Who's that actor? Automatic labelling of actors in TV series starting from IMDB Images

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 In this work, we aim at automatically labeling actors in a TV series. Rather than relying on transcripts and subtitles, as has been demonstrated in the past, we show how to achieve this goal starting from a set of example images of each of the main actors involved, collected from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). The problem then becomes one of domain adaptation: actors’ IMDB photos are typically taken at awards ceremonies and are quite different from their appearances in TV series. In each series as well, there is considerable change in actor appearance due to makeup, lighting, ageing, etc. To bridge this gap, we propose a graph-matching based self-labelling algorithm, which we coin HSL (Hungarian Self Labeling). Further, we propose a new metric to be used in this context, as well as an extension that is more robust to outliers, where prototypical faces for each of the actors are selected based on a hierarchical clustering procedure. We conduct experiments with 15 episodes from 3 different TV series and demonstrate automatic annotation with an accuracy of 90% and up.Aljundi R., Chakravarty P., Tuytelaars T., ''Who's that actor? Automatic labelling of actors in TV series starting from IMDB Images'', Asian conference on computer vision - ACCV 2016, 16 pp., November 20-24, 2016, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.status: publishe

The Art of Movies

Movie is considered to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as — in metonymy — the field in general. The origin of the name comes from the fact that photographic film (also called filmstock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist — motion pictures (or just pictures or “picture”), the silver screen, photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks — and commonly movies

Film Websites: a Transmedia Archaeology

Websites have become a familiar feature of contemporary cinema and they contribute to the overall audience experience. Yet as a hybrid of storytelling and marketing, they have often been seen as little more than promotional ephemera, and they have rarely been critically examined. Film websites are fragile, and their presence as artefacts to study is threatened by a range of commercial and cultural factors. Consequently, film websites have not been well preserved, and many disappear before they have been appraised. Through the development of a transmedia archaeological approach, this thesis establishes that film websites are worthy of consideration as a form of entertainment and as cultural artefacts in their own right. This thesis critically evaluates the film website and its cultural conditions from several perspectives. As a form of transmedia - a term, an academic concept and a production practice that has evolved since the early twentieth century and this thesis sets out a way to understand the development of this important concept and draws on recent scholarship in the field to critically evaluate key ideas. Through media archaeology, which is an emergent historiographical perspective. Some media archaeological propositions are developed into practical tools for the analysis of film websites. Whilst those propositions tend to draw on a tradition of materialist and technological viewpoints, in this thesis they are extended to include approaches that examine the audience experience. As film website design has developed, formats have standardised and one convention to emerge is the in-movie story world website. A particular narrative trope (or, in media archaeological terms, topoi) is the ‘evil corporation’, which is common in science-fiction, western, and social commentary films, but takes on specific significance when the film website enables ludic and interactive forms of what has been described as ‘extended cinema’ (Atkinson, 2014a:16). Using ideas gleaned from world-building the ‘evil corporation’ topoi is analysed in some detail. In archival settings where film websites are preserved, partially held, or lost. Through case studies where archival presence yields insight into the development of the film website form. Online awards provide a case in point as they valorise website design, and through their archives of annual winners, can be understood as a ‘shaper’ of practices, defining what film websites are, and may be in the future. Importantly, it is found that archives don’t simply preserve artefacts. Embedded in film website fan bulletin boards are ‘traces’ of audience encounters with promotional campaigns. Qualitative analysis techniques are used to 'scrape' these locations and interpret the 'conversations' in an analytic manner to examine audience experiences of nostalgia for the future

Analysing film content : a text-based approach

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

No job for a lady: women directors in Hollywood

This thesis explores the position of female film directors working in Hollywood. It is intended to address an area in feminist film theory which has often been overlooked. Although it is incorrect to say there has been no feminist analysis of the "mainstream" woman director, most of the work which has been done concentrates either on finding the feminism or femininity of her films, or studies only a select few directors. This research widens the debate by validating the study of all women directors, and moves away from the search for definitive feminist meaning in the cinematic text. It employs a contextual and multi-theoretical approach to interrogate the multiplicity of meanings embodied by the phrase "woman director". The first chapter interrogates auteur theory because any discussion of female authorship must confront this critical perspective. The female director makes a problematic auteur since that figure is traditionally gendered as masculine. Chapter two is a "state of the industry" examination of the position of the woman director in Hollywood, with a special emphasis on mentoring. Chapter three examines the marketing of Mimi Leder's films The Peacemaker (1997) and Deep Impact (1999). Chapters four, five and six explore the construction of the woman director as "star", presenting in-depth case studies of Jodie Foster and Penny Marshall. Chapters seven and eight look at the reception of Blue Steel (1990) and Strange Days (1995) directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and Clueless (1995) directed by Amy Heckerling. Each chapter is designed to contextualise and historicise the woman director in order to better understand why her gender has prevented her from being seen as a "natural" director: that is, why directing has been viewed as a suitable job for a man but "no job for a lady"

Title tunes and the branding of music in Hollywood film franchises

The use of leitmotifs in films has often been critiqued. Theodor Adorno and Hanns Eisler went as far as to claim in 1947 that “The whole form language of current cinema music derives from advertising” and that leitmotifs were in part to blame. While I take a more neutral stance, I argue that Eisler and Adorno’s critique is partly correct, especially in regards to film series produced from the 1960s onwards. The analytical work undertaken for this research suggests that multiple franchises use elements of their scores as branding tools. I argue that these melodies, which have often been referred to as leitmotifs in film music scholarship, should be described as something else: title tunes. It seems that over time, they come to represent not just one or two movies, but entire franchises. They also appear to possess a marketing value not necessarily present in leitmotifs. As such, I would argue these title tunes resemble much more sonic logos as described in the sonic branding world than leitmotifs. This thesis is an exploration of title tunes. My thesis focuses primarily on mainstream Hollywood film franchises from the 1960s onwards. Various case studies from different time periods and different movie genres are analysed to describe and understand this new category of promotional film music. This thesis first takes a historical look at the concept of title tunes, explaining how other sonic branding practices used in radio, television and cinema appear to have influenced the creation of title tunes. From the sample of films analysed for this thesis, I argue that title tunes share commonalities, yet the commonalities seem to vary slightly across movie genres. The analyses undertaken also suggest that title tunes are dynamic entities, that some title tunes are more complex than others (featuring multiple components), and that some franchises can feature more than one title tune. My interpretation of the data also suggests that these title tunes are used as emotional and nostalgic tools and that specific orchestrations and arrangements might carry additional emotional power. While the majority of this thesis explores the use of title tunes in films, their use in trailers and other commodities is discussed. Finally, I suggest how title tunes might change in the future and why certain franchises have omitted using such recurring motifs

The cultural significance of the child star

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This study provides a sociological account of the child star as both a universal and culturally specific phenomenon. Arguing against dominant 'common-sense' definitions of child stars as precociously deviant, I relocate the child star as a product of wider social contradictions and constructions surrounding children and childhood more generally. Through an analysis of the way in which child stars are constructed in the textual media I demonstrate two central and competing discourses in relation to this group - one which focuses on their powerlessness due to their 'abnormal' status in relation to 'normal' children and the other which celebrates their power due to their 'natural' talents and redemptive qualities. These contradictory- positions are identified through a consideration of the historical and mythological antecedents of today's child stars as well as an analysis of the contemporary discourses which inform news stories about such individuals. I argue that such ambiguity towards child stars can be identified as symptomatic of complex attitudes towards children in our society. The hostility which subjectifies child stars and generates powerlessness can be understood as emanating from the habitual association of performing children with precocious sexuality, the commercialisation of childhood and the fear that children are 'growing up too quickly'. In contrast, the adoration of child stars which imbues them with the power to be reinvented with every new generation can be related to a more profound universal need to reify and admire a small number of 'special' children -a practice which is identifiable across the myths and folklore of the world (Jung 1959). By identifying child stars as both powerless and powerful because of their difference to 'normal' children this study exposes how dominant constructions serve to demonise certain experiences of childhood and validate others, as well as highlighting the important role the child star plays in symbolising hope, innocence and futurity in our society

No job for a lady: women directors in Hollywood

This thesis explores the position of female film directors working in Hollywood. It is intended to address an area in feminist film theory which has often been overlooked. Although it is incorrect to say there has been no feminist analysis of the "mainstream" woman director, most of the work which has been done concentrates either on finding the feminism or femininity of her films, or studies only a select few directors. This research widens the debate by validating the study of all women directors, and moves away from the search for definitive feminist meaning in the cinematic text. It employs a contextual and multi-theoretical approach to interrogate the multiplicity of meanings embodied by the phrase "woman director". The first chapter interrogates auteur theory because any discussion of female authorship must confront this critical perspective. The female director makes a problematic auteur since that figure is traditionally gendered as masculine. Chapter two is a "state of the industry" examination of the position of the woman director in Hollywood, with a special emphasis on mentoring. Chapter three examines the marketing of Mimi Leder's films The Peacemaker (1997) and Deep Impact (1999). Chapters four, five and six explore the construction of the woman director as "star", presenting in-depth case studies of Jodie Foster and Penny Marshall. Chapters seven and eight look at the reception of Blue Steel (1990) and Strange Days (1995) directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and Clueless (1995) directed by Amy Heckerling. Each chapter is designed to contextualise and historicise the woman director in order to better understand why her gender has prevented her from being seen as a "natural" director: that is, why directing has been viewed as a suitable job for a man but "no job for a lady"

Militarism, Security, and War: The Politics of Contemporary Hollywood Superheroes

In the fields of political science and international relations, engagement with popular culture has been deemed predominantly un-important and irrelevant as an area of study. This dissertation interrogates one of the most popular cultural icons of the early 21st century, the fictional Hollywood superhero, and asks what it does for us to take seriously that which is often deemed frivolous entertainment. Understanding the superhero as a political entity in and of itself, this project reveals the mutually constitutive relationship between its production, consumption and reproduction and particular ideologies around militarism, security and war. Acknowledging the complexities of superhero characters, narratives, and aesthetics such as subversive and contested elements, this project reveals superheroes as potential sites of political and ideological reflection, articulation, constitution, and transgression. This project demonstrates that a pop cultural/aesthetic approach to IR can enable critical practices that contribute to complicating and enhancing our understandings of war and politics