[ecrea] Mediascape

/Mediascape<http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/>/, UCLA's journal of
Cinema and Media Studies, is pleased to announce the publication of the
Spring 2011 issue, with a theme of "local.global". As a journal,
/Mediascape/  aspires to represent the complexity of our contemporary
media landscape by not only engaging with a broad range of texts ---
written and moving, film and digital, CGI and human -- but also by
featuring a diverse selection of formats --- video essays and
interviews, scholarly articles and reviews, and round table discussions.
Our hope with this issue is that in light of the ever increasing global
reach of media industries, technologies, and texts, the pieces featured
herein may provoke readers to consider and make local, if you will, what
may be our responsibility as educators and students, to the
ever-changing ideas and innovations of a global media society and its
lasting impact on the communities in which we work and live.

You can view this spectacular new issue here:

http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/


We are also beginning work on our new issue and are still welcoming
submissions until April 30, 2011:

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*CALL FOR PAPERS - SPRING 2011 ISSUE*

UCLA's online journal for film, television, and digital media,
Mediascape, is now accepting submissions for its next issue. This
journal, a place for articles pertaining to visual culture, is
peer-reviewed and published bi-annually.

For this issue, Mediascape is considering the theme of space in cinema
and media and visual culture. The deadline for submissions is 30 April
2011.

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*Features*

Space is constructed within the cinematic text, and the space of
spectatorship is an ever-changing beast. As the spaces and methods of
viewing media multiply, the issues surrounding both the construction of
space both inside and outside of the text come to the forefront.
Features is seeking articles that consider the themes and variations on
the topic of space within all areas of media studies.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

. Production practices for new viewing platforms, e.g., How are media
creators changing the scope of their work to be consumed on multiple
platforms? Are the new devices governing stylistic choices made by the
producers? How are distribution methods changing?

. Media interpretation as dependent on viewing environment, e.g., How
does the viewing platform and/or the viewing environment of media affect
the way that we perceive on-screen actions?

. How does the increasing proliferation of screens in everyday life
change both production practices and viewing habits?

. By creating new media specifically for new mobile media platforms, how
much quality is being sacrificed? How are standards of quality being
changed?

. How does the formal construction of a film indicate the space in which
it was meant to be viewed? Is there an iPhone, IMAX or television aesthetic?

Feature submissions should offer a new and unique perspective on film,
television, and digital media, and are encouraged to address more than
one area of moving image culture. Please direct feature section
questions, proposals, and submissions (toLGiggey /at/ ucla.edu)
<mailto:(LGiggey /at/ ucla.edu)>  by April 30, 2011. For the purposes of
confidentiality during the double blind peer review, please include both
your bio and your personal contact information in the accompanying email
only, rather than in the word document. Feature submissions should range
from between 15 to 25 manuscript pages. Though articles should be of a
high level of scholarly rigor, the journal will not be read exclusively
by media scholars. Writing should therefore be readable enough to be
enjoyed by those outside of the field of media studies and indeed
outside of the academy altogether.

*Reviews*

Reviews is seeking submissions which analyze discourses that complicate
the notion of space in any medium. The object ofreview can be a film, a
TV program, a website, an architectural design, a book, an artwork, an
industry/trade report, an advertisement, a tourist brochure, a personal
diary, a piece of hardware, a movie review, an academic conference, a
film festival, a world expo, merchandise ---anything. Because the scope
of space as a theme encompasses a large spectrum of concepts, it is
imperative to distinguish between, and specify, the different ways in
which space may be theoretically operative.

Subjects that may arise include:

. Space and Film Theory- How has film theoretical discourse evolved with
respect to its address of the narrative construction of space? E.g. Can
psychoanalytic theories of spatial construction be applied to
contemporary Hollywood cinema?

. Space and Philosophy- Do phenomenological principles of embodiment
occur immaterially or in specific spaces? E.g. How have modernist
painting and sculpture reflected the fragmentation of the body via the
fragmentation of space?

. Space and Architecture- In architectural discourse, the blueprint
often stands as the equivalent of the film script. How does the
translation from a spatial plan, such as the blueprint, to the creation
of the final product occur? E.g. Does the space traveled through in the
film Inception (2010) correspond to the architectural designs laid out
within the film's plotlines?

. Space and Political Economy- What ways of thinking have extended,
superceded, or contradicted Marxist political economic theory, and how
have these addressed the issue of uneven development in global economy?
E.g. Consider the ways many transnational media industries around the
globe are both privately and nationally owned.

. Space and Security- To what extent are the categories of public and
private spaceblurry or distinct? Specifically, how malleable are these
configurations, depending on cultures, political conditions, urban
design, and social milieu? E.g. How do social interactions take shape
differently in modes of transportation that are designed for public use
-- such as taxis, elevators, and airport lounges -- but are often
experienced privately?

. Space and Geography- In what Hamid Naficy calls an accented cinema,
exile and nomadism play significant roles in transforming the ways
migrant interact in their everyday spaces. How are these narratives of
transit represented, andwhat types of sociopolitical and socioeconomic
challenges are encountered? E.g. How have the designs of travel
brochures catered to and/or defined a specific category of "migrants"?

. Space and Nationalism- How do "post-national" phenomenon, such as
cosmopolitanism, transnationalism, and transculturation challenge the
thesis of a singularly imagined community? E.g. Are the same types of
nationalism described by Benedict Anderson operative in popular MMORPGs
through cooperative groups such as "guilds?"

. Space and History- How are multiple histories (memories, official
narratives, media reports, folk narratives, autobiographical texts)
embedded within single spaces, and do the spaces reflect any
contradictions in the ways these histories are layered? E.g. What are
the politics of Hollywood action films and contemporary video games
staging narratives that feature the use of exotic locales imbued with
the weight of History?

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 and Jessica Fowler at
(mediascapereviews /at/ gmail.com)  <mailto:(mediascapereviews /at/ gmail.com)>  by
April 30, 2011.


*Columns*

More than any other genres, science fiction and fantasy explore unknown
and inexplicable forces, fantastic places, and improbable settings. For
this issue, Columns is seeking submissions with regards to the use of
"space" in the science fiction and fantasy genres of film, television,
digital and new medias. Of particular interest would be research in
regards to spatiality and the examination of the relationship between
diegetic space and outer space, and the ways in which the understanding
of each informs the other. Papers should be short (800-1500 words, in
MLA format) on the role of space in the larger critical context.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

. The role of space as a means of configuring identity in science
fiction film and television.

. Spatiality/spaciality as a component of defining and undermining genre.

. Issues of temporality and memory expressed through the construction of
space in science fiction and/or fantasy.

. How do formal techniques, i.e. special effects and sound, shape
geographical imaginings and sense of space?

. Relationships between space, identity, and difference that are
produced and reproduced invarious media forms.

. How are ideas of "the other" and xenophobia expressed through space
exploration and invasion?

Please submit columns and inquiries to Andrew Young (atyoungap /at/ ucla.edu)
<mailto:(youngap /at/ ucla.edu)>  by April 30, 2011.

*META*

Cinema and media scholarship often leaves unexamined questions about the
practice of scholarship itself: how we formulate analysis and argument,
why certain issues emerge to the fore, what new forms and expressions of
media and cultural analysis enhance our understanding. The META section
presents students and scholars of cinema and other media the opportunity
to publish work that exemplifies scholastic self-awareness- papers and
projects that contemplate academic methods, critique their implications
and limitations, and propagate new approaches to media scholarship.

Given the video game industry's relatively young history, scholars and
artists alike have had a unique opportunity to comment and theorize on
the burgeoning field of game studies. META has decided to concentrate on
game studies, with a particular focus on the multifaceted implications
of  'space' in gaming and how popular scholarship has discussed it.ã??

META welcomes video submissions (experimental video is encouraged) as
well as scholarly articles that contain a visual component (screenshots,
videos, etc.). Topics may or may not involve:

. Spaces of gaming (arcades, home consoles, handhelds, internet cafés,
etc.)

. Machinimaã??(films that are made from game engines, such as Red vs. Blue)

. Game design (understanding the design of games in a meta sense)

. Game controllers and interfaces

. Social gaming (casual gaming on Facebook, MMOGs, fantasy sports, etc.)

. Alternate Reality Games (ARGs)

. Agency in gaming (avatars, player-character relationships, etc.)

. The relationship of digital games and non-digital games (board games,
etc.)

. Video game archiving (Why is it important? How can it be done?)

. Video games as remediation (video games remediating film, sports,
etc.) or remediation of games in other media (film, sports, etc.)

These are just a sampling of questions of interest to META for the next
issue and we welcome you to present your own lines of inquiry in an
original paper or project.

If you have questions about META submissions, or wish to submit a paper
or project for consideration, please contact James Fleuryat
(fleury.james /at/ gmail.com)  <mailto:(fleury.james /at/ gmail.com)>  with the subject
header "Mediascape META" by April 30, 2011.

*General Guidelines:*

All submissions should follow MLA Style guidelines, employ endnote
citations, and comply with the following formatting requirements:

. No cover page, with title instead centered at the top of the first
page of thearticle

. 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 (toMediascape /at/ tft.ucla.edu)  <mailto:(Mediascape /at/ tft.ucla.edu)>.

*Mediascape Copyright Policy:*

Articles appearing in Mediascape are accepted on the basis that the
material is the original, un-copied 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, Mediascapeã??requires that
authors not submit their manuscripts simultaneously to other
journals/publishers while under consideration for publication in
Medisascape.

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*Note on images:**ã??*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.