[ecrea] CfP: Media Mutations 7, Bologna, May 26-27 - Space Invaders: games and contemporary media ecosystems

Our aim is to host a thought-provoking event, with plenty of 
opportunities to share ideas in truly inspiring surroundings. And 
perhaps, in tune with this year's theme, through in a dose of playfulness...

You can also read the CfP here: 
http://www.mediamutations.org/media-mutations-7-call-for-papers/
For more information about the Media Mutations project and previous 
editions: http://www.mediamutations.org/
Please direct any queries about the conference and the CfP to 
(mediamutations.org /at/ gmail.com)


CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Media
Mutations 7.

Space
Invaders. The impact of digital games in contemporary media ecosystems

Bologna,
Dipartimento delle Arti, Salone Marescotti, May 26th
and 27th
2015

Confirmed
keynote speaker: Tanya Krzywinska (Falmouth University)

Organized
by: Paolo Noto (Università di Bologna), Riccardo Fassone (Università di
Torino), Claudio Pires Franco (University of Bedfordshire)

In
the past years digital games have progressively become more
visible in the media ecosystem, and now occupy a prominent position,
economically and culturally, in the mediascape.

As
a consequence, scholars in TV and Film Studies have been incorporating
the study of video games into their field of interests, working in
particular on the aesthetic and narrative relationship between digital
games and other media. Scholarly production has extensively focused, on
the one hand, on issues such as intermediality, narrative aspects in
digital games as well as on modes of representation and enunciation
and, on the other hand, on playful aspects of the cinematic and
televisual narration.

What
seems to be nearly absent in this field of analysis is a more
structured reflection on the impact of digital games in the
contemporary media ecosystem. In particular, we would like to foster a
further exploration of the spaces traditionally occupied by cinema and
television that have been significantly modified, both by the
pervasiveness of digital games and by the design of gameful products.
Moreover, we encourage an exploration of current
and potential technological developments that determine interactions
and convergences in the different aspects of production between video
games and other media.

Coherently
with its previous editions, Media Mutations 7 encourages ecosystemic
analyses, encompassing games and play and their role within the wider
space of media, of the aspects listed below. We accept proposals for 20
minute papers on:

    *

      Space
      of creation and production: What kind of unprecedented products 
emerge
      from the coexistence between games and other creative objects? What
      types of products have been subject to mutations triggered by the
      increasing presence of digital games in the media ecosystem?  How 
might
      models of production and creative work migrate between games and 
other
      media? How does the increasing importance of games affect the
      organization of contemporary media franchises? To what extent the 
need
      to engage viewers through playful elements influences the styles of
      writing and filmmaking? How has this changed the professional 
routines
      as well as the geography of workplaces? What are the potential
      educational applications of video games and how do they relate to the
      use of other media in the same context?


    *

      Space
      of
      delivery and consumption: How are games showcased and sold in 
physical
      as well as digital stores, in competition (or in collaboration) with
      other items, such as films and TV series? What are the forms of
      monetization and the marketing strategies they adopt in the 
competition
      for the limited resources of users’ money and time? How are 
promotional
      practices and discourses of games affected by other media, and vice
      versa? How are forms of interactive technology and distribution
      contributing to the development of new cross-media experiences, 
such as
      second screens, mobile media , augmented reality and the like?


    *

      Space
      of
      discussion: How have games achieved a culturally legitimate 
status? How
      are games brought into traditional spaces of exhibition? What is the
      meaning of buzzwords, such as interactive, immersive, 
gamification and
      transmedia according to the contexts in which they are employed (in
      academia, marketing, industry, etc.)?


We
will also consider proposals on the following subjects:

serious
games, advergames, interactive Web-docs, educational games, amusement
parks, gamification of blockbuster movies and TV, Alternate Reality
Games (ARG), casual games.

The
official languages of the conference are English and Italian. Extended
abstracts of up to 1.000 words (for 20-minute talks) should be sent to 
(mediamutations.org /at/ gmail.com)
by February
15th
2015.
Please attach a brief biography (maximum 150 words) and an optional
selected bibliography (up to ten titles) relevant to the conference
theme.



A
registration fee will be requested after notification of paper
acceptance (€40 for speakers; admission to the conference is free for
students). For more information on the previous editions of Media
Mutations, please check the conference's website,
www.mediamutations.org.

.....................


Claudio Pires Franco

Ethnographer, Media Explorer

Collaborating with UNESCO Chair project Crossing Media Boundaries: New 
Media Forms of the Book

UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE

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