Research
-
Compass points
I’ve done some nature this week. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Nature the first was a walk in an inner-city park on Tuesday. Nowhere to be, nothing really in mind to see: just walking, looking, feeling. Nature the second was some experimental filming done as part of a research day in north-east Melbourne.… Continue reading
-
Spectres of the frame; shifting perceptions
Film theory is at a crossroads. The more I think about it, it’s more like the crazy Los Angeles freeway over/underpasses. Is the right way intertextual/intermedial/transmedial/psychological? Is there a right way at all? I’ve been running a studio this semester which looks at the role of the frame in the age of digital cinema. It’s… Continue reading
-
Yes we POPCAANZ
I’m sitting in an apartment, outside which the manic Wellington weather swirls and swishes. After a glorious week, with crisp, sunny days (see above), the clouds have rolled in, and it’s bucketing down. However, today’s disposition is not dampening mine, with the memories of a second, successful POPCAANZ fresh in my mind. My paper on… Continue reading
-
Speed and politics
Cinema is movement. Movement is change. Change is politics — politics regulates change. Movement in the frame is thus political. The addition of speed amplifies the political impetus of cinema. Movement is cinema. * * * [It’s okay, I haven’t lost it. These are perfunctory scribblings for upcoming research, that I thought were strangely poetic. Rough… Continue reading
-
Re-framing the frame
‘Framing is a position of thinking.’ – Daniel Frampton, Filmosophy, p. 125. As previously alluded to, I’m in the very strange process of having to think through my own comprehension of the cinematic medium. In a way, I’m taking baby steps towards my own theory of film. I’ll be taking these initial explorations to a couple… Continue reading
-
My theory of cinema
The more I think about it, though, the more intrigued I’m getting about just what my conception of cinema is. Continue reading
-
Death to the selfie stick
Today I had the pleasure of attending the RMIT nonfictionLab‘s symposium on interactive documentary. A great many interesting talks were given, and I’m hoping to collate some of my notes into coherent ramblings here and elsewhere over the coming days. I was reading various tweets today, watching some of the presentations at the conference, and ruminating more generally… Continue reading
-
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and ‘othering’
I booted up Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare lastnight, for the first time since its release. I remember enjoying playing through the single-player campaign (I’ve never been much for online multiplayer) way back in 2007, and being staggered at some of the visuals, even with it running at lowest settings on my old Toshiba laptop.… Continue reading
-
New things
A big couple of months, hence the lack of updates. I’ve taken up a new position as Lecturer in Media at RMIT University. Yes, RMIT in Melbourne. I’m now, once more, a Victorian. The move has been tough, but it’s great to be back down here surrounded by family and friends and much decent coffee.… Continue reading
-
Hit/Miss: Evolving Narratives and the Semiotics of the Blockbuster
The high-budget, visual-effects-laden Hollywood blockbuster film is among the most popular entertainments of the modern era. While viewing practices continue to change and evolve, the major studios still push out some twenty or thirty films each year with budgets exceeding US$10 million. The blockbuster film is often pushed to the boundaries of film studies as… Continue reading
About Me
Daniel Binns is a media-maker and theorist of media and screen cultures. He is the author of The Hollywood War Film: Critical Observations from World War I to Iraq (2017), and Material Media-Making in the Digital Age (2021), and has published work on Netflix documentaries, drone cinematography, and film genres. Long walks on the beach are fine, but I much prefer cabins in the woods, board games, RPGs, and movies.
Daniel Binns 