The Aalto University’s ELO Helsinki Film School (Department of Film, Television and Scenography, School of Arts, Design and Architecture) will host a symposium on possibilities of different aspect ratios in cinematography and storytelling. We turn our gaze towards frame, the primary unit of film meaning and ask: What is an act of framing? How framing is used as an expressive resource? How depth and space in cinematic narratives are built within different aspect rations? What is cinematographer’s contribution to the process?

The symposium addresses these questions from different points of view. We try to gather existing multidisciplinary knowledge on the evolution of aspect ratios and composition of cinematic images, not forgetting the new tools of storytelling, the 3D and 220° panorama images.

The list of speakers consists of European cinematographers, computer game designers,  researchers and cognitive scientists. The final programme will be published in mid-March, at the latest. The symposium is suitable for professionals, researchers and students interested in the questions of image composition. The event takes place at the Aalto ARTS, Media Centre Lume, Sampo hall (Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki) and is supported by the Aalto University, Media Factory.

More information: Professor of cinematography, Timo Heinänen, timo.heinanen@aalto.fi and coordinator Kirsi Rinne, kirsi.rinne@aalto.fi

Kirsi Rinne
coordinator (research and doctoral studies)
Aalto University
School of Art, Design and Architecture
Department of Film, Television and Scenography
+358 40 5929466

Theme: Memory Technologies: New Genres and Formats

Guest speaker: Prof. Geoffrey Bowkers, from the Center for Science Society and Technology at University of Santa Clara. (http://epl.scu.edu/~gbowker/)

The Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies in the Division of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Denver invites applications for a three year lecturer-postdoctoral fellow beginning Fall 2013.  Eligible candidates will have received a Ph.D. no earlier than June 2012, and have an expertise in teaching and scholarship in the areas of digital storytelling and digital journalism. We are particularly interested in candidates with knowledge of how these emergent practices are being taken up among diasporic communities.

The successful candidate/applicant will teach six courses over three quarters each year, including five courses in the common university-wide curriculum, one of which is a First-Year Seminar.  First-Year Seminars are small (15 students), four-credit, academically rigorous courses that begin one week before the start of the regular fall term and that provide students with year-long mentoring and academic advising. The candidate will also teach four courses in the common curriculum.  These will be undergraduate seminars that may be related to the candidate’s research interests and that are framed to meet university and departmental learning outcomes. The candidate will teach one course that fulfills department-specific needs. Holders of lecturer-postdoctoral fellow positions will have opportunities to participate in career development workshops and our division-wide faculty-mentoring program.

We will begin considering applications after February 15, 2013.  For information about the Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies, please see http://www.du.edu/ahss/schools/mfjs/.  Please complete the online application at https://www.dujobs.org/, and attach a c.v., the contact information for three references, and a letter of application that suggests courses to be taught or introduced.  Additional materials can be sent to: Lecturer-Postdoctoral Search Committee, Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies, University of Denver, 2490 S. Gaylord St., Denver, CO  80208.  The University of Denver is committed to enhancing the diversity of its faculty and staff and encourages applications from women, minorities, members of the LBGT community, people with disabilities and veterans.

To apply for this position, please visit our website at www.dujobs.org .  The University of Denver is an EEO/AA Employer.
– – –
Erika Polson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Media, Film & Journalism Studies
University of Denver
2490 S. Gaylord St.
Denver, CO 80208
Email: epolson@du.edu
Tel. 303.871.3831
===== General list info and FAQ: http://comm.umn.edu/~grodman/cultstud.html

Photo Laurent Fobe

Academic dissertation to be presented for public examination with the permission of the Research Board of the Aalto University School of Art, Design and Architecture, in Sampo auditorium (Media Centre Lume), Hämeentie 135 C, on March 1, 2013, at 12 noon.

Professor Nick Bryan-Kinns from Queen Mary, University of London will act as the opponent.
Professor Lily Díaz will act as the Custos.

This dissertation studies four projects combining visuals, sound and interactivity by the author and André Carrilho (under the name Video Jack). The aim of the study is to create web-based interactive audiovisual art projects for integrated and simultaneous manipulation of sound and motion graphics, in a way that is coherent, flexible, easy to use, playful, and engaging to experience. From this study aim, three major research topics emerge: content, interactivity and experience.

The four projects included in the study are: Heat Seeker (2006), AVOL (2007), Master and Margarita (2009) and AV Clash (2010) [1]. The three last projects have adopted an Interactive AudioVisual Objects (IAVO) approach, introduced in this study, consisting of the integration of sound, audio visualization and Graphical User Interface (GUI).  Following this approach, GUI elements are embedded in the visuals, and aesthetically integrated with the animation style and with the overall visual character of each project. These projects have been developed with a cross-platform perspective (performance, net art, non-interactive video, soundtrack and exhibition), and the study focuses on the net art versions.

The methodology for the dissertation is practice-based research, complemented by a user study. The background and motivation for the work are presented, and the projects are contextualized with related works. The study is framed within the field of audiovisual art, and connections are established between the projects and related concepts. The combination of audio, visuals and interaction is discussed.

The conclusions are grouped around six topics: content, interactivity, experience (the main research topics), project management, methodology, and future developments. Strengths and weaknesses detected in the projects are analyzed, taking into account the results of the user study. These are followed by more generic conclusions that aim to provide useful contributions to the field of interactive audiovisual art

[1] The projects can be accessed from: htttp://www.videojackstudios.com

Nuno N. Correia (Porto, 1972) is a researcher, teacher and audiovisual artist (also as Video Jack and Coden), currently based in Helsinki. He has been teaching media art and design since 2000 in universities in Portugal, Finland and Estonia. The focus of his work is to create engaging multi-sensorial experiences and to enable audiovisual creativity. He has presented his projects in more than 20 countries, in such festivals and venues as ACM Multimedia – Interactive Art (Scottsdale), Electro-Mechanica (St. Petersburg), FILE (São Paulo), ISEA (Istanbul), Le Cube (Paris), Mapping (Geneva), NAME (Lille), Optronica / British Film Institute (London), PixelAche / Kiasma (Helsinki) and SXSW (Austin). Website: www.nunocorreia.com

Kuva: Harri Pälviranta

Teol. maist., valokuvaaja Timo Korhonen väittelee aiheesta Hyvän reunalla. Dokumenttielokuva ja välittämisen etiikka.

Vastaväittäjänä toimii professori Henry Bacon  Helsingin yliopistosta
Kustoksena toimii professori Merja Salo median laitokselta.

Aika ja paikka: Perjantai 18.1.2013 klo 12.00, Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu, Mediakeskus Lume, Sampo-Sali, Hämeentie 135 C

Eettinen pohdinta on leimannut dokumenttielokuvaa ja sen tekemistä läpi sen historian, ja jokainen uusi esittämisen tapa on nostanut esiin uudenlaisia eettisiä haasteita. Tutkimus analysoi suomalaisen havainnoivan dokumenttielokuvan etiikkaa. Aineistona on kolmentoista suomalaisen ohjaajan 40 dokumenttielokuvaa vuosilta 1992-2008. Teoksia lähestytään elokuvallisina teksteinä, jotka paljastavat tekijöidensä moraaliposition.

Elokuvia tarkastellaan monitieteisesti muun muassa sosiologian, katseen etiikan, strukturalismin ja eksistentialistisen etiikan työkaluin. Vaikka dokumenttielokuvan dramaturgisina rakenteina käytetään samoja keinoja kuin fiktioelokuvassa, se perustuu kuitenkin todellisuuteen. Henkilöt kantavat tarinan dramaturgiaa, mutta heidän elämänsä jatkuu myös elokuvan rajauksen ulkopuolella. Katsoja seuraa elokuvan henkilöiden tekemiä moraalisia valintoja, mutta harvoin huomaa, että kameran välittämä katseen tapa on ohjaajan valinnan tulos.

Tutkimus osoitti, että dokumenttielokuvan tekijä on moraalinen toimija. Moraalia siirretään kertomuksin ja dokumenttielokuvia tehdään kertomuksiksi. Dokumenttielokuvan tekeminen on eettinen positio, sen tekijyys on eettisen olemisen tapa. Tutkimus tiivistää aineiston visuaaliset, kerronnalliset ja moraaliset elementit yhdistävän metatarinan. Se on tarina päähenkilön matkasta vankeudesta vapauteen, lähikuvasta laajaan kuvaan, talvesta kesään ja pimeydestä valoon.

TERVETULOA!