Call For Papers - MEDIASCAPE - Spring 2012 – “History and Technology in Cinema, Media, and Visual Culture”

MEDIASCAPE, UCLA's online, open-access journal for film, television, and digital media, is now accepting submissions for its next issue. This next issue considers the theme of History and Technology in Cinema, Media and Visual Culture. The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2012.

MEDIASCAPE is proud to publish high quality work that combines the cutting edge of critical and historical analysis with an impulse to explore the possibilities of digital publishing. We are eager to work closely with authors to publish high-quality work that embeds content, video essays, and/or interactive applications. Our journal also publishes traditional scholarly essays, but we encourage all authors to consider graphic and video aids.

Our new Winter 2012 issue, "Space," and our archive of past issues are available free online at http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/

MEDIASCAPE is peer-reviewed and published annually. Andy Young and Andy Myers, Co-Editors-in-Chief, welcome your queries, comments, and suggestions by email at mediascape@tft.ucla.edu.

______________________________________

FEATURES – “Digital History”

The digitization of culture writ large — and the archive in particular — necessitates a reevaluation of the study of both media history and mediated history. How does the transformation of the past into ones and zeroes affect our conception and study of history? Who owns and operates the digital archive? What is lost in the continual upgrade of technology?

MEDIASCAPE is seeking articles that explore new, neglected, or underdeveloped areas in the field of “Digital History” within all areas of media studies. Topics may included, but are not limited to:

• The effects of digital archives on the study of film and television history.
• The transformation of our relationship with mediated history due to the ease at which content creators can dig up cultural artifacts.
• The speed and depth of which the cultural recycling of history has transformed digital media.
• The voices and artifacts of underrepresented groups (ie. LGBT, race, ethnicity, gender, etc.) that get marginalized or left out of the digital archive.
• The dissemination of archived information towards the public at large.
• The increasingly transitory nature of media formats and platforms.
• The history of digital convergence.
• The requirement of multi-platform engagement in historical analysis.
• The historical nature of hyperlinked and embedded media.
• The metadata and organization of digital history.
• The disposability, fragility, and impermanence of digital archives.

Feature submissions should offer a new and unique perspective on digital history in the field of film, television, and digital media, and are encouraged to address more than one area of moving image culture. Papers are accepted from both faculty and graduate students, and should be 15-25 pages in length, formatted with MLA endnote citations, and include a brief biography of the author. Please direct feature section questions, proposals, and submissions to Matthew Perkins at MatthewCPerkins@gmail.com by April 1, 2012.

______________________________________

META – “History and Digital Media”

Creators of digital media products have significantly altered methods of film production, distribution and exhibition over the last decade, which has in turn effectively reshaped academic approaches to film studies. Scholars who once examined the medium of “film” rather narrowly, as predominantly text-based, now face with the advent of new technologies a radically transformed field. Through this process, the archive has undergone substantial changes as well. Film has become a ubiquitous medium, readily accessible for both professionals and amateurs. How has the progression of digital media technologies shaped the role of history in film and media studies?

The Meta section of MEDIASCAPE is looking for short essays and/or video essays that examine this central question in regards to the relation between history and digital media. Submissions may address subjects which include, but are not limited to:

The History of Digital Media
How did digital media evolve and how do scholars approach this phenomenon in film studies? What are the implications of digital media for cinema, and what are the connections and incongruities that exist between the histories of film and digital media?

Film History in the Digital Age
How has the practice of film history changed with the advent of the digital archive? How is film viewed, discussed and perceived in light of the ubiquitous presence of digital media and what advantages or disadvantages do digital media technologies pose?

Historicity and Film Discourse
How does history figure in the digitally-designed sphere of contemporary film? How do critics engage with digital media to examine film historical issues? How does digital media promote or stifle film historical education?

If you have questions about META submissions, or wish to submit a paper or project for consideration, please contact Kelly Lake and Matthias Stork at Meta.Mediascape@gmail.com with the subject header "MEDIASCAPE META" by April 1, 2012.
______________________________________

COLUMNS – “History Of Media, History Through Media”

The intersection of history and media has created a multiplicity of complex discourses. For this issue, Columns is seeking submissions that address the difficulty—and perhaps improbability—of adequately creating history through media or creating a history of media. Of particular interest is research that comments on the myth-making power of mediated history in film, television, and new media. Papers should be short (800-1500 words, in MLA format) on the role of history in the larger critical context.

Topics may include but are not limited to:
• What do Historical revisions in Hollywood films do to our concepts of history?
• In what ways do films treat History as source material for adaptation, and what methods of adaptation are at play in films about history?
• How do new media texts communicate history and how does it compare to more traditional forms of media?
• What role does archival and newsreel footage play in constructing History in documentary films?
• How do historical television shows like M*A*S*H*, The Tudors, Hogan's Heroes, Band of Brothers, and Roots play in understanding History?
• What do video game series like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, The Sims and Age of Empires tell us about how players encounter history?

Please submit columns and inquiries to Vanessa Mancia at vmancia@ucla.edu by April 1, 2012.
______________________________________

REVIEWS – “Technologies of Media History”

Reviews is seeking submissions that investigate how various technologies of media enable history to be read, constructed, interfaced with, interfered with, or disseminated. The history of the moving image is dependent on the technologies used to facilitate a dialogue amongst the audience, the text, and the extra-text. Digital Media artists and their audiences have experienced significant technological shifts in the multi-faceted medium with which they engage, leading to novel styles and new spaces of representing history. Complicating the ways in which history is (re)recorded and (re)created by “older” media technologies, film is now a ubiquitous medium, one that permeates our everyday consciousness while persistently forging its own historical account. In general, the history of how media has evolved to its present forms is rich and varied. This history is intimately connected with the conversations between consumers and creators, and also dependent on the technologies of production, distribution, and exhibition.

The following are a few questions that researchers may pursue and explore in essay, video essay, or other audiovisual formats in reviews for the upcoming issue of MEDIASCAPE:

Crafting History/Historical Revision
How do the technologies employed by media creators enable them to tell stories of history in contemporary works? What role does fact play and how do media scholars approach historical incompatibilities presented by technology?

Historical Memory in Film
What are the different ways in which media technologies project memories onto the filmic narrative? How is the filmic narrative engaged through memory and identity?

Media Technology and Economy
How successful and effective have “virtual” technologies been in transforming or redefining the production, distribution, and reception of entertainment for audiences? How have these technologies transformed the business of entertainment in terms of production, distribution and consumption?

The Technologies of Film History Pedagogy
How do the technologies of teaching film history affect the types of film history taught in higher education institutions, and can these discursive frameworks be completely mapped to their institutional roles? Are its methods effective and appropriate for cultivating a new generation of film and media scholars raised on threats of the “death of cinema”?

Reviews must be original, and creativity (in argumentation and/or style) is encouraged. Reviews should be a minimum of 2,500 words, although exceptions may be granted. The maximum page limit is 20 pages, and the work must be readable, structured, and visually appealing in the online format. Please direct reviews section questions, proposals, and submissions to Dennis Lo, Dana Covit and Janell Rohan at mediascapereviews@gmail.com by April 1.

______________________________________

General Guidelines:

All submissions should follow MLA Style guidelines, employ endnote citations (not parenthetical citations), and comply with the following formatting requirements:

• No cover page, with title instead centered at the top of the first page of the article
• Language of document set to English
• Double spaced paragraphs in 12 point font
• 1" Margins
• Endnotes rather than footnotes
• Images correctly sized outside of word (sizing them in word slows web editing process) and then placed within the word document's layout where they should appear at publication

Because of the peer review and editorial processes of the journal's different sections, it may take as long as eight to twelve weeks for decisions on submissions to reach the writers. General email inquiries can be sent to Mediascape@tft.ucla.edu.

MEDIASCAPE Copyright Policy:

Articles appearing in MEDIASCAPE are accepted on the basis that the material is the original, uncopied work of the author or authors. The ownership of manuscripts for publication in MEDIASCAPE shall reside with the author(s), though MEDIASCAPE reserves exclusive first rights of publication. This means that MEDIASCAPE alone may publish the article for the first time, and the author(s) may not publish the piece elsewhere for a period of 6 months following initial publication.

Following the 6 month first-rights period, the author will retain full rights and ownership to the material, and will be free to re-publish the manuscript elsewhere, provided that full and appropriate credit for first publication be given to MEDIASCAPE. In exchange for retaining author ownership rights post-publication, MEDIASCAPE requires that authors not submit their manuscripts simultaneously to other journals/publishers while under consideration for publication in MEDIASCAPE.

Note on images: MEDIASCAPE uses images by permission of the original creator(s), or under the parameters and protections afforded non-profit, educational use by the principles of Fair Use.