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

    Call For Submissions


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


    Online Conference, April 29-30, 2021

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        KEYNOTES:

*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)/

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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.

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*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


    Submission Requirements

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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.


    Organizing Committee

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  * Ebru Thwaites Diken, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film/
  * Can Türe, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film/
  * Ivo Furman, /Istanbul Bilgi University, New Media and Communication/
  * Ayşegül Kesirli Unur, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film
    Department/
  * Erkan Saka, /Istanbul Bilgi University, New Media and Communication/
  * Öktem Başol, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Radio, TV & Film Department/
  * Nazan Haydari, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Television Reporting &
    Programming/
  * Onur Sesigür, /Istanbul Bilgi University, Television Reporting &
    Programming/

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/This event is supported by BILGI Research Fund as part of a research 
project granted to Ebru Çiğdem Thwaites Diken and Can Türe. /


    Selection Committee

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  * 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/

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    Venue

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santral*istanbul* Eski Silahtarağa Elektrik Santralı Kazım Karabekir 
Cad. No: 2/13 34060 Eyüp İstanbul
444 0 428
(info /at/ bilgi.edu.tr) <mailto:(info /at/ bilgi.edu.tr)>

<https://www.bilgi.edu.tr>



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