CFP: Cinema and Video Games (12/21/02 & 2/21/03; journal issue)

full name / name of organization: 
M. Ouellette
contact email: 

"From Dots to Bodies: Intersections of Cinema and Video Games" -- a special
edition of TEXT Technology.

    The release of the Tomb Raider movie represents an important
intersection between cinema and video games. Lara Croft, the (animated) star
of the video games will be played by Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie, in
a meeting of two of the biggest stars in their respective industries. Yet,
this is not the first such movie production. Other movies based on video
games, such as Mario Bros. and Mortal Kombat, have appeared. As virtual
reality has improved with successive generations of improved technology, the
ability of animators to create games with the look and feel of movies has
been enhanced greatly. For example, Jordan Mechner, designer of The Last
Express, admits that his game tries to mimic camera techniques from
Hitchcock's Rear Window (Computer Graphics 33.3). Conversely, popular movies
often inspire the creation of video games based on the prototype (in order
to capitalize on an already proven franchise).

    It is a common-place to consider cinematic depictions of literary works,
but video games do not receive similar attention. Nevertheless, how does a
producer or designer translate one visual medium to another visual medium?
How is narrative impacted by interactivity? What role does the spectator
play? What is the relationship between generic and cultural verisimilitude?
How does the nteractivity of video games alter the position and experience
of the spectator/player? How are gender and sexuality portrayed, determined,
and constructed in terms of virtual bodies? Are the virtual bodies subjects
or objects and how does being on the silver screen rather than a CRT affect
these positions?

This edition will consider papers that attempt to address these and other
questions regarding the intersections of cinema and video games.

Please forward 500-800 word abstracts by 20 Dec. 2002 or completed papers
(25pp) by 21 Feb. 2003 to

Marc A. Ouellette
Dept. of English
McMaster University
1280 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON L8S 4L9
Canada

or by email to <ouellema_at_mcmaster.ca>

For publication guidelines, please visit http://texttechnology.mcmaster.ca.

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Received on Thu Nov 28 2002 - 13:27:43 EST