l’animation” (“The making of animation”),
organized in June 2017 in Paris, which sought to raise visibility on this type
of research and to develop dialogue between researchers, has rather been a
first step than culmination. From the perspective of countries, like France,
where animation remains, despite everything, a flourishing industry, with
animation schools and young professionals with international appeal (Mérijeau
& Roffat, 2015), this state of the art seems nothing but paradoxical.
This special issue consequently aims at highlighting the
processes through which animation projects are designed and put into
production, by bringing together contributions and researchers that engage with
such questions. Thus, an essential task is still to better document the working
conditions of animation professionals, whose occupations and situations are so
diverse. But how can we report the organization of such production systems, in
which many projects stop at their early stages while the lucky ones take years
to be completed? How to describe and
classify the multiple and complex “chains of cooperation” (Becker, 1982) of
each one? Benefitting from the input of previous works previously undertaken in
diverse academic fields, the purpose of this issue is indeed to discuss the
potential approaches (theoretical and empirical) that could be useful to comprehend
the production of animation, taken in its broadest sense, i.e. from the first
steps of the creation to the practical manufacturing and broadcasting moments.
The collection’s goal is therefore to question the specificity of animation and
its qualification as a cultural industry.
So as to initiate the discussions at stake, we invite
contributors to address the following (but not exhaustive) research directions:
ANIMATION AND ITS MODES OF COOPERATION:
Following decisive works on cultural industries
(Hesmondhalgh, 2012; Johnson & al., 2014) and the recent rise of production
studies (Mayer & al., 2009; Arsenault & Perren, 2016), the work of
animation professionals and their daily practices should appear as a central
issue. Indeed, how can research follow up and document the multiple stages of
the animation production? How to analyze the diversity of artistic professions
(authors, animators, filmmakers, story-boarders, voice actors…) as well as
their skills and crafts, while some of them remain particularly understudied?
Existing research on the collective nature of creation in the cinema industry
(Caldwell, 2008; Rot & de Verdalle, 2013) or on the role of cultural
intermediaries (Maguire & Matthews, 2014; Jeanpierre & Roueff, 2014)
should be helpful to understand how those professionals cooperate (Holian,
2015). In particular, articles addressing the question of the existing tensions
within the animation industry –regarding gender, generations, schools of
thought, etc.– or technical antagonisms –craftsmanship vs. industry, analogic
vs. digital technology (Noesser, 2016)– are expected.
THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY: ORGANIZING, FINANCING &
BROADCASTING:
The production of animated series and feature films deeply
relies on specific financing and economic models (Creton, 2014) which
comprehension requires to conduct studies among animation producers. Analyzing
the specificity of animation production, in comparison to the situation in the
film or in other cultural industries, might also shed some light on this subject.
Thereby, papers dealing with the institutional and political contexts, as well
as the financing of animation projects, will be highly appreciated: for
instance, such works could explain why the French and European animation have
continued to develop despite the powerful Japanese /anime/ and American
cartoons (Mousseau, 1982), but any other international perspective will be
considered. Moreover, it is essential to scientifically include animation
broadcasting, be it the film circulation through festivals, the work done by
cinema distributors, and of course the role played by television channels which
are indispensable in the financing and production processes (Stabile &
Harrison, 2003; Jost & Chambat-Houillon, 2003), since they have their own
problematics. Finally, the moral and regulation constraints which apply to
audiovisual material may be also examined. The institutions (e.g. the Conseil
Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel in France), associations (e.g. the “Parents-Teachers
Associations” in Japan) or other entities (e.g. the “Standards and Practices”
departments in American television channels; see Cohen, 2004), which directly
affect professionals’ working conditions and attitudes could inspire very
interesting studies.
ANIMATION AND MEDIA CIRCULATIONS:
Looking more broadly into cultural industries and their
boundaries (Bouquillon & al., 2013), article proposals focusing on the
circulation of animated contents are expected. Animation often plays a central
part in contemporary media circulations and one can wonder to what extent the
industry has (or had) to adapt its production routines due to licensing or
cross/transmedia strategies (Johnson, 2013; Kinder, 1991; Steinberg, 2012). How
then has been animation associated to other “new” media (video games, Internet,
apps) and what are the implications for animation professionals? Interrogating
such aspects of animation circulation should contribute to the understanding of
the interactions between cultural industries, as well as the building of
contemporary fictional worlds (Brougère, 2008; Condry, 2013; Besson, 2015).
SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
arie.pruvost-delaspre@univ-paris8.fr
They will then be peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by
the scientific committee. Instructions on format and citations may be found at:https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/401
The issue #18 is expected to be published by the end of
2019/beginning of 2020.
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