Month: October 2012

Professor Warner on “Fifty Shades of Grey”

TCF assistant professor Kristen Warner curated a video piece on in media res on September 26, 2012: “Who’s Your Mr. and Mrs. Grey?”: Unpacking Casting Speculations in Fifty Shades of Grey.”

She begins:

As a scholar whose research focuses on casting processes in television and film I am both intrigued and frustrated by the frequent and insistent casting speculations around the leads in the upcoming adaptation of E.L. James’s bestseller, Fifty Shades of Grey. Intrigued because the triangulation of industry, fan culture, and entertainment news reporting never seems to tire of making creative labor the equivalent of the People’s Choice Awards. Yet, I am equally frustrated because speculation elides all the real world complications and negotiations that are part of the casting process.

Read more…

TCF Faculty Activities

“Come on Down and Pick Me Up” by Nick Corrao won the “Best Drama Documentary Short” at the Docufest Atlanta film festival! Congrats! Here is the link for the awards list: http://www.docufest.com/awards.html
“Come on Down” is also scheduled to screen at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, the New Orleans Film Festival, and the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Bill Evans has a new article in The Evolutionary Review, an annual published by SUNY Press. The article is titled “Television News Audiences as Tribes, Television News as Moral Alliance.” Since this is an annual, the expected pub date is April 2013.

TCF has been invited to participate in the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival “Pitch Perfect” student film pitch competition! From their website: “Pitch Perfect is a competition for Southern film students where they can pitch an idea for a narrative or documentary film to a panel of film industry professionals. There is one section for Narrative film and one for Documentary. Students from Alabama, Loyola, Tulane, Wake Forest, University of New Orleans, UT-Austin, and more will be participating. The winners will get $500 and a MovieMaker software package.”

Based on an in-house competition, TCF selected Jazz Franklin for the documentary section, and John Avent for the narrative section. They compete this weekend, so send good thoughts their way. They will be coached by TCF faculty member Nick Corrao.

–Glenda Cantrell Williams, TCF Chair

Spring 2013 Course: TCF at Sundance

NEW SPRING TCF COURSES on FILM FESTIVALS & INDIE CINEMA! 

OPTION TO TRAVEL TO SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL!   SPACE IS LIMITED!

There are FOUR different enrollment options for this course:

  • TCF 444: Film Festivals & Indie Cinema: Theory and Praxis* (3 credits/Warner) * This does not include travel / no application
  • TCF 444: Film Festivals – Including Sundance Travel Option (3 credits/Warner)
  • TCF 544: Film Festivals – Including Sundance Travel Option (3 credits/Warner)
  • TCF 380: Sundance Travel Course Only (1 credit/Raimist)

We will take 10 students to Sundance Film Festival from January 23-27, 2013

APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED! 

Take a peek at what Sundance Film Festival has to offer: http://www.sundance.org/festival/

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SPRING 2013 TRAVEL COURSE OPPORTUNITY: TCF AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

  •      Students will strengthen their verbal interpersonal communication skills as they present themselves to media professionals and practice networking in this highly industry-oriented environment.
  •      Students will identify and describe careers outside of the traditional creative jobs commonly associated with the film industry (writer, producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and actor).
  •       To reinforce this activity the students will break down the skill set of these professions and determine what skills they already have and what skills they will need for employment.
  •       Students will assess and evaluate how the film industry works day-to-day by conducting small ethnographies of Sundance.
  •      Students will collaborate on a creative project that breaks down and illustrates an aspect of industry culture they will use to explain to students who have not attended the Festival.
  •      Students will learn and practice using film industry jargon both by being exposed to the environment and also by reading the daily industry trade magazines and newsletters.

APPLICATION for ENROLLMENT CONSIDERATION – please fill out the application pdf

Please handwrite your application, OR, you may ANNOTATE in Preview (mac) or in Adobe, or you can try http://www.pdfescape.com, but DO NOT attempt to crack the pdf and make a messy word doc. Thank you!

ABOUT THIS COURSE:
 The Fine Print: This is a five-day faculty-led study/travel opportunity for UA students to attend Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah with TCF faculty Dr. Rachel Raimist and Dr. Kristen Warner.

This course is open to any UA undergraduate or graduate student, but enrollment priority is given to students who also enroll in TCF 444/544: Film Festivals and Indie Cinema: Theory and Praxis (3 credits), taught by Dr. Kristen Warner. If students opt to not enroll in Dr. Warner’s film festival course, they must take TCF 380 (1 credit) with Dr. Raimist.

The Rationale: Sundance is a premiere global independent film festival where hundreds of films that vary in genre, form and style are screened for 10 days in the town of Park City, Utah–just 30 minutes east of Salt Lake City. However, the Festival is not only famous because of the films it exhibits but also because it is the place where much of the business of show occurs. All of the components of filmmaking happen at Sundance: the marketing, the promotion, and the selling of movies. Sundance also affords students an opportunity to experience the global film industry all in one place because for 10 days Holllywood descends upon this small town in Utah. For our purposes, this translates to affording students the opportunity to network and to gain contacts that may help them build their careers once they graduate. As pass holders, our students will be granted exclusive access to industry insiders as well as the Festival staff. These interactions will allow students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the classroom to a professional environment where they will be expected to present themselves as soon-to-be industry colleagues. Further, we want our students to recognize the plethora of occupations within the film industry outside of the traditional six (writer, producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and actor) that are commonly considered. To this end, we will have them each identify and explain five different industry career opportunities and meet professionals who do work they’ve researched.

For Students in TCF 444 non-Sundance Travel Option: For those not physically attending the festival, students will need to participate virtually by accessing the Sundance website and watching the online films made available and reading industry trade blogs that discuss what’s happening in the Sundance marketplace. Students will need to write a paper that incorporates things discussed in class sessions that relate to the Sundance brand.

For more information, please email: Dr. Warner at kwarner[at]ua[dot]edu

CLick HERE to download the INFORMATION AND APPLICATION