Issue 5: Conference Reports
Viva Vancouver
Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2 – 5 March, 2006, Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia
A Report by Liza Palmer, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
The Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) continues to broaden its reach --and its appeal -- to film and media scholars worldwide. Building upon the success of last year's conference at the University of London, SCMS 2006 achieved a program that was rigorous yet manageable, easily enhancing what has become the pre-eminent film and media studies conference in the field. Indeed, Stephen Prince, SCMS President, noted in his welcome letter to attendees that this year's number of paper proposals topped that of even the London conference, with 845 submitted and 592 accepted (or a rejection rate of 30%). In order to accommodate this increased interest, SCMS worked hard to produce a schedule that not only satisfied demand, but also addressed some criticisms from the London conference -- namely, that there were too many concurrent panels and too much content competing for attendee attention. Subsequent 2006 program modifications included: adding more time slots, reserving a daily lunch break, extending the regular schedule until late evening, reducing the average number of panels during a time slot from seventeen (as was the case in London) to fifteen, hosting two Plenary sessions instead of the usual one (a diplomatic, more inclusive decision that at once maximized attraction and options by offering a film-centred lecture on Thursday and a media-centred lecture on Saturday), and expanding the number of film screenings (a total of sixteen slots altogether). All in all, these new additions to the proceedings demonstrated moderate and thoughtful growth, helping SCMS to remain a scholarly conference of note.
Recently, the SCMS organizers have become particularly adept at locating the conference. Year after year, they select places that have some current connection to film or media culture. Looking back, there was Atlanta, the centre of news journalism in the United States and then London, certainly a thriving nexus of all things cultural and artistic. And now there is Vancouver to add to this list of distinguished locales. Vancouver is one of the top five largest film production centres in North America, and is home to Lions Gate Studios and Vancouver Film Studios. The 2005 production list from the British Columbia Film Commission is impressive, noting over 200 projects, ranging from features to television pilots that were based in the area. Recent highlights of the production schedule include: Underworld: Evolution (2006), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), season three of The L-Word (2006), and season five of Smallville (2005). Despite this abundance of media activity in Vancouver, however, there was very little reflection of it at SCMS. No special studio tours or location visits were arranged for or promoted to conference attendees, which seems like an unfortunate, missed opportunity not only for them, but also the city and film commission.
With Vancouver, SCMS resumed the more traditional and familiar format of situating the proceedings in a conference hotel complex. Indeed, last year's experiment in London -- undoubtedly out of necessity -- with a decentralized hotel and meeting room set-up was something of a barrier to a full and satisfying engagement with the SCMS conference. So it was a welcome return to form at Vancouver, with the location of the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre proving to be comfortable yet stylish, convenient to the city centre, and -- most importantly -- accommodating for panels. And with well over 200 panels this year, this was certainly an important consideration.
Asian cinema and media was a popular topic at SCMS 2006; indeed, a cursory glance at the program finds at least eight panels on some aspect of this area. One such panel, ''Media Asia': Transmedia Interactions in East Asian Cinema', co-chaired by James Udden (Gettysburg College) and Jinhee Choi (Carleton University), offered some interesting perspectives on the state of Asian media production. Co-chair Choi, in her paper "(Impossible) Romance of Their Own? Korean Romantic Teen Pics and the Guiyeoni Syndrome", explored the recent phenomenon within Korean cinema of bringing serialized teen literature to the big screen, focusing on author Guiyeoni particularly. Looking at the source material for these recent films, Choi made a compelling argument for the interconnectivity of the two media -- highlighting, for example, Guiyeoni's trademark use of emoticons within her written texts and how this appeal to the audience is incorporated into the film versions. And while these teen novels are more geared toward a female readership, and capitalize on extensive merchandising (Choi displayed sample items, including a pencil case), Choi demonstrated through a selection of clips how the films were strategically composed so as to maximize impact with male viewers, often featuring intricate fight scenes like those typically found in Asian action films. Ultimately, Choi delivered a good paper on a cutting-edge topic; it is to be hoped that she pursues this thesis and develops it further, unique as it is in the literature at the moment.
Hiroshi Kitamura (College of William and Mary) delivered a fascinating account of post-war film activity in Japan in his paper, "Eiga no tomo, Hollywood Fandom, and Post-World War II Japan". Looking at several film magazines designed to tap into the flowering Japanese fan culture in the aftermath of the war, Kitamura noted how these publications were overwhelmingly concerned with American film product as opposed to native film productions. Thus, he suggested that they reflected -- and promoted -- the Japanese consumption of American values in the wake of defeat and occupation. Kitamura further argued that, as evidenced by his research, Hollywood entertainment and its concomitant influence were not always constructed solely by the studio heads, but also by politically minded leaders -- both American and Japanese -- who saw Hollywood films as a way to facilitate the post-war reconstruction of Japan.
Rounding out this panel was co-chair James Udden's paper, "Brink of Extinction: Can Taiwanese Television Save the Local Film Industry?" Udden painted a bleak picture of the current state of Taiwanese film production. He revealed that the box office for Taiwanese films within Taiwan is steadily declining for a number of reasons. These include: (1) a film market saturated with Hollywood products; (2) American-owned multiplexes that seek to undercut local cinemas; (3) and -- most intriguingly -- the lack of a formal film program in Taiwan to educate, train, and support budding filmmakers. Udden saw a glimmer of hope, however, in the form of Taiwanese television, which serves as an outlet for low-budget Taiwanese film projects. But whether television can remedy the situation single-handedly remains to be seen.
A panel in a similar vein was 'Asian Cinema and Film Theory', chaired by Priya Jaikumar (University of Southern California). Jaikumar and panelist Yuriko Furuhata (Brown University) are to be commended for following through with their presentations despite the unfortunate absence of two of their colleagues: Donald LaCoss (University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse) due to illness and Ben Singer (University of Wisconsin, Madison), who opted not to present when faced with technical difficulties. Furuhata's paper "The Problematic of 'Actuality' in Japanese Film Discourses of the 1950s and 1960s" -- in particular -- stood out for its consideration of film theory and its relevance to Japan. She predicated her argument on the idea that theory is not native to Japan, but is rather a product of the West. This has interesting ramifications for the Japanese documentary mode, as Furuhata's paper revealed.
Jean Ma (Bard College) chaired an absorbing panel entitled, 'Rethinking Shock Value: Contemporary Representations of Sexuality'. Susan Ericsson (Northwestern University), in her paper "Libidinal Disillusionment: Youth Sexuality in U.S. Cinema", examined several film texts -- both documentary and narrative, in form -- that were remarkable for their frank depictions of adolescent sexuality, including: What a Girl Wants (2000), Middle School Confessions (2002), and Kids (1995). Invoking Foucault's The History of Sexuality, she interrogated the idea of children -- predominantly female -- revealing their sexual experiences on camera as a kind of confessional, and thus a source and display of power. Ericsson, in her concluding thoughts, questioned the fact that: (1) many of the films offered no contemplation of youthful desire and, indeed, did not respect the subjects enough as agents acting on their own desires; and (2) males were very often left out of the discourse entirely. As this paper was the result of a larger work -- Ericsson's dissertation -- it is to be expected that she will produce more scholarly output in this area; it is an engaging topic, to be sure.
Chair Ma, in her paper "Discordant Desires: The Piano Teacher", supplied a cogent analysis of the challenging yet transcendent 2001 Michael Haneke film. She noted with interest the juxtaposition of the classical music soundtrack with scenes of sexual perversity. Drawing upon Deleuze, she also deftly investigated the relationship and the resulting power dynamics between a composer and a performer and how that is replicated on-screen in the character of Erika (Isabelle Huppert), delineating in writing her sexual demands, which are then enacted by Walter (Benoît Magimel). All in all, a compelling contribution from Ma.
The final panelist, Jonathan M. Hall (University of California Irvine), in his paper "Birth of the Precocious Adult", turned his attention to the Jonathan Glazer film Birth (2004) and the controversy surrounding it upon its release. The scene which caused this critical backlash involved Nicole Kidman (Anna) sharing a bath with Cameron Bright (Sean), believing that he is her reincarnated husband, intent on preventing her impending remarriage to Danny Huston (Joseph). Using film clips and a definition of pedophilia from the American Psychological Association, Hall concluded that the furor was not entirely justified. Respondent Tim Palmer (University of North Carolina Wilmington) provided the necessary overarching context for the three papers, ably addressing each of them as well as the major arguments and themes surrounding sex and cinema. He noted that the current trend -- particularly within European cinema -- is a knowingly frank depiction of sexual acts as a vehicle for garnering critical attention and reception. The resulting dialogue inspired by the four panelists was, not unexpectedly given the contentious nature of the topic, thoughtful and engaging. The audience participation and feedback suggested that this is a complex area of cinema that will continue to challenge, captivate -- and bewilder -- film viewers for a long time to come.
A final panel of merit among many this year was "Varda + Demy", sponsored by the French Francophone Special Interest Group and chaired by Kelley Conway (University of Wisconsin, Madison). Claudia Gorbman (University of Washington, Tacoma), in her paper "Place Settings", explored Varda's notable use of place within her films. Gorbman suggested that Varda's "stories […] emerge out of their settings", arguing that place "compensates for the fictions" within Varda's texts. In other words, what Varda lacks in narrative sophistication she more than compensates for with her evocation and sculpting of recognizable locales in France. While a worthy topic, Gorbman was slightly distracted from her thesis by some travel films that were contemporary with La Pointe-courte (1956) and Cléo de 5 à 7 (1961). These travelogues were certainly interesting; but given the short window of presentation time and the ample material supplied by Varda's own films, Gorbman's deployment of the secondary texts was misguided.
Richard Neupert (University of Georgia) offered an excellent and clearly well-researched paper entitled "Color and Individual Style: Umbrellas of Cherbourg v. Le Bonheur". It is a rare SCMS paper that accomplishes exactly what it proposes to do in the time allowed -- and Neupert did just this. He was particularly interested in comparing Demy's and Varda's shot compositions and staging options, given the fact that they shared the same house and crew on these films. Drawing upon extensive critical and shot-by-shot analysis of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Neupert noted that Demy resists shot reverse-shot compositions, choosing instead to devise strategies to escape conventional set-ups for conversations, like using camera tilts and mirrors. Alternatively, Le Bonheur (1965), according to Neupert, utilizes long takes and tracking shots, in addition to disorienting montages and jump cuts. Varda, he argued, relies on shot reverse shot simply to convey narrative information. And where color, for Demy, "reinforces discontinuity", color, for Varda, is associational, working to emphasize connections between characters (i.e. François' [Jean-Claude Drouot] second wife, Émilie [Marie-France Boyer], wearing the colors favored by Therese [Claire Drouot], his first wife) and narrative concurrences. Neupert's paper was a fascinating one; hopefully, it will be realized more fully in a future article or book.
The third panelist, Rodney Hill (Georgia Tech/University of Kansas), argued that New Wave and "tradition of quality" styles converge in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967). "Reconciling the French New Wave and the Tradition of Quality: The Musicals of Jacques Demy" related an interesting thesis, but more could have been offered in the way of evidence, particularly where in-depth analysis of clips was concerned. The final paper, "Cleo at the Ciné-Club", from chair Conway ended the panel on a strong note. Utilizing archival research and personal interviews with Varda, Conway gave an intriguing account of ciné-clubs in early 1960s France and how Varda used them strategically to preview Cléo de 5 à 7. Conway, offering a brief overview of the ciné-club scene, described the role of animateurs, who served as discussion leaders after the screenings; interestingly enough, this is how André Bazin got his start. She then shifted focus onto Cléo de 5 à 7 and the questionnaires that were distributed to ciné-club participants in 1961. Two thousand people took these forms home and submitted them to the journal Arts within an eight-day period; eighty six of them remain today in Varda's papers. Arts reported, as a result of these questionnaires, that 97% of the attendees liked the film. Such research highlights that even smaller productions, like Varda's, solicited and utilized formal, institutionalized feedback systems and further underscores how little we still know about a relatively recent period in cinema history. Conway finished her paper and an impressive panel with a call for further research in the area of ciné-clubs, so vital were they to twentieth-century film culture in France.
Thus concludes another successful year at SCMS. It would seem that the organization is especially motivated to continue to expand the program and, in turn, opportunities for film and media scholars -- but not at the expense of attendees and their experiences. The past three SCMS conferences have demonstrated this mission admirably; SCMS is certainly on the right track for manageable and targeted growth. Future enhancements would certainly be welcomed, however, like a free Internet café for registered attendees and meeting rooms automatically equipped with computer technology. It will be interesting to see what is next in store for the SCMS conference in 2007, this time located in Chicago, Illinois. Bearing this in mind, the first deadline is fast approaching: July 15, 2006 is the last day to post calls for proposals (pre-constituted panels and workshops) to the SCMS Forum Page. For more information about this and future deadlines, please visit the SCMS website: www.cmstudies.org.