Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian ....Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian television and film, producing synergies in national media research.
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Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of t ....Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of the media industries. This is designed to deliver new knowledge of the skills and subject matter that sustained filmmaking, communication and education in Australia during a time when conventional scholarship assumes there was almost no significant filmmaking.Read moreRead less
Superheroes: Creative Force, Cultural Zeitgeist and Transmedia Phenomenon. Since their emergence in 1938 comic book heroes have become imbedded in our popular culture, becoming part of our modern mythology. In each form and every generation these characters serve as cultural signposts, articulating our loftiest ideals and deep-seated anxieties. The project aims to explore the historic, creative and artistic development of the genre across multiple media and its political and social significance. ....Superheroes: Creative Force, Cultural Zeitgeist and Transmedia Phenomenon. Since their emergence in 1938 comic book heroes have become imbedded in our popular culture, becoming part of our modern mythology. In each form and every generation these characters serve as cultural signposts, articulating our loftiest ideals and deep-seated anxieties. The project aims to explore the historic, creative and artistic development of the genre across multiple media and its political and social significance. The genre has been enormously successful in film, with the top 100 films accounting for approximately $13 billion in profit for the companies that produced them. The project will explore how the successful transmedia crossover further offers insight into the strategies that drive creative industries such as film, television, video games and comics. The project will work with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image to develop a Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibition and a series of research projects, public events and an international conference to engage both the general public and academics.Read moreRead less
Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project wi ....Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project will at once disseminate and preserve (for scholars and the general public alike) the legacy of those critical intellectuals who have striven to understand the nation's most popular art and entertainment form, the cinema. Read moreRead less
Only at the movies: mapping the contemporary Australian cinema market. Only at the movies? is a three-year project that asks: What is the enduring appeal of cinemagoing and how is it changing? It will provide detailed analyses of formal film exhibition and distribution in Australia by combining economic, cultural and geospatial research with industry expertise.
The History of Asian Australian Cinema: Diaspora, Policy and Ethics. This interdisciplinary project will develop a history of the representation of Asians in Australian cinema. Understanding this history promotes an engaged citizenry, facilitates intercultural communication and strengthens Australia's social fabric. It will enhance Australia's capacity to engage in the Asian region. Examining the creative film developments of Asian Australian filmmakers will promote an innovative cultural econom ....The History of Asian Australian Cinema: Diaspora, Policy and Ethics. This interdisciplinary project will develop a history of the representation of Asians in Australian cinema. Understanding this history promotes an engaged citizenry, facilitates intercultural communication and strengthens Australia's social fabric. It will enhance Australia's capacity to engage in the Asian region. Examining the creative film developments of Asian Australian filmmakers will promote an innovative cultural economy. The study on how film agencies and archives have managed Asian Australian cinema is a resource for policy and film makers in the industry. The new diasporic cinema studies framework developed will consolidate Australia's established reputation in cinema studies and advance international film scholarship.Read moreRead less
Between Film and Art: An International Study of Intermedial Cinema. This study of new forms of digital, intermedial art will lead to a greater understanding of the position of film in the 21st Century. It will make a major contribution to the history of aesthetics and our understanding of the role of art in contemporary societies. It will raise the international profile of Australia's contribution to theory, criticism and creative practice in the fields of cinema and art, with its investigative ....Between Film and Art: An International Study of Intermedial Cinema. This study of new forms of digital, intermedial art will lead to a greater understanding of the position of film in the 21st Century. It will make a major contribution to the history of aesthetics and our understanding of the role of art in contemporary societies. It will raise the international profile of Australia's contribution to theory, criticism and creative practice in the fields of cinema and art, with its investigative team bringing inputs from Australia, Hong Kong and France. Within Australia, it will nurture an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to understanding, making and exhibiting the newest audiovisual art forms.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101138
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$333,000.00
Summary
Cinema and the brain: Eisenstein-Vygotsky-Luria’s collaboration. This project aims to investigate an important collaboration between a leading filmmaker, a neuroscientist and a psychologist: the revolutionary Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, the founder of contemporary neuroscience Alexander Luria, and the cultural psychologist Lev Vygotsky. These three pioneers conducted a research program from the 1920s to the 1940s that addressed the neural basis and semiotics of screen aesthetics. This ....Cinema and the brain: Eisenstein-Vygotsky-Luria’s collaboration. This project aims to investigate an important collaboration between a leading filmmaker, a neuroscientist and a psychologist: the revolutionary Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, the founder of contemporary neuroscience Alexander Luria, and the cultural psychologist Lev Vygotsky. These three pioneers conducted a research program from the 1920s to the 1940s that addressed the neural basis and semiotics of screen aesthetics. This project intends to use this collaboration as a paradigmatic case study, identifying principles underlying the relationship between the brain sciences, cinema theory and psychology. It is expected that the project findings will be applicable in the educational sector, the film industry and in digital media policy and development.Read moreRead less
The Darwinian Screen: Race in Pacific and Australian Film 1900-1970. This project examines the influence of Darwinism in filmic narratives which deal with race that are set in Australia and the Pacific from 1900-1970. Science Fiction, Travel, South Seas Island Romance, Colonial Adventure and Jungle films made in Australia, New Zealand, America, the UK and France will be considered in order to determine the design and construction of race. The search for primitive man, the construction of 'types' ....The Darwinian Screen: Race in Pacific and Australian Film 1900-1970. This project examines the influence of Darwinism in filmic narratives which deal with race that are set in Australia and the Pacific from 1900-1970. Science Fiction, Travel, South Seas Island Romance, Colonial Adventure and Jungle films made in Australia, New Zealand, America, the UK and France will be considered in order to determine the design and construction of race. The search for primitive man, the construction of 'types', the creation of utopian spaces for white subjects, the representation of evolution and devolution, the making of the Pacific as site for scientific endeavour and the production of narratives of survival are among the areas to be considered.Read moreRead less
Children of Frankenstein: Science Fiction, Automata and the Emergence of Robot Realities. Entertainment technologies are integral to everyday life and they play a crucial role in acclimatizing the public to new technologies. This project provides a unique account of the role played by creative industries in developing cutting-edge technologies that include robots, and film and computer game special effects that rely on artificial intelligence. The computer game industry in Australia is developin ....Children of Frankenstein: Science Fiction, Automata and the Emergence of Robot Realities. Entertainment technologies are integral to everyday life and they play a crucial role in acclimatizing the public to new technologies. This project provides a unique account of the role played by creative industries in developing cutting-edge technologies that include robots, and film and computer game special effects that rely on artificial intelligence. The computer game industry in Australia is developing into a very profitable industry and attracts an audience far greater than that of the cinema. Like film effects designers, game programmers are implementing artificial intelligence into their games. By considering Australian industries within an international context, much can be learned about our role as innovators on a global scale.Read moreRead less