CfC: SSS Lab – Sound Stage Screen's Multimedia Channel - invite to video contributions

SSS Lab – Sound Stage Screen’s Multimedia Channel

The editorial board of Sound Stage Screen (SSS) is excited to invite video contributions for the new YouTube Channel of the journal: SSS Lab. We aim to host video-based explorations of the intersections between music, sound, opera, theatre, and visual media. We seek video essays, visual documentaries, creative multimedia works that critically engage with the cultural, historical, social and artistic dimensions of sound, stage, and screen practices.

With SSS Lab, we will provide a dynamic space for innovative multimedia scholarship, encouraging visual and auditory modes of inquiry that complement traditional written forms of analysis. This new virtual space for sharing and learning will offer an innovative venue for the discussion of music, sound, opera, theatre, and visual media through digital platforms. We encourage contributors to think beyond traditional academic structures and engage with new forms of storytelling and critique, embracing the possibilities of video as a critical and creative medium.

Focus and Themes:

We encourage contributions (video essays, documentaries, critical interviews, video-ethnographies, video reports) that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Intersections between music, performance, opera and cinema, and their influence on cultural production and consumption;

  • The role of sound design, film scoring, and live performance in shaping cinematic and theatrical experiences;

  • Performance studies as a lens to examine the body, identity, and space in contemporary and historical contexts – especially when connected with music;

  • Multimedia, artistic and practice-based research as a valuable and alternative method for building knowledge;

  • Relevant adaptations and remediations of music theatre or other transmedia (and transnational) trajectories with a focus on music;

  • The implementation of new technologies (e.g. virtual reality, artificial intelligence, holograms, vocaloids…) in audiovisual spectacles;

  • Media archaeology and its experimental declinations and applications;

  • Experimental cinema and avant-garde performance practices, especially those that challenge traditional boundaries of sound, screen, and stage;

  • The exploration of the practices, places and spaces of auditory cultures and subcultures (especially if connected with theatre and visual media);

  • Peculiar views of relevant artists within the fields of music, sound, opera, theatre and visual media, from third or first person perspectives (also including interviews);

  • Relevant events in the fields of music, sound, opera, theatre and visual media, including concerts, shows, conferences, festivals, public lectures (also including video reports of those events)…

Submission Guidelines:

What to send: videos should be between 5-30 minutes in length and accompanied by a brief written abstract (300-500 words) summarising the key arguments or creative intentions.
Technical details: we accept videos in common formats (e.g., mp4, mov, wmv, avi, mkv…), in full HD (1080p) or higher definition, and with stereo sound. In case of necessity, the editor can convert the video on behalf of their author(s) or integrate diverse sources into an unitary edited video (according to given instructions).
Language: submissions should be in English or provide English subtitles for any non-English spoken elements. In case of necessity, technical support can be asked to the editor, who will provide adequate solutions to obtain usable subtitles at minimum effort.
Permissions: all featured visual and audio elements (e.g., film clips, music excerpts, performance footage) must include proper acknowledgements and permissions for copyrighted materials. The authors must be able to prove that all people depicted in the videos have granted their permission to be filmed and featured in a video meant for online publication. Specific forms can be provided by the editor.
Accompanying materials: while mandatory when specific texts are cited in the video, a written bibliography is welcome also in those contributions that do not address academic literature but want to provide useful sources for delving deeper into the topic of the video. Other accompanying materials will be included whenever possible in the video description or on other platforms accessible via link in the description.

Submission Process:

  • Deadline for submissions: this is an on-going call and there is no specific deadline.

  • Submission platform: all contributions should be uploaded on a website chosen by the author (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, MediaFire, Mega, OneDrive, SwissTransfer, WeTransfer…) and then forwarded to  soundstagescreen[dot]lab[at]gmail[dot]com.

  • For inquiries about the submission process or technical requirements, please contact soundstagescreen[dot ]lab[at]gmail[dot]com.

We look forward to watching your videos,

The channel’s editor
Mattia Merlini (University of Milan)

The journal’s editors
Emilio Sala (University of Milan)
Giorgio Biancorosso (The University of Hong Kong)

SSS Official Website: https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/sss
SSS Lab Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SoundStageScreenLab

News, CfC, VideoHelene Heuser