Valentina Re | Link Campus University (original) (raw)
Journal articles by Valentina Re
Cinergie, 2017
L’articolo intende discutere come il cinema (in particolare quello di Todd Haynes) e la serialità... more L’articolo intende discutere come il cinema (in particolare quello di Todd Haynes) e la serialità televisiva (in particolare il caso di Mad Men) degli ultimi decenni abbiano ripreso, attualizzato, rielaborato i melodrammi realizzati a Hollywood da Douglas Sirk e, quindi, le categorie di family e woman’s melodrama che proprio in relazione (seppur non esclusiva) all’opera di Sirk la critica accademica ha elaborato. Esaminare le forme del melodramma nella produzione (soprattutto seriale) contemporanea può risultare fondamentale per misurare la complessità di un dibattito, quello sul melodramma, che continua ad apparire irrisolta e proprio per questo ancora produttiva.
In the contemporary media landscape the opening title sequence continues to provide its tradition... more In the contemporary media landscape the opening title sequence continues to provide its traditional, paratextual function by introducing a storyworld, orienting the spectator, and managing expectations. Moreover, it consolidates other functions while nevertheless assuming new ones. As well as branding content, thus expressing its visual identity and putting it in relation to an audience, main titles connect viewers and contribute to creating ‘networked communities’ or ‘brand communities’ based on a shared passion for media content. This article discusses this renewed, double role of main titles – branding content, branding communities – with special regard to the television shows Mad Men, The Wire, Game of Thrones, and Supernatural.
Cinergie. Il cinema e le altre arti, n. 6, Nov 2014
in "Cinergie. Il cinema e le altre arti", n. 4, Nov 2013
The article aims at investigating some of the main dynamics of the crowdfunding campaign for Subb... more The article aims at investigating some of the main dynamics of the crowdfunding campaign for Subbuteopia, a documentary focused on the “Subbuteo world”, directed in 2012 by Pierr Nosari and produced by Giusi Santoro for POPCult, in collaboration with L@ Società Sintetica. The article is structured into four parts. In the first part, I will discuss how the “Subbuteopia project” is not limited to the documentary and I will propose to consider it as a goal-oriented, transmedia storytelling precisely on the basis of the crowdfunding campaign. In the second part, I will analyze the main features of Verkami, the Catalan platform used for the campaign. In the third part, I will analyze the campaign developed by the production, with particular attention to the importance of the preparatory work and to the synergy between offline and online activities. Finally, I will propose some concluding remarks about the role played by crowdfunding with respect to independent productions and marketing strategies.
In: E|C Serie Speciale, vol. VII, n. 13, 2013, pp. 89-99. , 2013
In: Cinéma & Cie, vol. 12, n. 18, Spring 2012, pp. 9-20. , 2012
In: Cinergie, n.s., n. 2, 2012, pp. 12-22., 2012
Uno dei fenomeni che, nel contesto contemporaneo della media convergence, ha più attirato e conti... more Uno dei fenomeni che, nel contesto contemporaneo della media convergence, ha più attirato e continua ad attirare l’attenzione degli studiosi è senz’altro quello del profondo e plurale mutamento delle forme di circolazione del film; fenomeno che si lega, in un rapporto di stretta interdipendenza, al mutare delle forme dell’esperienza filmica e delle “forme di esistenza” del film stesso. Tutto ciò sembra avvenire, evidentemente, a spese del locus classicus della visione per come si è configurato in seno all’istituzione cinematografica del Novecento: la sala, naturalmente, insieme alle forme di diffusione e di fruizione che essa dispone e ai modi di esistenza dell’oggetto film che l’hanno caratterizzata. In questo quadro, lo studio del rapporto tra le diverse pratiche accorpate sotto l’etichetta “pirateria” e la sala costituisce un ambito di indagine privilegiato, e a diversi livelli (per esempio da un punto di vista economico o nell’ottica degli studi sulla ricezione). Il saggio cerca di indagare come il rapporto tra sala e pirateria si declini in alcune campagne antipirateria, perlopiù istituzionali, con l’obiettivo di far emergere l’importanza di una corretta e adeguata comprensione delle forme di esistenza (plurali) dell’oggetto-film, delle loro trasformazioni, delle percezioni che si danno culturalmente, ai fini di una più incisiva lettura delle dinamiche contemporanee e con particolare attenzione al problema del rapporto tra falso/originale e illegale/legale.
In: Fata Morgana, n. 16, 2012, pp. 63-75. , 2012
Cinéma & Cie, Le Film pluriel (a cura di M. Marie, M. Frappat), vol. IX, no. 13, Fall 2009, pp. 75-82., 2009
L’objectif de mon article est d’approfondir le rapport entre la notion de « pluralité opérale » q... more L’objectif de mon article est d’approfondir le rapport entre la notion de « pluralité opérale » que propose Gérard Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art : immanence et transcendance et les dynamiques amorcées par l’édition des films en DVD. En paraphrasant Genette, nous pourrions dire que le film change du fait qu’il ne change pas quand tout, autour de lui, change : un même « objet d’immanence » produit des œuvres différentes en tant qu’il suscite des lectures et des réceptions différentes (les notions de « niveaux de réception » et d’ « objet attentionnel », que propose Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art : la relation esthétique, seront elles aussi très utiles). Dans la régulation du rapport entre la permanence de l’objet et la métamorphose des réceptions, le paratexte joue évidemment un rôle fondamental : « « Etant immuable, le texte est par lui-même incapable de s’adapter aux modifications de son public, dans l’espace et dans le temps. Plus flexible, plus versatile, toujours transitoire parce que transitif, le paratexte lui est en quelque sorte un instrument d’adaptation » (G. Genette, Seuils, p. 411) Par conséquent, en dotant le film d’un certain apparat textuel, l’édition DVD peut elle aussi avoir un rôle décisif en augmentant ou en « congelant » la pluralité opérale : une édition DVD peut par exemple faire dialoguer des réceptions différentes (et même « concurrentes ») ou, au contraire, en imposer une comme « dominante » ; en outre, dans une optique synchronique, différentes éditions en DVD d’un même film peuvent « entrer en concurrence » en proposant des clés de lecture différentes de ce même film. J’ai appliqué ces réflexions à l’étude d’un cas qui m’a paru particulièrement intéressant. En regardant les éditions DVD (toutes deux issues du catalogue de la Criterion Collection) de All That Heaven Allows (D. Sirk, 1955) et de Angst essen Seele Auf (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, R.W. Fassbinder, 1974), nous pouvons constater que se réalise pleinement la célèbre provocation de Borges dans Enquêtes, « chaque écrivain crée ses précurseurs. Son œuvre modifie notre conception du passé ». En effet, nous accédons au film de Sirk à travers la lecture critique de Fassbinder (son fameux essai de 1971, Imitation of Life: On the Films of Douglas Sirk, est proposé dans les bonus) et, plus généralement, à travers les processus d’ « auteurialisation » de Sirk élaborés dans les années 1970 (l’introduction du livret est ainsi écrite par Laura Mulvey). De même, nous accédons à Fassbinder à travers un entretien (dont le titre est significatif : « From Fassbinder to Sirk and Back ») de Todd Haynes, l’auteur de Far Fron Heaven (2002), hommage explicite au cinéma de Sirk. Curieusement, si nous regardons l’édition italienne en DVD de Far From Heaven (qui n’existe pas dans le catalogue Criterion), il n’y a aucune trace de Sirk ni de Fassbinder (c’est-à-dire d’une « logique des influences » plus ordinaire). Pour les trois films examinés, nous avons essaié de tenir compte aussi des autres éditions en DVD, françaises (en particulier, l’édition Carlotta Films de Tout ce que le ciel permet) et italiennes, pour voir notamment quelles attitudes elles adoptent par rapport à cette possibilité d’exalter ou au contraire de réprimer la « pluralité opérale » que donne la stratification des réceptions.
In: Bianco & nero, fascicolo 561/562, maggio-dicembre 2008, pp. 43-61, 2008
Attraverso un'ampia disamina di casi diversificati, il saggio si propone di leggere alcune proble... more Attraverso un'ampia disamina di casi diversificati, il saggio si propone di leggere alcune problematiche connesse all'edizione digitale del film (e ai modi di esistenza e di circolazione dell'audiovisivo in epoca digitale) alla luce delle categorie di immanenza e trascendenza discusse da G. Genette in "L'opera dell'arte", con particolare attenzione alla pluralità di immanenza e alla pluralità operale, o "attenzionale".
Book chapters & proceedings by Valentina Re
World Building. Transmedia, Fans, Industries (ed. by Marta Boni, 2017
This chapter aims to analyze world-making practices in transmedia narratives and how viewers are ... more This chapter aims to analyze world-making practices in transmedia narratives and how viewers are engaged in these practices through the discussion of two narrative strategies, namely trompe-l'oeil and meta-lepsis, as they are used in the TV show Supernatural (The WB/The CW 2005-present) and in the works produced by its fan base. My paper will be structured into three parts: first, I will provide a definition of the above mentioned strategies, including their main effects; second, I will discuss how the relationships between the use of these strategies, the participatory or networked culture of fandom and world-making practices can be interpreted and analyzed; and finally, I will focus on the case of the TV series Supernatural.
Cinergie, 2017
L’articolo intende discutere come il cinema (in particolare quello di Todd Haynes) e la serialità... more L’articolo intende discutere come il cinema (in particolare quello di Todd Haynes) e la serialità televisiva (in particolare il caso di Mad Men) degli ultimi decenni abbiano ripreso, attualizzato, rielaborato i melodrammi realizzati a Hollywood da Douglas Sirk e, quindi, le categorie di family e woman’s melodrama che proprio in relazione (seppur non esclusiva) all’opera di Sirk la critica accademica ha elaborato. Esaminare le forme del melodramma nella produzione (soprattutto seriale) contemporanea può risultare fondamentale per misurare la complessità di un dibattito, quello sul melodramma, che continua ad apparire irrisolta e proprio per questo ancora produttiva.
In the contemporary media landscape the opening title sequence continues to provide its tradition... more In the contemporary media landscape the opening title sequence continues to provide its traditional, paratextual function by introducing a storyworld, orienting the spectator, and managing expectations. Moreover, it consolidates other functions while nevertheless assuming new ones. As well as branding content, thus expressing its visual identity and putting it in relation to an audience, main titles connect viewers and contribute to creating ‘networked communities’ or ‘brand communities’ based on a shared passion for media content. This article discusses this renewed, double role of main titles – branding content, branding communities – with special regard to the television shows Mad Men, The Wire, Game of Thrones, and Supernatural.
Cinergie. Il cinema e le altre arti, n. 6, Nov 2014
in "Cinergie. Il cinema e le altre arti", n. 4, Nov 2013
The article aims at investigating some of the main dynamics of the crowdfunding campaign for Subb... more The article aims at investigating some of the main dynamics of the crowdfunding campaign for Subbuteopia, a documentary focused on the “Subbuteo world”, directed in 2012 by Pierr Nosari and produced by Giusi Santoro for POPCult, in collaboration with L@ Società Sintetica. The article is structured into four parts. In the first part, I will discuss how the “Subbuteopia project” is not limited to the documentary and I will propose to consider it as a goal-oriented, transmedia storytelling precisely on the basis of the crowdfunding campaign. In the second part, I will analyze the main features of Verkami, the Catalan platform used for the campaign. In the third part, I will analyze the campaign developed by the production, with particular attention to the importance of the preparatory work and to the synergy between offline and online activities. Finally, I will propose some concluding remarks about the role played by crowdfunding with respect to independent productions and marketing strategies.
In: E|C Serie Speciale, vol. VII, n. 13, 2013, pp. 89-99. , 2013
In: Cinéma & Cie, vol. 12, n. 18, Spring 2012, pp. 9-20. , 2012
In: Cinergie, n.s., n. 2, 2012, pp. 12-22., 2012
Uno dei fenomeni che, nel contesto contemporaneo della media convergence, ha più attirato e conti... more Uno dei fenomeni che, nel contesto contemporaneo della media convergence, ha più attirato e continua ad attirare l’attenzione degli studiosi è senz’altro quello del profondo e plurale mutamento delle forme di circolazione del film; fenomeno che si lega, in un rapporto di stretta interdipendenza, al mutare delle forme dell’esperienza filmica e delle “forme di esistenza” del film stesso. Tutto ciò sembra avvenire, evidentemente, a spese del locus classicus della visione per come si è configurato in seno all’istituzione cinematografica del Novecento: la sala, naturalmente, insieme alle forme di diffusione e di fruizione che essa dispone e ai modi di esistenza dell’oggetto film che l’hanno caratterizzata. In questo quadro, lo studio del rapporto tra le diverse pratiche accorpate sotto l’etichetta “pirateria” e la sala costituisce un ambito di indagine privilegiato, e a diversi livelli (per esempio da un punto di vista economico o nell’ottica degli studi sulla ricezione). Il saggio cerca di indagare come il rapporto tra sala e pirateria si declini in alcune campagne antipirateria, perlopiù istituzionali, con l’obiettivo di far emergere l’importanza di una corretta e adeguata comprensione delle forme di esistenza (plurali) dell’oggetto-film, delle loro trasformazioni, delle percezioni che si danno culturalmente, ai fini di una più incisiva lettura delle dinamiche contemporanee e con particolare attenzione al problema del rapporto tra falso/originale e illegale/legale.
In: Fata Morgana, n. 16, 2012, pp. 63-75. , 2012
Cinéma & Cie, Le Film pluriel (a cura di M. Marie, M. Frappat), vol. IX, no. 13, Fall 2009, pp. 75-82., 2009
L’objectif de mon article est d’approfondir le rapport entre la notion de « pluralité opérale » q... more L’objectif de mon article est d’approfondir le rapport entre la notion de « pluralité opérale » que propose Gérard Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art : immanence et transcendance et les dynamiques amorcées par l’édition des films en DVD. En paraphrasant Genette, nous pourrions dire que le film change du fait qu’il ne change pas quand tout, autour de lui, change : un même « objet d’immanence » produit des œuvres différentes en tant qu’il suscite des lectures et des réceptions différentes (les notions de « niveaux de réception » et d’ « objet attentionnel », que propose Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art : la relation esthétique, seront elles aussi très utiles). Dans la régulation du rapport entre la permanence de l’objet et la métamorphose des réceptions, le paratexte joue évidemment un rôle fondamental : « « Etant immuable, le texte est par lui-même incapable de s’adapter aux modifications de son public, dans l’espace et dans le temps. Plus flexible, plus versatile, toujours transitoire parce que transitif, le paratexte lui est en quelque sorte un instrument d’adaptation » (G. Genette, Seuils, p. 411) Par conséquent, en dotant le film d’un certain apparat textuel, l’édition DVD peut elle aussi avoir un rôle décisif en augmentant ou en « congelant » la pluralité opérale : une édition DVD peut par exemple faire dialoguer des réceptions différentes (et même « concurrentes ») ou, au contraire, en imposer une comme « dominante » ; en outre, dans une optique synchronique, différentes éditions en DVD d’un même film peuvent « entrer en concurrence » en proposant des clés de lecture différentes de ce même film. J’ai appliqué ces réflexions à l’étude d’un cas qui m’a paru particulièrement intéressant. En regardant les éditions DVD (toutes deux issues du catalogue de la Criterion Collection) de All That Heaven Allows (D. Sirk, 1955) et de Angst essen Seele Auf (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, R.W. Fassbinder, 1974), nous pouvons constater que se réalise pleinement la célèbre provocation de Borges dans Enquêtes, « chaque écrivain crée ses précurseurs. Son œuvre modifie notre conception du passé ». En effet, nous accédons au film de Sirk à travers la lecture critique de Fassbinder (son fameux essai de 1971, Imitation of Life: On the Films of Douglas Sirk, est proposé dans les bonus) et, plus généralement, à travers les processus d’ « auteurialisation » de Sirk élaborés dans les années 1970 (l’introduction du livret est ainsi écrite par Laura Mulvey). De même, nous accédons à Fassbinder à travers un entretien (dont le titre est significatif : « From Fassbinder to Sirk and Back ») de Todd Haynes, l’auteur de Far Fron Heaven (2002), hommage explicite au cinéma de Sirk. Curieusement, si nous regardons l’édition italienne en DVD de Far From Heaven (qui n’existe pas dans le catalogue Criterion), il n’y a aucune trace de Sirk ni de Fassbinder (c’est-à-dire d’une « logique des influences » plus ordinaire). Pour les trois films examinés, nous avons essaié de tenir compte aussi des autres éditions en DVD, françaises (en particulier, l’édition Carlotta Films de Tout ce que le ciel permet) et italiennes, pour voir notamment quelles attitudes elles adoptent par rapport à cette possibilité d’exalter ou au contraire de réprimer la « pluralité opérale » que donne la stratification des réceptions.
In: Bianco & nero, fascicolo 561/562, maggio-dicembre 2008, pp. 43-61, 2008
Attraverso un'ampia disamina di casi diversificati, il saggio si propone di leggere alcune proble... more Attraverso un'ampia disamina di casi diversificati, il saggio si propone di leggere alcune problematiche connesse all'edizione digitale del film (e ai modi di esistenza e di circolazione dell'audiovisivo in epoca digitale) alla luce delle categorie di immanenza e trascendenza discusse da G. Genette in "L'opera dell'arte", con particolare attenzione alla pluralità di immanenza e alla pluralità operale, o "attenzionale".
World Building. Transmedia, Fans, Industries (ed. by Marta Boni, 2017
This chapter aims to analyze world-making practices in transmedia narratives and how viewers are ... more This chapter aims to analyze world-making practices in transmedia narratives and how viewers are engaged in these practices through the discussion of two narrative strategies, namely trompe-l'oeil and meta-lepsis, as they are used in the TV show Supernatural (The WB/The CW 2005-present) and in the works produced by its fan base. My paper will be structured into three parts: first, I will provide a definition of the above mentioned strategies, including their main effects; second, I will discuss how the relationships between the use of these strategies, the participatory or networked culture of fandom and world-making practices can be interpreted and analyzed; and finally, I will focus on the case of the TV series Supernatural.
Excerpt from: V. Re (ed.), Streaming media. Distribuzione, circolazione, accesso, Mimesis, Milano... more Excerpt from: V. Re (ed.), Streaming media. Distribuzione, circolazione, accesso, Mimesis, Milano-Udine: 2017
The value of home movies in relation to the study and the safeguard of the intangible cultural he... more The value of home movies in relation to the study and the safeguard of the intangible cultural heritage and the related right to cultural identity are at the heart of the study. The first two parts of the essay are aimed at defining the scope of the analysis from a perspective both historical and theoretical. The first part provides a historical account of the emergence of amateur
and private technologies in filmmaking at the beginning of 20th century. The second part offers a survey of the theoretical reflections on the documentary value of home movies and on their capacity to arouse memories and build a sense of community. Based on these reflections, the
great role that home movies, in their being ways of experiencing a space, more than representations of a space, can play in enhancing the intangible cultural heritage and safeguarding theright to cultural identity is discussed. On the one hand, this potential of home movies has already emerged in the activities of the Home Movies Archive in Bologna, and especially in the projects already developed in the cities of Bologna and Reggio Emilia; on the other hand, this potential remains almost unexplored in relation to the city of Venice. The analysis of home movies shot in Venice could show the city of Venice also as a habitat and an experienced city, making interact these ideas with the more stereotyped images of Venice as a stage city and tourist city.
In A. Beltrame, L. Fales, G. Fidotta (eds.), Whose Right? Media, Intellectual Property and Authorship in the Digital Era, pp. 85-96. , 2014
As Andrew Currah (2006) has effectively summarized, “the record labels and studios have endeavour... more As Andrew Currah (2006) has effectively summarized, “the record labels and studios have endeavoured to criminalize file sharing and so deter consumers from participating in P2P networks. They have done so by filing lawsuits against the providers of file-sharing software, and more recently, against consumers who are believed to be providing large amounts on a P2P network. […] In addition, the record labels and studios have constructed elaborate public awareness and educational campaigns (across the media and in US high schools), which frame P2P networks as spaces of danger and moral contagion where youngsters are at risk of being exposed to subversive digital content such as pornography, viruses and spyware. The overall attempt has been to construct an ethical code of practice surrounding digital content – that P2P file sharing is morally wrong and economically damaging to creative industries – to encourage consumers to ‘self-regulate’ their behaviour (in a rather Foucauldian fashion) along lines that respect the interests of copyright capital.”
Starting from these remarks, my paper will focus on the discursive strategies through which the media oligopoly has constructed the “piracy” phenomenon in order to oppose it, with particular attention to the Italian context and to movie piracy in the wider context of digital piracy (although Italian anti-piracy campaigns will be related to other international campaigns and digital piracy will be related to analog piracy).
I will particularly discuss: the construction of “piracy” in anti-piracy campaigns (do they distinguish between piracy in commercial economies and file sharing in sharing [Anderson, Lessig] or informal [Lobato] economies? In which sense does the concept of piracy overlap with the concept of theft? What kind of relationship between piracy and creativity [Lessig] emerges from the campaigns?); the false myth of the “original” (Goodman, Genette, Prieto) in anti-piracy campaigns; the relationships between anti-piracy campaigns and the participatory or RW culture (Jenkins, Lessig); the relationship between anti-piracy campaigns and the contemporary forms of film circulation (movie theater, DVDs, legal download or streaming, unlawful file sharing and streaming); the role of parody (UGC) in understanding and analyzing the anti-piracy campaigns.
C. Naugrette (ed.), Art et culture. Le coût et la gratuité 1, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2013, pp. 47-60., 2013
It is well known that movie piracy has changed film consumption and reception in the recent years... more It is well known that movie piracy has changed film consumption and reception in the recent years. Of course, the different practices of distributing and providing free access to internet pirated movies involve significant economical and legal issues, which are largely debated at present. However, while taking into account these economical and legal implications, my paper aims at focusing on the cultural impact of movie piracy on film reception – particularly in the Italian context – and investigating the relationships between different topics such as: - Institutional campaigns against movie piracy: rhetorical strategies, distortions, misapprehensions; - Alterations to the policies of film distribution and personalization of movie consumption; - Internet piracy as a way to assess the cultural impact of a film; - The role of communities; - Movie piracy and multiple versions; - Beyond movie piracy: free business models, sharing economies and hybrid economies.
In: C. Naugrette (ed.), Qu’est-ce que le contemporain?, vol. 1, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2011, pp. 247-258. , 2011
En partant de certaines catégories théoriques proposées par Gérard Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art.... more En partant de certaines catégories théoriques proposées par Gérard Genette dans L’Œuvre de l’art. Immanence et transcendance, on montre comment les formes d’existence et de diffusion numérique du film tendent à mettre en évidence et même exalter les modes de transcendance et la pluralité (depuis toujours constitutive) de l’œuvre cinématographique. C’est la diffusion du film en DVD qui s’impose avant tout: le DVD, lui même modalité inédite de transcendance de l’œuvre, ou bien exemplaire valable au même titre des copies sur pellicule, obtenu de la matrice originelle ? Si son statut fait aujourd’hui l’objet d’une négociation, le DVD représente en tout cas une nouvelle édition du film qui, dans le cadre des projets paratextuels spécifiques, en promeut la pluralité de l’histoire de production (scénario, évocation des vicissitudes du tournage, making of) et des formes d’existence (versions multiples, remaniements, version « originelle » et doublage, scènes coupées et avant-textes, restaurations), d’appartenance intertextuelle (relations de genre, corpus d’auteur et d’acteur) et de réception (critique, « préfaces » célèbres).
In: E. Mandelli, V. Re (eds.), Fate il vostro gioco. Cinema e videogame nella rete: pratiche di contaminazione, Crocetta del Montello (TV), Terra Ferma, 2011, pp. 71-85. , 2011
In: M. Del Monte (ed.), Far comprendere far vedere, Treviso, Terra Ferma 2010, pp. 75-86. , 2010
In: P. Dubois, F. Monvoisin, E. Biserna (eds.), Extended Cinema. Le cinéma gagne du terrain, Udine, Campanotto, 2010, pp. 247-252. , 2010
In: R. Costantini, F. Zecca (eds.), Tullio Kezich, il mestiere della scrittura, Torino, Kaplan, 2007, pp. 100-107. , 2007
In: G. Pescatore (ed.), Matrix: uno studio di caso, Bologna, Hybris, 2006, pp. 93-109. , 2006
In: V. Innocenti, V. Re (eds.), Limina. Le soglie del film/Film’s Thresholds, Udine, Forum, 2004, pp. 105-120. , 2004
In: C. Bisoni (ed.), Attraverso “Mulholland Drive”. In viaggio con David Lynch nel luogo di un mistero, Pozzuolo del Friuli (UD), Il principe costante, 2004, pp. 89-107. , 2004
Dal 1952 al 1958, le annate bisettimanali della rivista «Cinema nuovo», fondata e diretta da Guid... more Dal 1952 al 1958, le annate bisettimanali della rivista «Cinema nuovo», fondata e diretta da Guido Aristarco, sono caratterizzate da una veste editoriale di tipo rotocalchistico, che da un lato le avvicina a una serie di pubblicazioni che in quegli anni raggiungono una signicativa tiratura (da «Epoca» a «Oggi»), dall’altro determina in modo peculiare l’articolazione interna dei contenuti, in cui l’apparato iconografico conquista una posizione di tutto rilievo. In questo volume viene analizzato il rapporto tra il discorso visivo delle immagini e il discorso critico, soprattutto quando i temi in gioco sono le modalità di rappresentazione del corpo femminile e lo status delle attrici dell’epoca.
![Research paper thumbnail of Game of Thrones. Una mappa per immaginare mondi [introduzione]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/52644266/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Capace di coniugare la solidità dei tradizionali indici di ascolto all’intensità meno “quantifica... more Capace di coniugare la solidità dei tradizionali indici di ascolto all’intensità meno “quantificabile” ma non per questo meno determinante del coinvolgimento del fandom, pluripremiata e apprezzata dalla critica, Game of Thrones rappresenta, tra i recenti successi targati HBO e nel più ampio panorama seriale contemporaneo, un caso paradigmatico.
In un’ottica apertamente transdisciplinare, il volume propone un’introduzione al mondo (o ai mondi) della serie, che trova nel tema della complessità spaziale e narrativa il filo rosso lungo il quale si dispongono i saggi raccolti, che affrontano: le forme di rielaborazione finzionale di un ricco e profondo orizzonte storico (Bonaccorsi), l’impatto sull’industria audiovisiva locale e la sovrapposizione tra spazi reali e spazi del racconto nella promozione del territorio nordirlandese (Baschiera), le sofisticate strategie “architetturali” che gestiscono il coinvolgimento del pubblico (Casoli), il rilievo dei costumi nella costruzione e nello sviluppo dei personaggi (Martin), la circolazione e il ruolo degli storyboard sul Web (Stefani), le configurazioni urbanistiche che caratterizzano l’universo della saga (Poli) e il rilievo della mappa inaugurale dei titoli di testa per la comprensione di più ampi processi di world-building, orientamento e appropriazione “dal basso” tipici delle narrazioni seriali contemporanee (Boni e Re).
Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Douglas Sirk’s weepies undergo a process of critical ... more Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Douglas Sirk’s weepies undergo a process of critical re-evaluation and Douglas Sirk is progressively constructed as an author. Of this process of “author building”, I would like to point out two interrelated aspects. The first is Thomas Elsaesser idea of “cinematic counterpoint”: Sirk’s melodramas are “double layered” since visual style and mise-en-scene (e.g. the use of mirrors and windows, colour stylization, lighting, the use of CinemaScope) are used to undercut or to comment on, rather than to reinforce, the plot, which usually appears to be conventional and often implausible. The second aspect concerns the use of the happy ending, where the cinematic counterpoint particularly emerges and the “happily ever after” conclusion is systematically undermined by stylistic features. Thus, and despite the manifest content, Sirk’s melodramas portray a world with no hope of change and positive progression, elaborate the topics of failure, defeat and escape and, most of all, exacerbate the divorce between characters’ needs and desires and their actual behaviours.
Starting from these premises, my presentation aims to discuss how Sirk’s melodrama has been re-actualized and re-worked in Todd Haynes’ Far from Heaven (2002) and, above all, in the TV show Mad Men (AMC, 2007-2015). More than a simple remake of All That Heaven Allows, Far from Heaven is a re-elaboration of Sirk’s entire formal and thematic world, which preserves the visual style but, at the level of story, makes explicit what Sirk expressed only through formal tools. Re-starting from this explicitness, Mad Men further emphasizes the role of mise-en-scene and pushes forward with the work on the plot. In doing so, it offers a challenging example of modern narration (including open ended narratives, the focus on characters rather than the plot, a concern for psychic reactions rather than actions, etc.) combined with engaging entertainment, and provides a beautiful portray of a desolate America where characters are struggling in a vain attempt to escape from what they are inevitably doomed to return. Heaven, in Mad Men, definitely exists only in advertising.
Nowadays, online stores, BitTorrent forums and search engines, linking sites, and other kinds of ... more Nowadays, online stores, BitTorrent forums and search engines, linking sites, and other kinds of VOD platforms play a key role in determining the ‘range of films available to viewers and the conditions under which they are accessible’ (Lobato 2009: 167), as well as the prevailing forms of consumption. Starting from this premise, my paper aims at considering formal, semi-formal and informal online video services as archives, in order to analyze how they work as gatekeepers and shape the access to film and audiovisual culture, with a special reference to the contemporary Italian media landscape.
I will basically analyze and compare three types of VOD services: formal platforms provided by traditional actors such as broadcasters (Sky Online, Infinity), semi-formal platforms provided by a combination of traditional and new actors (such as Mymovieslive and Anicaondemand, which is supported by ANICA in cooperation with the website MYmovies.it) and informal platforms like BitTorrent search engines or forums (e.g., Il corsaro nero or TNT Village).
Based on this analysis, I will show how, while clearly maintaining an “archival function”, informal online video services contribute to transform the traditional notion of archive with respect to the relationships between preservation, property and access, between selection and authority and, finally, between the activities of cataloguing and those of sharing, commenting and participating.
According to existing studies, the phenomenon of metalepsis, as it was originally defined by Géra... more According to existing studies, the phenomenon of metalepsis, as it was originally defined by Gérard Genette (Genette 1972 and 2004), is able to produce two main, interrelated effects. On the one hand, the transgression of narrative levels or fictional worlds (as well as their “confusion”) may compromise the “suspension of disbelief” and rupture the fictional pact; on the other hand, when the “reality system” depicted within a narrative collapses, characters, as well as readers or viewers, are forced to question the distinction between fiction and reality and to interrogate the “status” of the worlds they inhabit, with a profound sense of “ontological” vertigo.
The main aim of my paper is to discuss how, in the contemporary context of convergence, transmedia storytelling and participatory culture, metalepsis produces a third, fundamental “ontological” effect. More precisely, metalepsis may strengthen the illusionistic effect and create a “real presence” effect in the fictional worlds represented within a narrative, thus encouraging and fostering fandom and helping fans to treat the storyworld as “real life” (Jenkins 1992 and Elsaesser 2009): as Turk (2011) suggests, “participatory culture is inherently, if metaphorically, metaleptic; the transgressive impulse that it represents is being effectively mainstreamed”.
This hypothesis will be discussed with a particular attention to some forms of intermedial mise en abyme and metalepsis recently showed by some popular TV series such as Heroes, Utopia and, above all, Supernatural, which systematically practices metaleptical strategies and mixes fictional worlds belonging to different media (literature, comics, TV, and film).
Through the use of corporate communication and anti-piracy campaigns, creative industries elabora... more Through the use of corporate communication and anti-piracy campaigns, creative industries elaborate their own definitions of cultural production and creativity. In most cases, rather than being made explicit and presented as the result of specific historical conditions, these definitions are provided as an intrinsic feature, something ‘natural’ which is simply given ‘in the nature of things’. More precisely, media campaigns tend to promote ‘the idea that the production of cultural goods is essentially a matter of individual creativity, effort and excellence’ and completely conceal the idea of creativity as ‘a social activity that entails copying and borrowing from cultural texts already in circulation’ (Yar 2008: 613-14). My paper aims at discussing Yar’s remarks with particular reference to a new contest promoted by Italian creative industries, titled ‘The Protagonist’ (Il protagonista 2013), which extensively elaborates on the issue of creativity with the manifest purpose of harmonizing user-generated content and film industry.
This article aims to focus on the notion of metalepsis and to show how the multi-faceted use of t... more This article aims to focus on the notion of metalepsis and to show how the multi-faceted use of this narrative strategy, in contemporary audiovisual products such as TV series, can productively interact with forms of transmedia expansion and with transformative fan works – especially within the framework of the new «rule of the game» pointed out by Thomas Elsaesser in his contribution about mind-game films: «The world depicted is taken as real». In order to discuss this hypothesis I will consider in particular the TV show Supernatural, which represents a clear example of complex storytelling and has a great fan community.
Despite the general emphasis on the positive implications of ‘digital disruption’ in terms of fre... more Despite the general emphasis on the positive implications of ‘digital disruption’ in terms of freedom, democratization, disintermediation and cultural diversity, the digital impact on film production and distribution is more complex and nuanced, and maybe less ‘disruptive’, than what we would be inclined to believe. With respect to the effects of digital media on the film industry, this article aims to provide an insight into film circulation in the digital environment, and into the multiple ways in which the Internet can affect and especially undermine the traditional system of film distribution. Based on this general framework, the article also aims to map the main features of contemporary Italian online distribution ecology, with particular reference to the ‘quality’ of access to film culture and to the copyright issue. The article is structured into six sections. The first three sections provide a general contextualization, and address in particular the relationships between the Internet and the window release system (section 1), the question of ‘piracy’ (section 2), the changes in gatekeeping mechanisms and patterns of demand and the issue of ‘access’ (section 3). The remaining three sections focus on the Italian context: section 4 presents the main theoretical categories used to map contemporary Italian online film distribution; section 5 discusses the main features of the map; finally, section 6 provides an insight into the current legal framework and scope of the new Italian ‘Regulation about copyright protection in electronic communication networks’, ratified by AGCOM in December 2013.
D’Amelio, E., Re, V. (2023). A ‘Bottom-Up’ Approach to Transcultural Identities: Petra and Women Detectives in Italian TV Crime Drama. In: Dall'Asta, M., Migozzi, J., Pagello, F., Pepper, A. (eds) Contemporary European Crime Fiction. Crime Files. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. , 2023
An analysis of recent Italian crime series featuring female detectives as lead shows how Italian ... more An analysis of recent Italian crime series featuring female detectives as lead shows how Italian crime narratives have elaborated original representations of these figures, often in an ambivalent dialogue with other After working in close collaboration on all aspects of the present chapter, the two authors shared the work as follows: Maria Elena D'Amelio wrote the introduction, the conclusion, and the section "Petra as Feminist Palimpsest"; Valentina Re wrote the sections "Theoretical Framework and Key Concepts" and "Polyphonic Adaptation as Mediated Transcultural Encounter: Petra's Journey from Barcelona to Genoa".
Stefania Parigi, Christian Uva, Vito Zagarrio (a cura di), Cinema e identità italiana, Roma, Roma TrE-PRESS, 2019
Este capítulo analiza cómo el cine y las series de televisión de las últimas décadas han retomado... more Este capítulo analiza cómo el cine y las series de televisión de las últimas décadas han retomado, actualizado y reelaborado los melodramas realizados en Hollywood por Douglas Sirk y, por consiguiente, las categorías del melodrama familiar y melodrama femenino. El enfoque elegido intenta invertir el concepto de influencia: en realidad, no se trata de comprender cómo el cine de Sirk influye en formas cinematográficas o televisivas contemporáneas, sino más bien examinar cómo las narraciones audiovisuales pueden hoy reactivar aspectos del cine de Sirk y renegociar su sentido. La perspectiva que se pretende adoptar, por lo tanto, tiene que ser doble. Por una parte, se trata de comprender cómo un género, resurge hoy en la producción contemporánea, con qué valor, y con qué discurso, tanto respecto al pasado como al presente. Por otra parte, se trata de evaluar cómo este resurgimiento va a incidir a su vez en la definición y en las formas de disfrute de los objetos del pasado, modificando ...
Journal of European Popular Culture
MAI FEMINISM, 2021
In 2020, Rai Fiction (the production branch of Italian public broadcaster Rai, the most relevant ... more In 2020, Rai Fiction (the production branch of Italian public broadcaster Rai, the most relevant player in terms of investments in televisual production) and the production company Cattleya co-produced Voiceless (original title Bella da morire, Deadly Beautiful), a miniseries of 8 episodes centred on Eva Cantini, a police detective specialised in sex-based hate crimes, which in Italian are referred to as femminicidi (femicide): the killing of a woman, in particular by a man, on account of her gender. Eva Cantini is part of a growing numbers of televisual female detectives in recent American and European productions who disrupt assumptions related not only to the manliness of the detective profession, but also to the discursive meanings regarding gender relations, representation of gender violence, and the female gaze.
L. Quaresima, V. Re (a cura di), Play The Movie.
L’articolo affronta il modo in cui la ripresa audiovisiva attraverso forme di costruzione discors... more L’articolo affronta il modo in cui la ripresa audiovisiva attraverso forme di costruzione discorsiva, tenta in modo più o meno efficace di rendere conto della dimensione dell’esperienza, in particolare in relazione a performance musicali live. In particolare si affronta il caso studio della versione DVD del film Awesome realizzato dai Beastie Boys, e un’analisi del videoclip Imitation of Life dei R.E.M.
Elisa Mandelli, Valentina Re (a cura di), Fate il vostro gioco. Cinema e videogame nella rete: pratiche di contaminazione, Crocetta del Montello (TV), Terra Ferma, 2011), 2011
Workshop di apertura del progetto di ricerca Prin2015 "Comizi d'amore. Il cinema e la questione s... more Workshop di apertura del progetto di ricerca Prin2015 "Comizi d'amore. Il cinema e la questione sessuale in Italia (1948-1978)".
The aim of this essay is to offer some coordinates for the analysis of the impact of film festiva... more The aim of this essay is to offer some coordinates for the analysis of the impact of film festivals on cinema historiography. Although film festivals have had a pivotal role in film studies since the 1940s in determining various aspects of research interests, both on a critical and theoretical level, it is only in recent years that they have gathered academic attention as an autonomous research field. Moreover, even among most studies of film festivals, the relationship between film festivals and cinematic historiography seems to have been overlooked. Therefore, this essay is conceived as a provisional contribution (which, obviously, doesn???t aim to fully cover the entire field) standing out as a first attempt at outlining the topic???s boundaries to try and set the parameters of further research. After defining what we mean by the impact of film festivals on cinema historiography, we try to construct a conceptual framework, capable of examining how the strategies deployed by film festivals ??? such as their structure, schedules, published materials or conferences, and also their identification of a target audience ??? implicitly highlight the potential impact of film festivals on cinema historiography. To exemplify our theoretical statements, we refer to different kinds of film festivals and, more particularly, we make a few remarks about a very particular case, Il cinema ritrovato in Bologna.
Slide a supporto delle lezioni
Slide a supporto del modulo Digital Film all'interno del Master in Digital Humanities di Universi... more Slide a supporto del modulo Digital Film all'interno del Master in Digital Humanities di Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies, 2021
The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 30 April. Interested contributors should send the... more The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 30 April. Interested contributors should send the following materials to the guest editors Luca Barra, Università di Bologna (luca.barraATunibo.it) and Valentina Re, Link Campus, Rome (v.reATunilink.it): a 500 word abstract in English of original and unpublished articles, outlining the topic, approach and theoretical bases with a relevant bibliography and filmography; and a 200 word biographical note. The accepted proposals will be notified by 31 May; completed articles should be sent by 15 October for peer-review; authors will be notified of the results of the peer-review by 15 December 2021.
Schermi, 2021
Call for Papers – Schermi, no. 10, 2021 Aging, Sexuality and Cinema in Italian Culture during the... more Call for Papers – Schermi, no. 10, 2021
Aging, Sexuality and Cinema in Italian Culture during the Second Post-War Period
edited by Elisa Mandelli and Valentina Re
deadline for proposals: 15 January 2021
deadline for articles: 1 April 2021
Call for Papers - Schermi, n. 10, 2021
Aging, sessualità e cinema nella cultura italiana del secondo dopoguerra
a cura di Elisa Mandelli e Valentina Re
deadline per le proposte: 15 gennaio 2021
deadline per gli articoli: 1 aprile 2021
In the period between 1948 (and the first elections of the new Republic, that put the DC in charg... more In the period between 1948 (and the first elections of the new Republic, that put the DC in charge of
the country) and 1978 (when the first erotic cinemas emerged in Italy), Italian cinema was
characterized by increasingly sexualized representations. This timeframe saw a high level of conflict
in public discourses on the “question of sex”, intended broadly, which brought into question issues
like intimacy, affective relationships, the construction of gender roles and identities. All of these
processes merged in that overall “transformation of intimacy” that sociologist Anthony Giddens
identified: the public emergence of the private meant that spaces once regulated at a personal and
individual level became socially pertinent, and the object of collective negotiations. In parallel, there
was a radical change in habits (synthesized in the legal concept of “buon costume”, public morality),
with a progressive weakening of a so-called sense of decency.
In 1969, Callisto Cosulich had already recognized this phenomenon, describing it with the metaphor
of the “Italian cinema’s ascent to sex”: an ascent that corresponded concretely to the diffusion of a
sexualized imaginary, that was predominantly embodied in the eroticization of the female body. In
the very years of Cosulich’s volume, the sexualization of cinema had started to overlap with the first
appearances of mass-produced pornography, in print, for adults. Within just a few years, cinematic
porn was to break free of its isolation, via two semi-institutional channels that paralleled the
mainstream: private televisions and adult film theatres. The end of the 1970s appeared to signal the
end of this phenomenon, described by Ortoleva as the definitive “decline of obscenity taboos”.
The conference aims to stimulate discussion between the disciplines of film and historical studies, on
the main themes of the PRIN 2015 research project Comizi d’amore, and in particular on four general
questions:
- the role played by cinema in the progressive sexualization of the media system (and in particular
the popular press, which the project has already mapped out extensively, as available on its
database);
- the role of cinema within a series of key historical junctions for the project’s theme (the
clericalization of institutions during the Centrist years, the Merlin Law, the creation of the centreleft,
youth movements, the feminist movement, gay liberation, the sexual revolution, debates on
divorce and abortion, reforms of family rights);
- the connection between the sexualization of cinema and the emergence of pornography;
- the specificities of the Italian case.
Edited by Stefano Baschiera, Francesco Di Chiara and Valentina Re, 2017
This special issue of Cinéma&Cie analyses the logic and processes of re-intermediation emerging i... more This special issue of Cinéma&Cie analyses the logic and processes of re-intermediation emerging in the contemporary European media industry landscape, providing an opportunity to bring questions of availability, text circulation and gatekeeping to the centre of scholarly debates and investigations. Through contributions showcasing a wide array of methodological and theoretical approaches, the volume illustrates and analyses the presence of new gatekeepers, their impact in shaping texts and their consumption in different European contexts. Its case studies include file sharing, Curzon Home Cinema, VOD services and the problematic implementation of the Digital Single Market policy.
Panel at the 6th Annual Conference of the International Crime Fiction Association "Captivating Cr... more Panel at the 6th Annual Conference of the International Crime Fiction Association "Captivating Criminality 6. Metamorphoses of Crime: Facts and Fictions"
PANEL TITLE: DETECting L’allieva: Popular Crime Narratives and the Formation of a Transcultural European Identity
International Conference | PRIN 2015 Università di Milano November 27-28, 2019 DIRECTION Fran... more International Conference | PRIN 2015
Università di Milano November 27-28, 2019
DIRECTION
Francesco Di Chiara (eCampus)
Valentina Re (Link University)
Tomaso Subini (Università di Milano)
Federico Vitella (Università di Messina)
ORGANIZATION
Dalila Missero (Oxford Brooks University)
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Pietro Adamo (Università di Torino)
Daniel Biltereyst (Ghent University)
Peppino Ortoleva (Università di Torino)
Anna Tonelli (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo)
Per una cultura della sicurezza condivisa, 2020
Imago. Studi di cinema e media, 2021
Global streaming services interfaces play nowadays a key role with respect to consumption practic... more Global streaming services interfaces play nowadays a key role with respect to consumption practices and viewing experiences, and can be understood as digital media environments where the users’ agency interact with the agency of recommendation systems, which organize the topology of the space and the hierarchy of available information, thus determining the accessibility (availability) and discoverability (prominence) of audiovisual content.
Within this framework, this ar5cle shows the results of a research involving a panel of sixty Italian Ne4lix users, which combines the tools of social research together with the ethnosemiotic methodology, in order to investigate how Netflix users perceive the recommendation system and how this system is related to the viewers’ tastes and freedom of choice.
L'avventura, 2021
Geography of the «Margins»: The Use of Peripheral Locations in Rai TV Crime Dramas. In this arti... more Geography of the «Margins»: The Use of Peripheral Locations in Rai TV Crime Dramas.
In this article, we introduce and discuss the notion of peripheral locations as a key means to understanding production strategies, location marketing and screen tourism in contemporary Italian television. Having defined this notion and stressed its relevance to the new production
policies of the Italian public broadcasting service, RAI, we focus on the TV series La porta rossa (The Red Door) as an exemplary case study. Co-produced by Rai Fiction and Vela Film (then Garbo Produzioni from the second season), the show is internationally distributed by Studio Canal, the distribution division of Canal+ (Vivendi Group). The story is set in the city of Trieste, close to the border between Italy and Slovenia, and it intertwines crime and fantasy. The production history of the show demonstrates the complex role played by peripheral locations in the writing process and in the fictional world. VR walking tours organized by Esterno/ Giorno underline how peripheral locations can help to create innovative and engaging formsof screen tourism.
Akademisk kvarter | Academic Quarter, 2021
The article introduces and discusses the notion of ‘peripheral locations’ as a key concept for un... more The article introduces and discusses the notion of ‘peripheral locations’ as a key concept for understanding the relation between, on the one hand, the production and distribution strategies of contemporary Italian television and, on the other, screen tourism initiatives. After defining the notion and stressing its relevance in the European circulation of national crime productions, the article focuses on the TV series La porta rossa (The Red Door) as a case study. The series is co-produced by Rai Fiction and Vela Film (Garbo Produzioni from the second season) and is internationally distributed by Studio Canal. Set in the city of Trieste, close to the border between Italy and Slovenia, the story plot intertwines crime and fantasy. The series’ production history demonstrates the complex role played by peripheral locations in both the writing process and the represented fictional world. The Virtual Reality walking tours organised by Esterno/Giorno – a tourism organisation related to the regional film commission of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which also contributed its own funding into the production – underline how peripheral locations can help create innovative and engaging forms of screen tourism.
E|C Rivista dell’Associazione Italiana di Studi Semiotici, 2020
In the framework of what has been labeled as “on-demand” or “algorithmic culture”, Netflix repres... more In the framework of what has been labeled as “on-demand” or “algorithmic culture”, Netflix represents an exemplary case study and its interface increasingly affects how we access, choose and watch audiovisual products. This article aims to offer some methodological insights to analyze how Netflix's home page is organized and works and what kind of relationships it creates with its users.
First, the article shows how the home page can be broken down into variable and invariable components and how these components are hierarchized, in order to understand what kind of virtual environment the user experiences and how Netflix is able to boost, foresee and forestall the users’ actions.
Second, the article focuses on the rhetorical strategies which allow Netflix to build its brand identity and shape the relationship with its subscribers. In this respect, the categories organizing and presenting
content on the home page play a key role. Rather than simply being a taxonomic tool, Netflix categories create engagement, construct Netflix as a reliable subject, and definitely puts “trust” at the basis of the relationship between the brand and its users. We argue that the use of specific enunciative strategies has a fundamental role in presenting Netflix as a trustworthy brand, thus maximizing the effectiveness of recommendation systems and producing in the viewers the illusion of choice.
Schermi, 2022
Special issue on "aging" and sexuality in the Italian culture.