Keynote 1: Professor Kerstin Stutterheim
Professor Kerstin Stutterheim is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and Program Leader for MA Directing Film and Television at Bournemouth University.
Journal of Media Practice and MeCCSA Practice Network Symposium 2017
The Media Convergence Research Centre at Bath Spa University is proud to host the 2017 Journal of Media Practice and MeCCSA Practice Network Annual Symposium.
The symposium explored the theme of ‘Practice and/as Media Industry Research’ and took place on Thursday 8th June 2017.
The study of media industries is now a focal point at many universities, promising rich dialogues between academia and industry. Media, communications and cultural studies (including film, television, publishing, music, digital and social media) are central to the pursuits of media industry studies, with scholars seeking to investigate and to theorise the workings of these industries – be it their macro social, economic and political influences or their micro production cultures, distribution practices and professional ideologies (Caldwell 2008; McDonald 2013; Freeman 2016). While the study of media industries itself indicates a bridging between theory and practice – between the study of media forms and the pragmatics of media making – far less attention has been paid to what the study of media industries looks like as practice-based or practice-led research, or how collaboration between academia and the media industries actively shapes practice.
As such, the symposium theme provided the opportunity for MeCCSA to focus on questions of practice and/as media industry research and aimed to showcase both scholarly and practice-based research that considered the complex relationships between the theoretical study of media industries and creative forms of practice and practice-based research. The MeCCSA Practice Network champions practice within the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association, ensuring that those that teach and research practice have a strong voice within the subject association and beyond. It is dedicated to developing links with the creative industries and with national and international networks and associations.
The symposium featured keynote lectures and plenaries by Prof Kerstin Stutterheim (Bournemouth University), John Mateer (University of York), and Prof Bambo Soyinka (Bath Spa University). The day also featured interactive workshops about practices of Documentary Ethics, Media Practice Research, and Information Game Narratives, as well as panels featuring a truly international roster of academics and creative practitioners devoted to the following topics: Screen Cultures & Collaborative Practices; Digital & Media Art Practices; Film & Documentary Practices; and Media Education Practices. We also showcased the winning entry of our MediaWall competition, which sought to attract screen-based media artworks that creatively examine and interrogate questions related to the workings of the media industries.
The symposium
The symposium, hosted by the Media Convergence Research Centre and supported by the Journal of Media Practice and MeCCSA Practice Network, took place in Commons building located at Bath Spa University’s Newton Park campus, taking full advantage of its interactive digital spaces and state-of-the-art studios and teaching facilitates.
Please direct any questions regarding the symposium to Matthew Freeman (m.freeman@bathspa.ac.uk).
Programme Schedule
09:00 – 09:45 Coffee and Registration (Atrium)
09:45 – 09:55 Welcome and Introduction: Matthew Freeman (CM.G24)
09:55 – 10:30 Opening Plenary Address (CM.G24):
Bambo Soyinka (Bath Spa University): ‘TBC’
10:30 – 10:50 Coffee Break (Atrium)
10:50 – 12:30 Parallel Panels:
Panel 1: Screen Cultures & Collaborative Practices (CM.134):
Beatriz Bartolomé Herrera (Concordia University, Montreal): ‘Behind the Scenes: Networked Collaborations and Museum Exhibition Design’
Helen Littleboy (Royal Holloway, University of London): ‘Murder on the Factory Floor: “Death of the Author” and Industrialised Television Production’
Anna Potter (University of the Sunshine Coast): ‘Researching Screen Production Cultures: Insights from a Three-year Study into Global Trends in the Production of Children’s Television’
Florian Krauß (Universität Siegen): ‘Discourses on “Quality Series” within the German Television Industry’
Panel 2: Digital & Media Art Practices (CM.135):
Mark Bond (Bournemouth University): ‘Digital Transitions: Creeps in the Trees: A Study of Form, Trauma and Decay’
Guli Silberstein (independent artist): ‘The Schizophrenic State Project: War, Media and Appropriation’
Ron Herrema (Bath Spa University): ‘Infínity: An Experiment in User-Centred Poiesis’
Lizzie Thynne (University of Sussex): ‘The ‘City Symphony’ Revisited: Brighton Symphony of a City (2016)’
12:30 – 13:30 Keynote Lecture 1: Practice and Media Industry Research (CM.G24):
John Mateer (University of York): 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Exploring Relationships between Commercial Film and Television Practice and Academic Media Research'
13:30 – 14:15 Lunch (Atrium)
13:30 – 15:00 Journal of Media Practice Editorial Board Meeting (CM.110)
14:15 – 14:55 Parellel Workshops:
Workshop 1 (CM.133): Bambo Soyinka (Bath Spa University): 'TBC’
Workshop 2 (CM.134): John Curry (Bath Spa University): ‘Dominating the Information Narrative in Times of International Crises: A Practical Game Workshop’
Workshop 3 (CM.135): Pratap Rughani (University of the Arts, London): ‘Justine Interactive: The Dance of Documentary Ethics’
14:55 – 15:15 Coffee Break (Atrium)
15:15 – 16:55 Parallel Panels:
Panel 3: Film & Documentary Practices (CM.134):
Jill Daniels (University of East London): ‘Inside the Academy: Experiments in Documentary Film Practice’
Alex Nevill (University of the West of England): ‘New Concepts in Moving Image Lighting: A Practice-Research Enquiry’
Jimmy Hay (University of Bristol): ‘Practice Research and Media Industry Collaboration Through Narrative Filmmaking’
Dominique Webb (University of Lincoln): ‘The Knock 2016 – A Model of Industry-Academia Collaboration: Producing Fiction with Creative England and the British Film Institute’
Panel 4: Media Education Practices (CM.135):
Alex Kocic (Edinburgh Napier University): ‘Theory Vs Practice in Journalism Education: A False Dilemma?’
Neil Fox (Falmouth University): ‘Where Next? Envisioning a Layered and Cohesive Future for Academic/Industry Media Projects’
Carl Schoenfeld (Coventry University): ‘From Horror to RomCom: The Theory/Practice Relationship in UK Filmmaker Education’
Shane O’Sullivan (Kingston University): ‘The Creative Reuse of BFI Archive Films in Student Video Essays’
17:00 – 18:00 Keynote Lecture 2: Practice as Media Industry Research (CM.G24):
Kerstin Stutterheim (Bournemouth University): ‘TBC’
18:00 – 19:30 Evening Wine Reception & MediaWall Competition Winner (Atrium):
Simon Ellis, Katrina McPherson, Owa Barua and Natalia Barua: ‘We Record Ourselves’
Sponsored by the Media Convergence Research Centre