DVDs

The Velvet Light Trap

A Critical Journal of Film & Television

Issue Number 56, Fall 2005

Issue Theme: DVDs

Less than a decade after their entry into the market, the impact of DVDs has already become visible in media production strategies, legal and economic policy, marketing and distribution, exhibition environments, and audience reception habits. Decisions on style and content during shooting of film and television programs increasingly take into consideration possibilities for cross-media consumption. Recent years have also seen increased visibility of short forms such as making-of documentaries and other bonus features. Direct to consumer sales have created lucrative markets for otherwise marginal films and television programs and have affected habits of consumption. The home viewing environment, finally, opens possibilities for interfaces with other end-user entertainment technologies.

The Velvet Light Trap invites papers exploring issues surrounding DVD technology as part of audiovisual culture and practice. In addition to papers focusing on technology, we seek papers that examine DVDs in relation to questions of aesthetics, narrative construction, genre, production, promotion/distribution, exhibition, and reception — including issues of economic consumption and cultural use — from local, national, or global perspectives.Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

" History of technology/emergence of DVD format, with respect to economic, legal, technological, or cultural issues: What noteworthy technological precursors influenced the format? What industry concerns have shaped the development and marketing of DVDs? What legal battles and cultural discourses have surrounded the technologys emergence? How have anticipated uses and struggles over use affected its development?

" How is DVD technology designed to interface with other elements of the expanding home theaterenvironment (HDTV, MP3 players, home stereos, etc)?

" Role(s) of region-specific technology: how is this technology being used to define markets for distribution; what are the possible effects on production style? What impact might new region-free systems have on the economics of distribution, production decisions, and global flow of cultural products?

" Copyright protection: what debates have emerged around DVD technology in terms of intellectual property and legal issues such as piracy and fair use?

" Short forms and "bonus features" (making-of documentaries, "easter eggs," etc): what new formats, aesthetic parameters, or even genres have emerged with the rise of DVDs? Do these short forms offer new professional and creative possibilities for production staff?

" Cross-media production: what synergistic advantages are being exploited in releases of the same story concept in different versions on different media platforms (films, games, home video)? How are notions of the closed text being challenged by such modes of cross-media production?

" Effects on experimental filmmaking: what has the reaction to new technology been among "experimental" filmmakers (so-called independents, art films, guerilla, or underground filmmakers)? Does it open up new possibilities for otherwise marginal filmmakers, or has it worked to further marginalize these groups?

" Effects on alternative exhibition venues: have DVDs offered low-cost alternatives for community cinemas? What, if any, contribution are they making to grass-roots political movements?

" Changing exhibition environments: How are films being marketed for home viewing? Are DVD sales being used to offset production costs for otherwise marginal films? What changes in aesthetics or narrational style are resulting from efforts to accommodate home viewing environments (e.g. sound designs made to work on both multiplex and home entertainment systems)?

" Straight-to-DVD movies and programs: has the phenomenon of using VHS technology for straight-to-video productions carried over into DVD releases? Will it help to create new local genres and offer directors opportunities for career advancement / alternative career paths? What kind of production modes are emerging for straight-to-DVD releases?

" Changes in habits of consumption motivated by shift from former 2-tier (VHS) pricing system favoring rentals to emphasis on direct sales to consumers (USA): what new strategies in rental industries have resulted? Is this shift in emphasis encouraging a new culture of collecting?

" TV on DVD: how do DVD sales figures affect which programs are canceled, continued, revived, or make the jump to the big screen? Are expanded sales through direct-to-consumer marketing fueling the rise of 'boutique' labels that give certain programs added prestige value over others?

" Reception: has emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales of television programs opened up new audiences? Has it changed the face of fan cultures, helping, for example to solidify or expand a fan base for cult seriessuch as Buffy, Star Trek, or Freaks and Geeks? Has it further entrenched the popularity of other, more mainstream shows such as Friends? Is there a new type of film and TV criticism emerging with criteria for extras and technical level of DVD releases?

" Ontology of the 'original': how is the release of alternative versions and director's cuts challenging notions of the 'real' or 'original' work? What effect does digitally 'cleaning up' images or converting old soundtracks for newer home entertainment systems (stereo, surround sound, etc) have on understandings of old 'classics'?

" Changing face of the archive: what films are being preserved; which films are not? How is this changing the traditional canon or notion of the "classics"? What economic and technological issues inform problems of archiving with DVDs?

" Pedagogy: how are DVDs being used for instructional purposes? Are they changing teaching styles or enabling new possibilities for instruction?

Papers should be approximately 7500 words long (roughly 20-25 pages double-spaced), plus bibliography and endnotes, in MLA format. Please submit three copies of the paper, plus a one-page abstract with each copy, in a format suitable to be sent to a reader anonymously. Papers should be accompanied by a cover page which includes the authors name and contact information. Papers not formatted in MLA style and carefully proofread will not be considered for publication. Submissions for the Fall 2005 issue will be reviewed by the Wisconsin Editorial Office. All submissions published in the Velvet Light Trap are first approved by the journal's Editorial Advisory Board through a process of blind review.

For more information, contact Stewart Fyfe (shfyfe@wisc.edu), Shawn VanCour (s_vanc@yahoo.com) or Jacquelyn Vinson (jdvinson@wisc.edu, 608-263-3997). Submissions are due September 30, 2004, and should be sent to:

The Velvet Light Trap

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Department of Communication Arts

821 University Avenue

Madison, Wisconsin, USA 53706-1497

The Velvet Light Trap is a journal for academic scholarship on film and television collectively edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Austin, with the support of media scholars at those institutions and throughout the country. Each issue provokes debate about critical, theoretical, and historical topics relating to a particular theme. The journal is indexed and/or abstracted in Communication Abstracts, Film Literature Index, International Index to Film Periodicals, Sociological Abstracts, America: History and Life, and Historical Abstracts.

Velvet Light Trap
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