Celina's MA Project Blog

Hello all! This is your captain speaking. I have returned from my vacation in the world of no deadlines, and I'm finally back to work on the Shockwave . To absolutely no one's surprise, it's easier said than done to get started on a huge culminating project for which you are solely responsible. I made some progress over break on my project website and its features, which you can see here . Specifically, I finished the horror host timeline  which I'm really proud of. I've been having a lot of fun doing stuff with design and research and I could work on it forever. But in the end, that stuff is not really helpful for my final project and I've probably just been using it as a way to procrastinate.  I've struggled a lot so far with shifting to the actual production stuff from the research and development phase. The reason for this is simple, it scares me a lot! I don't feel fully confident with my ability to pull everything off in production, and there's...

  image courtesy of:  Retrontario on Substack What is horror hosting? Horror hosting is a type of television program where a horror host, often acting as a horror-related character, introduces and commentates on a horror film (Markusen, 2021). The format was pioneered in 1954 by Vampira, a character played by Finnish actress Maila Nurmi, who had the first horror hosting show, The Vampira Show (Watson, 2000; Markusen, 2021). In 1957, a package of 52 horror films known as “Shock!” (Watson, 2000) or “Shock Theater” was made available for showing on local television stations (Watson, 2000; Markusen, 2021). Shock!’s distribution company, Screen Gems, encouraged stations to show the films in a hosted format, which led horror hosting to become a widespread local trend (Markusen, 2021). Similar packages of horror films were released over the years through the 1960s, giving the hosts fresh material to work with (Markusen, 2021).  When Shock! was first introduced, its films had ...

First, please update us on your Proof of Concept project. How are things coming along? Have you created it already, and if so, how do you feel about what you've created? If not, what are your plans and are you on track to achieve this project successfully?   Unfortunately, I have not yet gotten to film my proof of concept project and wasn’t able to check out equipment before break (which is entirely my fault for not prioritizing it above other assignments). At this point, I am hoping that I can put together some archival footage, voiceover etc. over break, and film the interview on the Monday we get back from break to edit and turn it in by its final due date on Tuesday. If I am not able to film new content before Tuesday, my backup plan is to put together the interview that I made for my initial media with archival footage, voiceover and maybe some animations or other fun content. This would give me the chance to practice correcting some issues I had with my initial footage, ...

 In this article, Parry (2015) brings forth the ideas of ‘colloquial performance practice’ and ‘fictional realness’ to describe different types of performance in spaces like drag balls and music groups. Colloquial performance practice refers to forms of performance that are informal and related to everyday life and experiences. Realness is described by Parry as a form of colloquial performance that repeats, adapts, and appropriates aspects of reality for marginalized spaces in order to create a new, often subversive form of performance. This practice can give marginalized people access to forms of reality that they may not otherwise be afforded. Parry relates this to the concept of ‘minor literatures’ which transcend the original meaning of a text by reclaiming and adapting aspects of its meaning that relate to experiences outside of the majority. Building up layers of cultural references, experiences, fictions and subversive interpretations can be understood as 'affective inhabita...

 This chapter (Andacht, 2007) discusses the concept of self-reflexivity in documentary filmmaking and reality TV. Andacht gives several examples of how self-reflexivity, which he describes as drawing attention to the process of production in the content of the documentary, relates to questions of objectivity, representation and ethics in filmmaking. Self-reflexive filmmaking styles challenge the idea that the version of reality presented is one of objective truth, instead discussing the aesthetic and ideological choices that were made to decide what is filmed or included. Andacht discusses three self-reflexive methods, philosophical self-reflection which includes questioning of one’s identity and role in filmmaking, methodological self-consciousness which includes questioning one’s biases and the risks and distortions created through the process, and methodological self-criticism which further criticizes one’s own roles and choices in a way that directly impacts the final product c...

The chapter "Creative Approach" in  Documentary storytelling: Creative nonfiction on screen (Bernard, 2016), discusses the creative choices that go into interpreting a subject for a documentary format. Bernard discusses how different filmmakers can take the same topic but create entirely different documentaries based on stylistic and narrative choices. She gives many considerations for creative approach, including how to represent a story that occurred before current technology was available, what elements of the story or interviewees are of interest to you, what/who will tell the story or drive the narrative, how formal your interviews will be and how they will be edited, how much third party footage is available and how you will use it, what effect you want your final product to create, and overall how the presence of the filmmaker will factor into the film. She also gives some tips or techniques for deciding on creative approach, including watching documentaries and takin...

 This week, I wanted to look at literature that gave broader context for what the internet looked like before social media, so that I could get a better understanding of how fandom would have functioned at the time. I looked specifically for an article written in the 90s about online community, which would act as a reference for the language and attitudes regarding the activity of the time. I found this really helpful, since up until now I had been looking at fan websites without having context for the culture. (Many of the websites were created before I was born!) “Strands in the Web: Community-Building Strategies in‘Online Fanzines” by Matthew J. Smith (1999) discusses the role of online fanzines, or ‘e-zines’ in fostering online community. Smith discusses the affordances of e-zines versus traditional printed zines, such as distribution to wider audiences, connection despite physical distance, avoiding gatekeeping, hyperlinks, interactivity and timeliness (pp. 88-89). Smith expla...

Tora Korsvold’s article, “Childhood and Children’s Retrospective Media Consumption Experiences: The case of Norway” (2017) discusses the impact of ‘retrospective childhood media consumption experiences’ in a historical context, exploring the concept through focus group interviews. Firstly, Korsvold establishes the connection of childhood media consumption to generations, arguing that generations are a facet of how cultural meanings are created through practices such as sharing media (pp. 98-99). Children have an active role in meaning making surrounding media, as well as in consumer practices around media (pp. 98-99) . Korsvold aims to use ‘memory studies’ where individuals reflect on their memories, to examine the meaning-making process of children with media (p.99). She also notes that passion and nostalgia surrounding childhood media are powerful factors in intergenerational media consumption and meaning-making (p.99). Korsvold describes the cultural and media context that her parti...

I'm halfway though the semester! Here are my reflections on the project so far. How do you feel your research progress is meeting the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the semester? What research milestone(s) are you especially proud of so far?  I think that my research has been going well so far. This is the first time I’ve researched a topic that doesn’t already have established criticism or analysis around it, so it has been challenging but also very rewarding. It’s definitely a different approach trying to build a theoretical framework and make new connections to build theory, but I think I’ve made a lot of progress so far and I’m excited to keep going. I want to publish an article on this topic once I’m satisfied with my analysis, and I’m looking forward to that process too. When it comes to the archival side of my research, I’ve made a lot of progress and am feeling more and more confident with my understanding and knowledge of the topic, in terms of the size and...