[Commlist] CFP: Algorithms in Film, Television and Sound Cultures:New Ways of Knowing and Storytelling

CFP: Algorithms in Film, Television and Sound Cultures:New Ways of 
Knowing and Storytelling

Organized by: Istanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Communication, 
Department of Film and Television

April 29-30, April
Virtual Event

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 1, 2021

Venue: Virtual Zoom Event

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

·*Christian Katzenbach*
/(Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin)/

·*Robert Prey*
/(University of Groningen, Faculty of Arts)/

·*Diğdem Sezen*
/(Teesside University, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital 
Technologies, Department of Transmedia Digital Art and Animation)/


Contemporary visual and sound cultures which increasingly rely on 
algorithmic analytics raise important questions on subjectivity and 
creativity in our ways of seeing and hearing, the ethics of the visual 
and the aural, the quantified self, the aesthetics and the provenance of 
the image.The use of algorithmic analytics to create media content, 
including films, series, trailers and teasers have proliferated with the 
advent of networking and digital streaming platforms. Digital data sets 
have become commodities in the global media industry. The knowledge 
obtained from digital data sustains the flow of knowledge on the users’ 
choices, governing production and consumption processes. Although 
algorithmic data appears to be computationally generated, it is bound 
with actors, networks, businesses and their ways of thinking and 
imagining the world. A line of research focuses on how the algorithmic 
calculation of taste data in film, sound and television have transformed 
and possibly subverted the mediums. Hence, algorithms are objects of 
critical cultural and political analyses.

Algorithms shape and condition not only ways of knowing but also ways of 
storytelling. Although the use of algorithms (which can be traced back 
to early editing) is not new in film studies, their increasing use in 
the production of film, including footage organization and cutting as 
well as dramatic writing raises questions about new ways of 
storytelling. To illustrate with a few examples, companies such as 
Scriptbook in Belgium and Vault in Israel use algorithmic software to 
foresee films’ box office performances by analyzing scripts. Likewise, 
artificial intelligence that is used to produce images from texts is 
used in the production process of film. In 2018, the BAFTA-nominated 
director Oscar Sharp teamed up with an artificial intelligence expert to 
create the ~7-minute film/ Zone Out/.

Utilisation of algorithms in sound and music is also more and more 
visible in various forms. Regarding popular music consumption, 
algorithmic engines used by music streaming platforms such as Spotify 
and Apple Music to offer personalised recommendations is among the 
prominent of these applications. Similarly, there are attempts to build 
an algorithmic deep-learning tool called AutoFoley, that can design 
synchronised sound for videos.

Against this background, this conference invites submissions that 
examine new ways of knowing and storytelling in film, sound and 
television that are in connection with algorithms in digital visual 
spaces. * Possible topics* may include, yet not limited to:

  * different frameworks to study algorithms
  * algorithms and storytelling in film and television
  * algorithms and streaming platforms
  * the aesthetics of the image
  * new visual spaces
  * algorithms and scriptwriting
  * cross platform interactions
  * algorithm and user interaction
  * algorithm and production cultures
  * algorithm and creative processes
  * algorithm and transnational adaptations
  * algorithm and genres
  * racial and gender biases in algorithms
  * algorithm and sound cultures

Please direct all inquiries and submissions to Can Türe 
(can.ture /at/ bilgi.edu.tr) <mailto:(can.ture /at/ bilgi.edu.tr)> by *March 1, 2021*.
Participants will be notified of acceptance by March 15, 2021.

*Paper proposals* must include a 300-500 word abstract, a bibliography 
with up to 5 entries, and a brief author bio.

*Roundtable panel proposals *must include a ~500 word abstract 
describing the goal of the panel, a bibliography with around 5 entries 
and bios and contact information for each of the participants. Please 
indicate the primary correspondent for the panel.


*Selection Committee*

  * Ebru Çigdem Thwaites Diken, Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film
  * Ayşegül Kesirli Unur, Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film
  * Robert Prey, University of Groningen, Faculty of Arts
  * Diğdem Sezen, Teesside University, School of Computing, Engineering
    and Digital Technologies, Department of Transmedia Digital Art and
    Animation
  * Ivo Furman, Istanbul Bilgi University, Television Reporting &
    Programming
  * Erkan Saka, Istanbul Bilgi University, New Media and Communication
  * Nazan Haydari Pakkan, Istanbul Bilgi University, Television
    Reporting & Programming
  * Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Communication and
    Journalism


Contact person: Can Türe
E-mail: (can.ture /at/ bilgi.edu.tr) <mailto:(can.ture /at/ bilgi.edu.tr)>
Website: https://digitalhumanities.bilgi.edu.tr/ 
<https://digitalhumanities.bilgi.edu.tr/>

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