[Discussion] CFP: The Velvet Light Trap #56

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CALL FOR PAPERS


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 technology's 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 theater" environment (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 series" such
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 author's 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 Eija Niskanen (emniskanen@wisc.edu,
608-456-5998), Shawn VanCour (s_vanc@yahoo.com), or Jacquelyn Vinson
(jdvinson@wisc.edu, 608-263-3997). Submissions are due September 9, 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

Billy B Vermillion
<bbvermillion@students.wisc.edu>