Contents:
NEW SCHOLARLY TEXT ON BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Elana Levine, Lisa Parks
232 pages (October 2007)When the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired in 2003, fans mourned the death of the hit television series. Yet the show has lived on through syndication, global distribution, DVD release, and merchandising, as well as in the memories of its devoted viewers. Buffy stands out from much entertainment television by offering sharp, provocative commentaries on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and youth. Yet it has also been central to changing trends in television production and reception. As a flagship show for two U.S. “netlets”—the WB and UPN—Buffy helped usher in the “post-network” era, and as the inspiration for an active fan base, it helped drive the proliferation of Web-based fan engagement.
In Undead TV, media studies scholars tackle the Buffy phenomenon and its many afterlives in popular culture, the television industry, the Internet, and academic criticism. Contributors engage with critical issues such as stardom, gender identity, spectatorship, fandom, and intertextuality. Collectively, they reveal how a vampire television series set in a sunny California suburb managed to provide some of the most biting social commentaries on the air while exposing the darker side of American life. By offering detailed engagements with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s celebrity image, science-fiction fanzines, international and “youth” audiences, Buffy tie-in books, and Angel’s body, Undead TV shows how this prime-time drama became a prominent marker of industrial, social, and cultural change.
Contributors. Ian Calcutt, Cynthia Fuchs, Amelie Hastie, Annette Hill, Mary Celeste Kearney, Elana Levine, Allison McCracken, Jason Middleton, Susan Murray, Lisa Parks“Keenly attentive to gender, age, race, and institutional politics, the essays in this collection reverberate with the clarity, cogency, and force of high-quality television studies scholarship. Undead TV is indispensable reading not only for those interested in one of the most important American television series but also for anyone who wants to be informed about the current practices, investments, and prospects of television and other associated media.”—Diane Negra, coeditor of Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture“Aiming its Mr. Pointy at preconceived ideas about the show, this collection tackles Buffy from cultural, economic, and aesthetic angles. Cancellation has clearly done nothing to blunt the show’s cutting edge. Read it along with Joss Whedon’s new eighth-season comic book and you’ll agree: Buffy is dead—long live Buffy!”—Heather Hendershot, author of Saturday Morning Censors: Television Regulation before the V-Chip
Elana Levine is Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She is the author of Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television, also published by Duke University Press. Lisa Parks is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Cultures in Orbit: Satellites and the Televisual, also published by Duke University Press.
Here is a link to watch the new Film and Media Studies building go up.
Over the last three months, ESSB construction has been proceeding well and has reached the 15% complete mark. The major foundations and most of the underground utilities are in. Roughly half of the structural steel for the GGSE Building is up. In addition to the steel work, some concrete formwork at the Pollock Theater has begun. Although there is much to be done, this recent work does start to give a sense of the form and scale of the building complex.
If your routine doesn’t take you by the site often, you can now watch the buildings go up remotely. A camera has been set up on the roof of South Hall with a view of the entire site. A snapshot from the web camera and the link are included below. We would like to send a special thanks to Design & Construction Services for getting this system up and running. Within the next couple of months, steel work should start on the L&S Building and more of the theater will take shape.
"Screen Capture From August 11, 2007"
Film & Media Graduation Ceremony 2007
Wishing you success in the future.See photos from the ceremony here.
Read the 93106 article on Lecturer Paul Portuges
Announcing:
THE ALEXANDER SESONSKE PRIZE
It's that time of year again, to acknowledge all of the hard work you have done in your most difficult Film and Media classes. The Alexander Sesonske prize will be awarding up to $1000 in prize money to the best scholarly essay in the areas of theory, criticism, and analysis for film and media.
Topics you have already written extensively on. So pull up those old papers you are most proud of, make any necessary changes and don't forget to turn them in by 5:00pm on April 27, 2007 with your name, e-mail, local and permanent address, phone, and the essays title on an unattached coversheet. On the essay itself only the title should appear. Turn them in to the Film and Media Studies Office, Ellison 1720. Good Luck!
Judging will be based on:
(1) content
(2) style/expression
Rules: An UNATTACHED cover sheet should give your name, e-mail address, local and permanent address, phone, and the essay's title. Your name should not appear on the essay itself. Only the title should be on the essay. ONLY 2 ESSAY SUBMISSIONS PER PERSON ARE ALLOWED
Only 2006-07 UCSB undergraduates may apply
Submit entries by 5 p.m., April 27, 2007, to the Film and Media Studies Office, Ellison 1720. No late entries accepted.Up to $1,000 in Prize Money May Be Awarded
download the poster
On Thursday March 22nd,7:30 pm at the Metropolitan Paseo Nuevo Theater, we will be hosting a very special premiere screening of Scott Frank's new film, THE LOOKOUT. Scott Frank will be present at the pre-screening reception at 6:00 at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum and hold a Q&A after the film. Reception and Film tickets will be available starting Tuesday, February 27th, through the department of Film and Media. Please email jpalladino@filmandmedia.ucsb.edu for advanced sales tickets.
THE LOOKOUT marks Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Scott Frank's (Out of Sight), directorial debut. The intelligent crime drama is centered around Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mysterious Skin), a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist. The film also stars Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale), Isla Fisher (The Wedding Crashers), Matthew Goode (Match Point) and Carla Gugino (Night at the Museum).
The screening is a benefit for the Department of Film and Media and the Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media. Print courtesy of Miramax Films and Spyglass Entertainment.
For D.J>
view the poster
download a pdf of the poster
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Construction for the Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New
Media began last week! The CFTNM will be an amazing addition to UCSB.
The CFTNM will be one of the first facilities at a major research
university where faculty members from the arts, humanities, and social
sciences collaborate to teach and conduct research on film, television,
and mass media from a variety of cultural, historical, and social
perspectives. With this $10 million dollar facility with state of the art
equipment, students will gain an understanding of the history, theory, and
practice of film, from the arts of story-telling and visual representation
to their contemporary manifestations and technologies. Click below to
learn more about this revolutionary facility will be coming to campus
soon!
Click here to see drawings of the Center.
http://www.cftnm.ucsb.edu/
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The Department of Film and Media Studies, in partnership with
Harley-Davidson Motor Company, has created an innovative production course that will be offered this spring, Film and Media 118 Viral Video Production. The course is an experimental workshop that allows students to explore both video production and internet distribution while working with the concerns of a project sponsor. Students in FM 118 will create ten short works (2-5 minutes in length), that exemplify the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. Students chosen for the class will be given a $1,200 stipend for each project and there will be a $5,000 prize awarded by Harley-Davidson for the best project. Applications for the course are available in the Film and Media Studies Office, 1720 Ellison Hall, and on line. Applications are due by 4:00 p.m., March 21stTo view the videos and vote for your favorite.
Click here for more information.
Click here for an application.
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A Graduate Student Conference in the Department of Film and Media Studies
University of California, Santa Barbara
April 6-7, 2007
McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB
www.filmandmedia.ucsb.edu/projects/mediafields
Keynote Speaker: Anna McCarthy, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University; author of Ambient Television: Visual Culture and Public Space; coeditor of Media/Space: Place, Scale and Culture in a Media Age.
"The Cyranoid Medium and the Liberal Self"
Roundtable Respondents: Edward Branigan; Constance Penley; Bhaskar Sarkar; and Greg Siegel; Department of Film and Media Studies, UCSB.This conference will bring together young scholars to think about media as fields of forces. Original presentations and discussions will explore issues relating to space, epistemology, and the work of media study.
MEDIA FIELDS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (tentative)
FRIDAY, April 6, 2007
4:00 Keynote Address, Anna McCarthy
5:30 Refreshments
6:00 Project Exhibition
7:30 Dinner/ReceptionSATURDAY, April 7, 2007
8:30 Light Breakfast
9:30 Panel 1
11:00 Panel 2
12:30 Lunch and more
2:00 Panel 3
3:00 Panel 4
5:00 Roundtable Response
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Focus Media Journal '06-'07
The Focus Media Journal is an annual scholarly journal issued every spring quarter. As a literary publication for the Film and Media Studies Department, the journal's goal is to engage students in a discourse that focuses on all media forms.
Focus is currently seeking student submissions. Students from all majors are encouraged to submit their essays, articles, and any other written material. This year's topics deal with the media and its portrayal of social issues (i.e. gender, sexuality, politics, youth culture, the environment, etc.).
All entries must be submitted in hard copy format (with your name, class standing, major, e-mail address and phone number). All hard copies must be placed in Film & Media Studies Office Box in Ellison Hall, 1720, any time before the deadline, Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 5:00 p.m..
This year's Focus Media Journal Committee consists of:
Nathaniel Bayer, Lara Britt, Ronnie Choi, Dhirana Guerrero, Christina Franquet, Brent Hagata, Laura McHugh, Alyson Osterman, Patrick Scoggins and Libby Wells
For more information, questions, or general concerns, please contact: focusmediajournal@gmail.com. Additional information is also available on Facebook under the Focus Media Journal group.
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Mike Judge at UCSB
On January 16th, Mike Judge, the creator of “Beavis & Butthead,” “King of the Hill,” and “Office Space” graced the UCSB students of Media, Culture and Society with a special class presentation. Judge’s impromptu appearance was sponsored by “Stand In,” a television program produced by MTVU that surprises participating Universities with celebrity substitute teachers. Mike Judge was a treat for the Media, Culture, and Society students who received a brief history of Judge’s life and career, and a forty five minute question and answer session with the creator of Hank Hill. Later that evening Judge appeared at the Arlington Theatre to screen the latest version of The Animation Show (produced by Judge and UCSB Film and Media alum, Don Hertzfeldt), a compilation of some of the world’s best animation. To catch Judge’s lecture at UCSB, check out the broadcast schedule of UCTV or log on to MTVU’s website: http://www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/stand_in/mike_judge.jhtml.
Read the Daily Nexus article on Mike Judge's visit.
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Alumni Meet @ the Cat & Fiddle on Sunset
For the last few years the Cat N Fiddle on Sunset has served as an informal gathering spot for UCSB Film and Media alumni. Meetings are held roughly every three months in the aptly named Casablanca Room. There is no set agenda to the nights, but they do offer a chance for old friends to catch up over dinner and drinks and new grads to network with experienced alum. At the last meeting we had about 55 alumni ranging from 1988 to 2006. Pictures from the evening can be found here. Our next planned gathering will be held on a Saturday in Santa Barbara to coincide with the campus wide alumni celebration. Please email Joe Palladino if you would like to receive information about these gatherings and the alumni news listserve.
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Word Farm
Word Farm, organized by the students of the UCSB Screenwriter’s Co-op, is a three day intensive screenwriting seminar that gives students an opportunity to work with acclaimed professionals in the field. Word Farm provides students with an excellent chance to pitch their ideas, test their skills, (pick up some new ones), and gain practical experience that will be useful upon entry of the screenwriting profession. Some of this year’s Word Farm speakers include: Michael Miner, (“Robocop” and “Anacondas”), Bob Gale, (“Back to the Future” trilogy), Tom Lazarus (“Stigmata” and “Columbo: How to Dial a Murder”), and Stephen Susco (“The Grudge 1” and “The Grudge 2”). Word Farm participants are a diverse amalgam of students, alum, and curious persons of all ages/experience levels who have a desire to be immersed in the film industry. Word Farm speakers and organizers leave participants with modern ideas of the nature of the industry, the level of existing competition in the industry, and an innovative approach for one to break into the screenwriting profession in Hollywood. Click below for feature article/photos!
More!For the Article go to
http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=12971TOP
Brad Silberling
Group photo from our fall Careers in Film and Media Panel. From left to right: Joshua Deighton, Kelly Miller, Toni Graphia, Jamin O'Brien, Brad Silberling, Julie Marsh, and Geoff Burdick.UCSB alum, Brad Silberling, the director of “City of Angels,” “Moonlight Mile,” and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” recently returned to Santa Barbara to screen his latest film, “10 Items or Less,” which features Paz Vega and Morgan Freeman. Silberling describes shooting “10 Items or Less,” which was shot in fourteen and a half days, as “the easiest and most pleasurable shooting experience” of his career. Silberling is excited to be distributing “10 Items” via an online company, ClickStar, in an attempt to revive character-driven work. His latest film “Lost Boys of Sudan” is slated for release this year.
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