CINEMA: MOTION-ILLUSION-SPECTACLE
Exploring the legacy of Eadweard Muybridge
National Film Theatre, London
26-28th November 2004
An international conference hosted by the Centre for Research in Film and
Audiovisual Cultures (CRFAC) at the University of Surrey Roehampton and
the National Film Theatre (NFT).
Keynotes
Mary Ann Doane (Brown University) author ‘The Emergence of Cinematic Time:
Modernity, Contingency, the Archive’
Michele Pierson (University of Queenland) author ‘Special Effects: Still
in Search of Wonder’
Call for Papers
Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies were a landmark in the development of
moving pictures. Since the work of Muybridge and other nineteenth century
innovators, illusions of motion have continued to captivate and enthral,
reaching their most contemporary expressions in the special effects design
and animation art of contemporary cinema, to the mediated environments of
interactive electronic games and simulation spectacles.
Occasioned by the centenary of Muybridge’s death, Cinema: Motion-Illusion-
Spectacle will explore the legacy of Muybridge and his contemporaries
through the development of mediated illusions of motion from pre-cinema to
contemporary digital aesthetics. While focusing on film and cinema, the
conference will take a broader interest in illusions of motion across
photographic, televisual, interactive and simulation media. The conference
with examine the fascination and attractions of such illusions and
consider these developments as participating in a culture of vision and
motion from the nineteenth century to the present day.
We are interested in receiving proposals from a wide range of research
directions relevant to the focus of the conference including:
Pre-cinema
Early cinema
Digital cinema
Animation
Interactivity
Visual and special effects
Spectacle and the spectacular
Science, technology and vision
Modernity and vision
Simulation environments
Sound and perceptions of motion
The venue for the conference will be the British Film Institute’s National
Film Theatre (NFT) in London. To support the conference, throughout
November the NFT will be programming a series of events relating to pre-
and early cinema. Also during the period of the conference, adjacent to
the NFT the Hayward Gallery will be hosting Art of Illusion, an exhibition
focusing on many aspects of optics, optical instruments and pre-cinematic
technologies, with material from the collection of Werner Nekes and work
by contemporary (20th/21st century) artists.
From April 2004, visit the conference web site at www.crfac.org.
Proposals
Abstracts of 300 words accompanied by your name and contact details to
[log in to unmask] OR Dr Paul McDonald, School of Humanities and
Cultural Studies, University of Surrey Roehampton, Roehampton Lane, London
SW15 5PH, UK. Deadline for proposals 12th July 2004. Anyone submitting a
proposal will be notified of the outcome by 6th September 2004.
Conference Directors: Stacey Abbott, Paul McDonald and Paul Sutton.
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