Published Dec 24th 2008
Abstract: This article sketches a genealogy and typology of the split screen in mainstream film, identifying three distinct phases in the integration of this device since the 1950s, each relating to broader cultural shifts ushered in by media advances and transitions: telephone in the 1950s, television in the 1960s and 1970s, and the computer since the 1990s. I argue that the emphasis upon fragmented and multiplied display relates largely to the cinema’s demonstrated capacity for negotiating the meaning and significance of media change to a wider audience. Through its variegated split screens, the cinema functions as a guide to and user manual of the dangers and possibilities of technological transformation. Continue Reading »
Filed in Film, Internet, Older Media, Television, Volume 14 | No responses yet
Published May 23rd 2008
Abstract: Mike Skolnik’s Authorship, Environment and Mediation in Role-Playing Games takes up a classificatory and evaluative task regarding analog and digital role-playing environments. Utilising Murray’s procedural authorship and Mackay’s account of mediation in games, Skolnik explores the methods which role-players construct and disseminate meaning and narrative potentials across various contexts.
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Filed in Games, Internet, Volume 13 | No responses yet
Published May 22nd 2008
Abstract: Laurie Johnson tracks conflicting messages of embodiment and symbolic exchange in the infamous “Mr. Bungle” affair in which a chatroom avatar was forcibly removed from the participant’s control. Arguing that many scholarly treatments recapitulate a binary of real and virtual space in order to evaluate the event according to broader social norms, rather than attending to its specific material context. A discussion of the history of the internet and Vannevar Bush’s ‘memex’ authorises a more nuanced reading of the metaphor of rape in terms of systematised memory and narrativity.
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Filed in Games, Internet, Volume 13 | No responses yet
Published Oct 2nd 2005
The Internet has made it possible for writers all over the world, to get together in social groups, to discuss all things literary, but how successful can these virtual communities be?Are they really sociable places and do they satisfy the people that take part in them?Are they constructive in aiding writers with their creativity?
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Filed in Internet, State of Play | No responses yet
Published Aug 6th 2002
Beyond the usual location of the television set in the private home, television discourse extends into other spaces, such as those created by TV gossip, journalism, and merchandising. In the age of the internet, virtual space has become the site of both official and unofficial television discourse. These virtual television spaces have been the site of conflict between TV fans and the copyright owners who have increasingly fought to curtail web-based fan activities. In particular, for Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Star Trek fans, this conflict has seen legal warnings and fan site closures. Djoymi Baker focuses on the way in which the battle over the sites can itself be characterized in terms of cross-media textual expansion, extending both the television text and the television “viewing” experience.
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Filed in Browse by Media, Internet, Television, Volume 01 | One response so far
Published Mar 8th 2001
Jim had the privilege of interviewing Paul McInnes at the 2001 Australian Game Developers Conference, on a variety of topics including his previous academic study as well as his current work on Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs).
Paul McInnes is lead game designer on Micro Forte’s upcoming Citizen Zero online game. He is also a PhD candidate in social anthropology.
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Filed in Games, Internet, State of Play | No responses yet
