Interactions between creators from the entertainment industry and the fan community have been around for a long time. In 1891, Holmes fans reacted very strongly to the famous detective death. It resulted in a flood of angry letters sent to author Conan Doyle, who resurrected him in a subsequent episode. Even the Hollywood star system was first motivated by the fans’ desire to know their favorite actors appearing as anonymous shadows on the screen. Later on, communities gathered around sci-fi magazines such as Hugo Gernsbach's Amazing Stories in 1926. It was a decisive moment that saw the birth of "fandom" as we know it today, and it certainly contributed to the emergence of audiences known as "cultists", a term coined by Matt Hills (2002), which is a type of public that is increasingly knowledgeable, who feels a certain "empowerment" towards fetishized works.
The end of the 20th century, with the development and democratization of digital technologies, has witnessed the rise of this new consumer-producer paradigm that thumbs its nose at the ideology of the Frankfurt School's passive consumer. Without forgetting that the modern fan is the product of a long line of popular works and "B-movies", from Flash Gordon (1936) to the science fiction films of the 1940s and 1950s in the United States (with the rise of communism and its alien invasion films), from Star Trek in the 60s to Star Wars in 70s - a wave on which the franchise is still "surfing". Special effects films, a cinema of attraction that traditionally places "the effect" at the center (Gunning), have always fascinated the public, but always from a distance without being able to really interact with them or create or propose their alternative versions. The only interventions possible were, until now, centered on "a posteriori" actions, via journal sections of readers' letters, for example, or web forums, without much impact on the result.
Now, since the advent of the Internet, fandoms get together, create and share their knowledge on the web, whether to consume, to make their own effects, to broadcast (fan films, fan arts) and even to criticize and offer their analyses via elaborate Youtube capsules, however not always instructive... For TV series, fans' opinion is now closely scrutinized, episodes are tested to evaluate the "best" twists, and some fans go as far as to petition to demand a new version of a season deemed unsatisfactory (Game of Thrones). Consequently, a greater proximity is established between the audience and the creators, thanks to the Internet and the democratization of the tools of communication and digital creation. What may seem surprising, is that the industry is willing to listen - not always, we must admit - to these different demands from the fans, whether they concern the narrative stakes, or specifically the visual effects. Thus, despite the difficulties of identifying the demands, often contradictory, and the debates that animate the web, the fan is no longer this passive consumer. This Kinephanos issue proposes to analyze the upheavals brought about by this post-modern paradigm shift, i.e., the fan and his growing influence on the cultural works produced in the entertainment industry, and more specifically, on visual effects.
Paper proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- how does the VFX industry take into account the opinion of the fan community (e.g., trailers review on social networks, listing continuity errors erased in post-production)?;
- unsatisfied fans, some of whom are already working in the industry, propose their own versions with visual effects which they consider improved. How are these versions perceived in the industry and by the fans;
- what about the "pro-fan-sionnals", the visual effects artists or directors working in the industry who feed their contribution with their passion, and who can go as far as to insert easter eggs recognized only by them?
- to what extent is the dialogue maintained or broken between fans, who want to know "everything" about the making of the VFX, and the studios who keep their know-how to themselves (without mentioning the unmentionable "beauty mask", a common practice rarely detailed in the "making of" and professional interviews?
- what do professionals think of fan-made visual effects?
- has the way
fans look at visual effects changed through the years and the development of
new technology?
The problematic of this issue aims to understand the impact the fans really have in the entertainment industry, and how the fan can interact and influence TV series and movies produced. What are the stakes in the VFX industry?
How to submit?
Please send an abstract, between 300 and 500 words (excluding references), in English or French, by September 1st, 2021, to marc.joly@umontreal.ca
The abstract must specify the topic and the object(s) of study, along with the preferred methodology. Don’t forget to indicate key bibliographical references, your name, email address, and your institutional affiliation.
Selected contributors will be advised by email by the end of September 2021. Full papers will be submitted by the end of November 2021 (anonymized for “peer review”). The issue will be released during 2022.
Editorial rules
Kinephanos is a peer-reviewed journal. Each article is evaluated by double-blind peer review. Kinephanos does not retain exclusive rights of published texts. However, material submitted must not have been previously published elsewhere. Future versions of the texts published in other periodicals must reference Kinephanos as its original source.
The author does not have to pay fees or any other charges to publish in Kinephanos .
Kinephanos accepts papers in English and in French.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario