Experimental Video Research Articles

The Birth and Death of 25TV: Innovation in Post-Revolution Egyptian TV News Formats

This case study highlights an experiment that aimed to disrupt traditional television news production and presentation models in post-revolution Egypt. It is a snapshot of a brief moment in Egyptian television history when an attempt was made at innovating news production and content, but much like the Egyptian revolution, ultimately failed to change the status quo. The case study of 25TV examines how political, social, and economic dissatisfaction among Egyptian youth inspired innovation in news formats that gave more content production power to younger and less experienced news presenters and producers. Through the brief lifespan of 25TV, this article will discuss the role of social media and television in the immediate aftermath of the revolution, the contentious relationship between freedom of speech and military rule, and the innovative ways in which television formats in Egypt were nurtured, grew and perished in the post-revolution era.

Producing global media memories: Media events and the power dynamics of transnational television history

The 1960s witnessed the emergence of television as a global medium. One way of demonstrating the powers and possibilities of television was the production and airing of transnational broadcast events. In order to produce these, national broadcast organizations had to engage in joint production of such events. The article examines two such events: Gagarin’s return to Moscow after orbiting the earth in April 1961 and the more well-known ‘Our World’ broadcast 6 years later. At the time of their production, these broadcasts were seen as crucial moments in television history, as prototypes of what could be expected of television in the future. They also relied on extensive cooperation between broadcast organizations in socialist and Western countries, organizations that to a large extent shared the same production values but also had to negotiate competing visions of the geography of modern communications networks. The broadcasts discussed in this article thus provide the opportunity to reflect upon the shaping of television history and global media memories. Based on case studies of the planning and production of the broadcasts, the article argues that global power relations have shaped the remembered history of television and therefore must be part of our understanding of it.

Punk Subculture and the Queer Critique of Community on 1980s Cable TV: The Case of New Wave Theatre

If histories of television recognize it all, the relationship between punk subculture and the mass cultural medium of television is often rendered as a story of misreprentation, conflict, or mutual avoidance. Such studies overlook a rich history of punks throughout North America who produced numerous programs for cable television, especially the non-commercial forum of public access, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Conceiving of TV as a kind of social technology, some punks actively and critically engaged in producing subculture both on and through the medium. This article looks at the case of New Wave Theatre (Theta/KSCI 1979–1983), a Los Angeles–based cable program that featured punk and new-wave bands, performance art, and interviews. It argues that through distinctive performance tactics and production practices, New Wave Theatre developed a form of “subcultural television” rooted in queer “antisociality.”

Pelaksanaan Regulasi Penyiaran di Daerah, Studi Di Sepuluh Provinsi

Democratization of broadcasting that is characterized by the diversity of ownership and diversity of content is the aspiration that stated in Law 32/2002 on Broadcasting. However, the enormous of political and business battles that follow the enactment of the broadcasting regulations have hampered its implementation in Indonesia. Now, after nearly 15 years of implementation of the Broadcasting Law in Indonesia, the time to evaluating the implementation of regulation of legislative products in the regions have arrived. Evaluations are directed more to an objective opportunities of local people to access the ownership of local television, and the impact on the content of television local to the communities. The research applied qualitative method and the data is collected by utilizing a survey to the broadcasting stakeholders in 10 areas that is determined purposively. The object of the research is local government, regional broadcasting commissions, community leaders, journalists, lecturers, and the owners of local television licensed. The results show that broadcasting regulations are relatively unworkable in the regions due to various central government policies that do not widely open the opportunities for regional people to access broadcasting licenses. This limitation also led to complaints from the region regarding the content of national television broadcasts that many harm local communities and cultures. Research respondents suggested to have more pro-regional broadcasting regulation and involving local people in the making of policies and regulations of regional broadcasting.

Pelaksanaan Regulasi Penyiaran di Daerah, Studi Di Sepuluh Provinsi

Democratization of broadcasting that is characterized by the diversity of ownership and diversity of content is the aspiration that stated in Law 32/2002 on Broadcasting. However, the enormous of political and business battles that follow the enactment of the broadcasting regulations have hampered its implementation in Indonesia. Now, after nearly 15 years of implementation of the Broadcasting Law in Indonesia, the time to evaluating the implementation of regulation of legislative products in the regions have arrived. Evaluations are directed more to an objective opportunities of local people to access the ownership of local television, and the impact on the content of television local to the communities. The research applied qualitative method and the data is collected by utilizing a survey to the broadcasting stakeholders in 10 areas that is determined purposively. The object of the research is local government, regional broadcasting commissions, community leaders, journalists, lecturers, and the owners of local television licensed. The results show that broadcasting regulations are relatively unworkable in the regions due to various central government policies that do not widely open the opportunities for regional people to access broadcasting licenses. This limitation also led to complaints from the region regarding the content of national television broadcasts that many harm local communities and cultures. Research respondents suggested to have more pro-regional broadcasting regulation and involving local people in the making of policies and regulations of regional broadcasting.

DINAMIKA INTERAKSI AGEN DAN STRUKTUR DALAM MENCEGAH KONSENTRASI KEPEMILIKAN MEDIA TELEVISI

The acquisition PT IDKM by PT EMTEK that have an impact of the unification INDOSIAR and SCTV in the same holding company between period 2011 – 2012, bring a nation-wide discussion about concentration of media television ownership in Indonesia. Broadcast act no.32/2002 with Indonesia Broadcasting Commision as an independent regulatory body considered weak in the face of concentration. This paper provide a comprehensive description about the dynamics interaction between agent and structure of Indonesian broadcasting system particularly in order to organize commercial television media ownership.

Dominic Behan and the Beginnings of Television ‘Troubles’ Drama

Focusing on the largely forgotten television plays of Dominic Behan, this article examines how productions such as The Patriot Game (1969), Carson Country (1972) and The Folk Singer (1972) made use of song, self-conscious artifice and the mixing of artistic modes in order to engage with Irish history and question traditional forms of Irish patriotism. In doing so, the article also locates Behan’s work at a particular moment in television history when the conventions of television ‘troubles’ drama had yet to solidify and were open to formal experiment and the expression of unfamiliar viewpoints if also then liable to become the object of controversy.

Revisiting Francis Durbridge: West German Television, European Reconciliation and the Representation of Morality During the Late 1950s and 1960s

Few authors in early West German television history could match the dizzying popularity of British crime writer Francis Durbridge. Almost every year between 1959 and 1970, the Cologne-based station Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcast a new adaptation of one of his famous Krimis, or criminal thrillers. Viewership numbers for these multi-part cliffhangers were staggering. Unlike later Krimis such as Tatort, however, the Durbridge productions have not attracted significant scholarly analysis. I argue that these broadcasts spoke to two major political and social issues of the era. First, the adaptations consciously cultivated a sense of European identity. Second, the programmes played an important – and now largely forgotten – role in confronting and overcoming the perceived moral vacuum left behind by the Third Reich. While German viewers may have responded to the thrillers primarily as entertainment, the programmes did, nonetheless, contain educational and moral components that merit renewed attention from television historians.

TV Socialism. By Anikó Imre . Console-ing Passions: Television and Cultural Power. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 2016. x, 315 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Illustrations. Photographs. $25.95, paper. - Between Truth and Time: A History of Soviet Central Television. By Christine E. Evans . Eurasia Past and Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. xvi, 340 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

TV Socialism. By Anikó Imre . Console-ing Passions: Television and Cultural Power. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 2016. x, 315 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Illustrations. Photographs. $25.95, paper. - Between Truth and Time: A History of Soviet Central Television. By Christine E. Evans . Eurasia Past and Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. xvi, 340 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Photographs. $35.00, paper. - Volume 76 Issue 4

From Analogue to Digital Broadcasting: The Historical Foundation of Radio and Television for National Development in Nigeria

The aim of this article is to evaluate historical trends in the history of radio and television and their role or otherwise in national development. The article titled; From Analogue to Digital Broadcasting: The Historical Foundation of Radio and Television for National Development in Nigeria has been examined from five perspectives-how radio and television have been embraced in Nigeria, the present status of radio and television in Nigeria; the ideal status for radio and television as media for national development in a developing and democratic country like Nigeria. This is in terms of acquisition, use, misuse and management of radio and television for development at all levels in the country. The need for migration from analogue to digital broadcasting in view of the benefits as well as for the purpose of bringing radio and television in Nigeria in line with global standards is also evaluated. Investigating into how people are using social media from multimedia perspective and how social media can be integrated in broadcasting for development equally engage attention in this paper. The article adopts the rhetorical-analytical approach to the discussion. Reflective, Individual differences and selectivity theories serve as theoretical framework. Key words: From Analogue to Digital Broadcasting Historical Foundation of Radio and Television National Development

Early organization, commercialization and weaponization of social media in the entertainment industry: A case study, Bones, season 6 (2010–2011)

AbstractAs a television series, the Fox procedural crime drama Bones is exceptional. Having completed its twelfth and final season (2017), it is the longest running drama in the studio’s history. It is also a pioneer in its interactions with social media, offering a precedent-setting early example of online potential for organizing, commercializing and weaponizing social media platforms. During its sixth season (2010–2011) interactions between fans on social media and showrunners erupted into an internet war which when organized into an analytical model demonstrates the potential damage such conflict can cause not only to a specific television production but by extension to its showrunners as well. This transformative moment in the history of television illustrates the point at which fans who had once communicated individually now had means to connect as active online aggregates and express their views across multiple public forums. This case study illustrates the convergence of social and broadcast media...

A Philosophy of Comedy on Stage and Screen: You Have to Be There by Shaun May

Reviewed by: A Philosophy of Comedy on Stage and Screen: You Have to Be There by Shaun May Rachel E. Blackburn A Philosophy of Comedy on Stage and Screen: You Have to Be There. By Shaun May. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2016. Paper $32.99. 218 pages. Shaun May's A Philosophy of Comedy on Stage and Screen: You Have to Be There, is a strong exploration of how the philosophical writing of Martin Heidegger and others may be interwoven with our interpretation of comic performances. The result effectively illuminates comic engagement, Heidegger's writing in particular, and ultimately, how jokes and laughter may be thought of as intrinsic to what makes us human. More specifically, May uses Heidegger's concept of "Dasein," an ontological concern with those experiences that are particular to human beings, toward illustrating the hermeneutic conditions of humor. May states, "I consider myself to be raising questions about the fundamental grounds of comic intelligibility" (4) and asks, "What makes us the kind of beings that can 'get' the joke?" (7). May has constructed his book in two parts: two chapters which focus on the theoretical foundations his work relies upon, and four chapters devoted to the phenomenological exploration of dysfunctional objects, anthropic objects, anthropic animals, and physical impairment. May's work is unique within a recent crop of books released in humor studies, in that it explores the philosophical conditions that ground us in how we relate to humor. Recent works, such as Rebecca Krefting's All Joking Aside: American Humor and its Discontents, Rick DesRocher's The Comic Offense From Vaudeville to Contemporary Comedy: Larry David, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Dave Chappelle, Sophie Quirk's Why Stand-Up Matters, and Off the Mic: The World's Best Stand-Up Comedians Get Serious About Comedy by Deborah Frances-White and Marsha Shandur, all ground themselves in developing both previous and new theoretical applications to (mostly) current stand-up comedy. May's work further departs from these works by including case studies that represent a fuller cross-section of performances spanning genre: everything from the stand-up comedy of Dylan Moran and Stewart Lee, to the cinematic work of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, to theatre productions such as Beckett's Endgame and The Table, a 2012 production by UK-based puppetry company, Blind Summit. By including such an array of performance styles, May convincingly demonstrates the broad implications of Heidegger's "Dasein" to more thoroughly unpack specific comedic moments, genre aside. This is but one of several great strengths of May's book. Additionally, while May tussles with developing the hermeneutic conditions of humor intrinsically bound to humans, he does so in a clear, straightforward manner. May's language adeptly fosters accessibility, without sacrificing the complexity of his subject. This book is impressive in its ability to deepen many subjects which are perhaps more casually taken for granted by scholars of humor studies, including but not limited to puppetry, wordplay, and even television shows already cemented in the pantheon of comic television history, such as Fawlty Towers [End Page 155] and The Inbetweeners. I also commend May on the occasional use of his own dry humor, which sparingly peppers his writing and is a welcome inclusion in a work about the nature of comedy. One could even argue that the subtitle of his book, You Have to Be There, is a prime example of such an occasion. "You had to be there," was a frequent catchphrase suggesting that one had to be present for the original construction of a joke in order for the comic value to be meaningful for an audience when later recalled in conversation. Used here, however, it is May's clever reinterpretation to encapsulate the central notion of his book, which is that you, i.e. the human reader, must be present within a conscious mode of being for not only receiving the joke, but in order to construct humor whatsoever. Descartes might have described this mode of consciousness as "I joke, therefore I am." In May's own words, "We need to understand that we only develop the capacity to make jokes once we have developed experientially—once we are...

Chasing Calimero: A Transcultural Television History of the Character and Brand from 1963 to 2014

Since his 1963 introduction in the Italian television program Carosello, the character Calimero—a black chick with an eggshell on his head and a persecution complex—has been featured on TVs across Europe and Asia. Recalling aspects of “Cinderella” and Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling,” he has become a fixture in transnational memories. I trace the creation, transmission, and reception of the Calimero brand across Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands from 1963 to 2014. By reviewing how Calimero is represented and received across different cultures, I explore how he has become a modern transcultural fairy tale.

Periodistas pioneras e innovadoras en la historia de la televisión en España: Blanca Álvarez y Lolo Rico

Este artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar la aportación profesional a la historia de la televisión en España de las periodistas Blanca Álvarez y Lolo Rico. Ambas fueron pioneras y realizaron una labor innovadora como creadoras de contenido y directivas, contribuyendo así al desarrollo del recién nacido ente público RTVE. Tras el análisis de sus trayectorias profesionales, se reflejarán los procesos de empoderamiento en un medio, la televisión, y en una profesión, el periodismo, con profundas raíces patriarcales.

Ownership of consumer electronics is associated with measures of adiposity during health transition in Vanuatu.

The Republic of Vanuatu, like many developing nations, is undergoing a rapid health transition. Our previous study identified several behavioral risk factors for the rising prevalence of obesity. Unexpectedly, daily time spent using television and radio was revealed as a protective factor for obesity in 2007. In this study, we sought to explore associations between ownership of consumer electronics (CE) and measures of adiposity in Vanuatu in 2011. We surveyed 873 adults from five islands varying in level of economic development. Height, weight, and waist circumferences; triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac skinfolds; and percent body fat by bioelectrical impedance were measured. Ownership of eight types of CE, diet through 24-h dietary recall and leisure-time activity patterns were assessed using a questionnaire. Participants from more developed islands owned more types of CE, and revealed higher measures of adiposity on average as well as higher prevalence of obesity/central obesity. When controlling for demographic factors, and dietary and activity patterns, increased measures of adiposity and risk for obesity/central obesity were associated with ownership of cellphones, music players, televisions, video players, microwaves, and/or refrigerators. Positive correlations between CE ownership and measures of adiposity were mainly observed among men on the two most developed islands. The results of this study indicate a possible role of CE use in the rising prevalence of obesity and the shift to a sedentary lifestyle in Vanuatu and many other modernizing regions, where prevention efforts including education on healthy use of CE are imperative.

'All in the Seventies'. Riflessioni sul cronotopo della sitcom e la rappresentazione mimetica della contemporaneità

As a Tv genre the sitcom – or situation comedy – belongs to the traditional episodic series based on stand-alone episodes, a small group of characters, fixed and unvarying environment (home, workplace), and a “formula” narrative defined by the same setting. A long-lasting genre in Tv history, the sitcom flourished in the 1970s thanks to Norman Lear’s All in the Family and its many spinoffs which reconfigured the genre in terms of social “relevance”: while sustaining excellent ratings, Lear’s creations addressed some of the most controversial issues of the decade (such as women’s and gay rights, and divorce and abortion laws). This paper intends to examine how 1970s sitcoms managed to talk about and to their times by relying on their very time-space category (or chronotope) of everyday middle- and lower-middle-class life.

From Stripping on Broadway to Knitting on TV

Using program content, industry contextualization, and archival materials, this article analyzes The Gypsy Rose Lee Show (ABC, 1965–68) in terms of its complex relationship to labor and the consequences of labor practices for television workers. Hosted by famed performer Gypsy Rose Lee, this syndicated program utilized the celebrity and performance skills of its host and guests to both express and mask the labors required of television production. While the feminized and queer qualities of such labors created progressive performances around marginalized workers and invisible work, in some aspects the show acceded to the economic demands of capital against the rights of labor. Lee as a television celebrity and worker thus warrants consideration for her contributions to a transitional moment in American culture and television history.

Iconography of violence in televised Hinduism: the politics of images in the Mahabharata

Violence and the representation of it in various forms of media have remained an intriguing subject of research particularly since violence occupies some key discursive spaces in the larger realm of media images. It is also often argued that the media promotes violence through repeated use of visuals representing, for example, physical combat or stealth, especially by the way of television programmes such as soap operas and mythological television series, which depict violence inherent in their narratives. The portrayal of violence in the televised version of mythological epics remains of primary concern for two specific reasons. First, epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata remain points of reference for everyday teaching and instruction even at the level of the household in India. Second, forms of individual and collective violence represented in the narratives, which include fratricide, attempted murder, molestation and kidnapping, emerge as the pivots on which the epics develop, categorizing them as fantastical tales of violence spawning more violence and bloodshed. The history of Indian television is beset with both the epics having been transformed into well-mounted television extravaganzas, beamed into households every week or weekday. Epic stories such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana have been popular choices among television moguls attempting a portrayal of Hindu mythology through iconography and representation. As such, bringing alive on screen inherent tales of violence emerges as one of the foremost objectives of those behind the televisual epics, at the same time justifying such depictions of violence as necessary for the ultimate common good. Often these descriptions or representations of violence through the narrative of the epics appear to be exaggerated as visual images of violence magnify the impact of the scenario in question. The paper envisages an investigation into the several forms of violence depicted through the epics and the manner in which these instances of graphic violence are mounted as central to the progression of the narrative of the television series. Further, it would base its central arguments on the political narrative of televised versions of the Mahabharata envisioning the inherent violence in several of its themes. Engaging with violence to further its thematic background – the moral necessity of the victory of good over evil and the creation of a just society – remains the centrepiece of the argument even as the paper would attempt to argue that televised versions of the Mahabharata have repeatedly and continually glorified violence and attempted to establish binaries between justifiable and unjustifiable violence.

LeRoy Neiman and the Art of Network Sports Television

Famous for his vibrant and splashy paintings of the sporting life and illustrations for Playboy magazine, LeRoy Neiman (1921–2012) at one time stood among the United States’ most popular and wealthiest artists. He was also—in large part because of his visibility, fortune, and engagement with mass cultural subject matter—almost universally dismissed by critics and curators. Neiman’s regular appearances on the stereotypically lowbrow medium of television, in particular the American Broadcasting Company’s Wide World of Sports and coverage of the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympic Games, intensified his fame, prosperity, and disavowal. ABC Sports president Roone Arledge used the conspicuous, macho, and media savvy artist to augment his humanized, “up close and personal” approach to producing sports TV. Histories of art and television have almost entirely ignored the intersections between these media. The little scholarship that does examine art and television’s intersections overlooks Neiman’s high profile appearan...

Dons not clowns: Isaiah Berlin challenges Richard Cawston’s edit of the educator

This paper examines controversy concerning the televising of the documentary This Is the BBC (1959) and situates the dispute in a wider cultural context of media criticism of Oxford University in particular, and academic educators more generally, in the period 1956–1960. Technological change, increased television ownership and a growing interest in the irreverent portrayal of educators in popular culture all need to be considered when examining what the philosopher and historian of ideas Isaiah Berlin and the filmmaker Richard Cawston considered to be at stake when they squabbled over the right to use a few seconds of film footage of Berlin. Berlin objected to his voice and moving image being edited to present him not as a don but as a clown. The article also addresses the ongoing silences that become apparent when the montage is broken down frame by frame and the visual rhetoric is translated into written argument.