The new Hollywood, 1981–1999: special/visual effects

The emergence and development of digital imaging technologies and their impact on mainstream filmmaking is perhaps the most familiar special effects narrative associated with the years 1981-1999. This is in part because some of the questions raised by the rise of the digital still concern us now, but also because key milestone films showcasing advancements in digital imaging technologies appear in this period, including Tron (1982) and its computer generated image elements, the digital morphing in The Abyss (1989) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), computer animation in Jurassic Park (1993) and Toy Story (1995), digital extras in Titanic (1997), and ‘bullet time’ in The Matrix (1999). As a result it is tempting to characterize 1981-1999 as a ‘transitional period’ in which digital imaging processes grow in prominence and technical sophistication, and what we might call ‘analogue’ special effects processes correspondingly become less common. But such a narrative risks eliding the other practices that also shape effects sequences in this period. Indeed, the 1980s and 1990s are striking for the diverse range of effects practices in evidence in both big budget films and lower budget productions, and for the extent to which analogue practices persist independently of or alongside digital effects work in a range of production and genre contexts. The chapter seeks to document and celebrate this diversity and plurality, this sustaining of earlier traditions of effects practice alongside newer processes, this experimentation with materials and technologies old and new in the service of aesthetic aspirations alongside budgetary and technical constraints. The common characterization of the period as a series of rapid transformations in production workflows, practices and technologies will be interrogated in relation to the persistence of certain key figures as Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, and James Cameron, but also through a consideration of the contexts for and influences on creative decision-making. Comparative analyses of the processes used to articulate bodies, space and scale in effects sequences drawn from different generic sites of special effects work, including science fiction, fantasy, and horror, will provide a further frame for the chapter’s mapping of the commonalities and specificities, continuities and variations in effects practices across the period. In the process, the chapter seeks to reclaim analogue processes’ contribution both to moments of explicit spectacle, and to diegetic verisimilitude, in the decades most often associated with the digital’s ‘arrival’.

Texture, realism, performance: exploring the intersection of transtexts and the contemporary sitcom

Contemporary US sitcom is at an interesting crossroads: it has received an increasing amount of scholarly attention (e.g. Mills 2009; Butler 2010; Newman and Levine 2012; Vermeulen and Whitfield 2013), which largely understands it as shifting towards the aesthetically and narratively complex. At the same time, in the post-broadcasting era, US networks are particularly struggling for their audience share. With the days of blockbuster successes like Must See TV’s Friends (NBC 1994-2004) a distant dream, recent US sitcoms are instead turning towards smaller, engaged audiences. Here, a cult sensibility of intertextual in-jokes, temporal and narrational experimentation (e.g. flashbacks and alternate realities) and self-reflexive performance styles have marked shows including Community (NBC 2009-2015), How I Met Your Mother (CBS 2005-2014), New Girl (Fox 2011-present) and 30 Rock (NBC 2006-2013). However, not much critical attention has so far been paid to how these developments in textual sensibility in contemporary US sitcom may be influenced by, and influencing, the use of transmedia storytelling practices, an increasingly significant industrial concern and rising scholarly field of enquiry (e.g. Jenkins 2006; Mittell 2015; Richards 2010; Scott 2010; Jenkins, Ford and Green 2013). This chapter investigates this mutual influence between sitcom and transmedia by taking as its case studies two network shows that encourage invested viewership through their use of transtexts, namely How I Met Your Mother (hereafter HIMHM) and New Girl (hereafter NG). As such, it will pay particular attention to the most transtextually visible character/actor from each show: HIMYM’s Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, and NG’s Schmidt, played by Max Greenfield. This chapter argues that these sitcoms do not simply have their particular textual sensibility and also (happen to) engage with transmedia practices, but that the two are mutually informing and defining. This chapter explores the relationships and interplay between sitcom aesthetics, narratives and transmedia storytelling (or industrial transtexts), focusing on the use of multiple delivery channels in order to disperse “integral elements of a fiction” (Jenkins, 2006 95-6), by official entities such as the broadcasting channels. The chapter pays due attention to the specific production contexts of both shows and how these inform their approaches to transtexts. This chapter’s conceptual framework will be particularly concerned with how issues of texture, the reality envelope and accepted imaginative realism, as well as performance and the actor’s input inform and illuminate contemporary sitcoms and transtexts, and will be the first scholarly research to do so. It will seek out points of connections between two (thus far) separate strands of scholarship and will move discussions on transtexts beyond the usual genre studied (i.e. science-fiction and fantasy), as well as make a contribution to the growing scholarship on contemporary sitcom by approaching it from a new critical angle. On the basis that transmedia scholarship stands to benefit from widening its customary genre choice (i.e. telefantasy) for its case studies and from making more use of in-depth close analysis in its engagement with transtexts, the chapter argues that notions of texture, accepted imaginative realism and the reality envelope, as well as performance and the actor’s input deserve to be paid more attention to within transtext-related scholarship.

Narration, Visualization and Mind : Movies in everyday life as a resource for utopian self-reflection

The paper is analyzing how people in late modern society characterized by de-traditionalization, use moving images as a cultural resource for the construction of meaningful subjective world views. As a theoretical concept with several dimensions, “sacralization of the self” (Woodhead & Heelas 2000: 344), is related to media theory. With a critical focus on ‘the self’, as a core aspect in contemporary media society Eric W. Rothenbuhler labels the individual self as one of “the sacred objects of modern culture” (Rothenbuhler 2006: 31).I want to emphasize the need for case studies in order to undertake a critical investigation about ‘the self’ and how consumption of fiction film is interconnected to spectator´s creation of self images, but also to understand how film engagement elicits self-reflection (Giddens 1991, Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009a). The paper make use of empirical data to illustrate and theoretically develop perspectives on how the audience uses fiction film in every-day life for the construction of the self, as well for the construction of more profound and long-lasting ideas of being part of a moral community (Brereton 2005, Jerslev 2006, Klinger 2008, Mikkola et al. 2007, Vaage 2009b). Some empirical findings support a conclusion that moving images creates a transitional space for the human mind, with the capacity of transporting the spectator from real life to fiction and back to real life again, helping the individual with an ongoing process of transforming the self, dealing with who you actually are, and who you want to become (Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009b).

Coetzee's haunting of Australian literature

In June 2006, the Good Weekend, the magazine supplementing Saturday’s the Age in Melbourne, ran the following cover story by Catharine Lumby: “Worried TV will turn your child into a zombie?” The cover featured a science-fiction image of a boy’s upturned face. Televisions were reflected in his pupils, giving them the effect of being square instead of round. The message, though, was ultimately non-alarmist with the subheading already instructing “Relax. It’s all good”. Stories like this appear regularly in the press, and while I am not interested in debating whether TV is good or bad for children, I am interested in the popular image of children—or, for that matter, adults—as being akin to zombies when they watch TV, if only because something similar happens when we read books. Although it is not as fashionable to talk about it, we become emptied of ourselves, possessed by something other.

Staking a truth claim : Constructing a document in two laws

The documentary 'Two Laws' constitutes a legal document in support of the Borroloola claim to their land and contributes to the decolonisation of the images of Aboriginal Australia, which have circulated within ethnographic cinema, television journalism and fiction film. The 'two laws' of the film's title refer to white law and 'the Law', the system which regulates Borroloola social interactions and relationships with the land.

Intertextual turns in curriculum inquiry : fictions, diffractions and deconstructions

This thesis is based primarily on work published in academic refereed journals between 1994 and 2003. Taken as a whole, the thesis explores and enacts an evolving methodology for curriculum inquiry which foregrounds the generativity of fiction in reading, writing and representing curriculum problems and issues. This methodology is informed by the narrative and textual 'turns' in the humanities and social sciences - especially poststructuralist and deconstructive approaches to literary and cultural criticism - and is performed as a series of narrative experiments and 'intertextual turns'. Narrative theory suggests that we can think of all discourse as taking the form of a story, and poststructuralist theorising invites us to think of all discourse as taking the form of a text; this thesis argues that intertextual and deconstructive readings of the stories and texts that constitute curriculum work can produce new meanings and understandings. The thesis places particular emphasis on the uses of fiction and fictional modes of representation in curriculum inquiry and suggests that our purposes might sometimes be better served by (re)presenting the texts we produce as deliberate fictions rather than as 'factual' stories. The thesis also demonstrates that some modes and genres of fiction can help us to move our research efforts beyond 'reflection' (an optical metaphor for displacing an image) by producing texts that 'diffract' the normative storylines of curriculum inquiry (diffraction is an optical metaphor for transformation). The thesis begins with an introduction that situates (autobiographically and historically) the narrative experiments and intertextual turns performed in the thesis as both advancements in, and transgressions of, deliberative and critical reconceptualist curriculum theorising. Several of the chapters that follow examine textual continuities and discontinuities between the various objects and methods of curriculum inquiry and particular fictional genres (such as crime stories and science fiction) and/or particular fictional works (including Bram Stoker's Dracula, J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace, and Ursula Le Guin's The Telling). Other chapters demonstrate how intertextual and deconstructive reading strategies can inform inquiries focused on specific subject matters (with particular reference to environmental education) and illuminate contemporary issues and debates in curriculum (especially the internationalisation and globalisation of curriculum work). The thesis concludes with suggestions for further refinement of methodologies that privilege narrative and fiction in curriculum inquiry.

To solaris and beyond

The great Polish science-fiction writer Stanislaw Lem—author of the book, Solaris, on which two movies have been based—died last month. This week, The Philosopher's Zone explores the philosophy underlying his visionary work.

Towards a cyberspatial pedagogy : exploring synchronous online learning potentials

It has been a quarter of a century since William Gibson (1984) coined the term cyberspace in his seminal science fiction novel Neuromancer. Subsequently, a proliferation of online teaching technologies have emerged supporting Virilio’s (1991) contention that, “time and space have ceased to function as meaningful dimensions to human thought and action.” The aim of this presentation is to discuss and demonstrate the innovative modification of an online, synchronous learning environment, Elluminate Live! (eLive), which allows participants to transcend the spatial dimension. Specifically, we present an example of good practice which aimed to enhance student engagement by implementing a structured online tutorial series which replicated the entire first year psychology on-campus tutorial series in the eLive environment. We discuss Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) results which support the utility of this pedagogic strategy. Finally, we outline various challenges for the virtual teacher who wishes to implement a structured learning program in the eLive environment.
Gibson, W 1984, Neuromancer, Ace Books, New York, USA.
Virilio, P 1991, The aesthetics of disappearance, Semiotext(e), New York, USA.

The sexualised body : the cyborg

The word cyborg was created through an amalgamation of the terms cybernetics and organism. The expression was coined during a 1960s NASA conference to describe the internal technological modification of the body. This new term resonated within popular culture and was quickly embraced by science fiction, where the cyborg became a popular character. The image of the cyborg is often hyper-physical and hyper-sexual. The super sexualised woman who can shoot bullets from her breasts is a popular comic book cyborg representation. The Replicants from Riddley Scott’s Blade Runner are other examples of hyper human, super sexualised cyborgs. Increasingly, the future of our physicality is one that is intertwined with technology. Although the image of the cyborg is often exaggerated, it holds within it real future possibilities. This paper argues that cultural anxieties, in relation to the impact of technology on our bodies, can be identified through the cyborg image.

The imagined body – the cyborg

During a NASA conference in the 1960s, the term cyborg was created through an amalgamation of the terms ‘cybernetics’ and ‘organism’. Coined by concert pianist Manfred Clynes and research colleague Nathan Kline to describe the internal technological modification of the body. This new term resonated within popular culture and was quickly embraced by science fiction where the cyborg became a popular character. The image of the cyborg is often hyper-physical and hyper-sexual. The super sexualised woman who can shoot bullets from her breasts is a popular comic book cyborg representation. The Replicants from Riddley Scott’s Blade Runner and Arnold Schwaznegger’s role the Terminator are other examples where the technological and physical combination produces a terrifying hyper humans. Increasingly the future of our physicality is one that is intertwined with technology. Although the image of the cyborg is often an exaggerated character it holds within it real future possibilities. Consider the portable arm wrist communicator from the scifi classic Star Trek. The watch phone communication device was once an object of the imagination but now a reality in the personal mobile phone. This paper argues that through imagined imagery of the cyborg, future possibilities can be seen.

One example of the image of the cyborg representing possible human futures is the performance work Cyborpyg. Cyborpyg is a 40-minute contemporary dance work that integrates three dimensional (3D) animation and video media within the performance. Projected 3D animated prosthetic limbs appear to extend the dancers from within. These digital limbs integrate with dancer’s bodies transforming them into cyborgs. The animations are an extreme form of aesthetic modification reflecting the possible consequences of the integration of technology within the body. Cyborpyg also explores both utopic and dystipic themes within the cyborg paradigm. The dancing hybrid bodies perform magical feats not possible with an unmodified body. Feet twist into talons and flippers, eyes extend from the head, arms transform into robotic attachments. The dancer’s bodies also appear trapped in an unrelenting environment with prosthesis that appear to torture and inflict serious harm. This paper explores the idea that the imagined image of the cyborg reflects future possibilities for the human physicality.

‘No one will ever know...’ : the Holocaust, ‘privileged’ Jews, and the ‘grey zone’

This paper explores the problems of judgement and representation in relation to Jewish victims of the Holocaust who occupied so-called privileged positions in the camps and ghettos. Such figures, forced to act in ways that have proven controversial both during and after the war, faced unprecedented ethical dilemmas under Nazi persecution. Taking Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi’s highly influential essay on the ‘grey zone’ as a point of departure, I examine the extreme situations confronted by prisoner doctors, an important – though little discussed – category of ‘privileged’ Jews. Investigating the synergies between history, memory and film, I focus particularly on the case of Gisella Perl, a prisoner doctor whose experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau are represented in her memoir and a recent fiction film. The emotionally and morally fraught circumstances of prisoner doctors can never be fully understood, yet reflecting on the double binds they faced, and acknowledging the inherent problems involved in representing and judging them, enables a nuanced approach to the moral complexities of the Holocaust.