The 2012 SAS conference will be held at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia from 25-27 June, 2012.

Call for Papers:

‘The Animation Machine’ – The 24th Society for Animation Studies Conference
 
Hosted by: RMIT University
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
 
Keynote speakers include:
  • Thomas Lamarre (McGill University, Canada)
  • Tomotaka Takahashi (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
 
The Society for Animation Studies (SAS) invites submissions of proposals for individual papers and panels for its 24th Annual Conference, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia at RMIT University, 25-27 June 2012.
 
Animation production and consumption has continued to grow as animation itself has become ever more prevalent and visible in recent years. In parallel, the field of animation studies has expanded excitingly and dramatically, bringing together scholars from a variety of disciplines.
 
The theme of this year’s conference, ‘The Animation Machine’, reflects the wide range of processes, technologies, histories and structures in animation. As movement is an essential aspect of animation, whatever creates that movement may constitute an animation machine and one could conceive that animation is itself a machine. The animation machine can be considered from both the production process and the end product. Therefore, it refers to the machines of animation presentation, be these pre-20th century animation devices, movie or video screens, or even automata. The animation machine also relates to the multitude of animation production processes – from animating technologies (animation stands, cameras, computers), through to the animator’s individual creative practice. Ultimately, the animation machine can be described quite broadly and we welcome your own interpretations.
 
With the centenary of Australian animation approaching, the 2012 conference will also provide an opportunity to highlight some of Australia’s animation heritage. The conference will coincide with the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) and a number of crossover events are planned.
 
We invite proposals on a wide range of animation topics on all aspects of animation history, theory and criticism for 20-minute conference presentations. Proposals may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:
 
  • Australian Animation
  • Animation and the Asia-Pacific Region
  • Animation Histories
  • Future Forms of Animation
  • Industrial Methods and Changes
  • Materiality of Animation
  • Algorithmic Animation (including Games)
  • Philosophy and Animation
  • Motion Graphics
  • Scientific Visualisation
  • Contemporary Art and Animation
  • Architecture and Animation
  • Drawing and Animation
  • Web Animation
  • Narrative and Non-Narrative Animation
  • Obsolescence and Questions of Materiality
  • Augmented Reality and Vision
  • Automata (including Robotics)
  • Animation and Pedagogy
  • Documentary and Animation
  • Animation Fringes and Counter-Cultures
  • Sound and Animation
 
Please include with your individual submission the following:
 
  • Title and abstract of no more than 250 words (suitable for publication).
  • A brief biographical statement (suitable for publication).
  • Complete contact information, including name, institutional affiliation (if any), postal address, e-mail address and telephone number.
  • A head shot photo of yourself that will be suitable for publication (optional).
 
For panel proposals of 3-4 presenters, the chair of the panel should submit the following:
 
  • Overall panel title/theme, plus a 100-word description suitable for publication.
  • Name and contact information for the panel chair.
  • Titles and abstracts for each paper (as noted above).
  • Biography statement for each member (as noted above).
  • Name and contact information for each member (as noted above).
  • Photo of each presenter suitable for publication (optional).
 
[Note: In order to present at the SAS annual conference, speakers must be members of the Society. If your paper is accepted, and you are not already a member, you should join here.
 
Submit abstracts to: animation.conference@rmit.edu.au
Submission deadline: November 11, 2011
Conference website: www.rmit.edu.au/sas2012
Conference Chair: Dr Dan Torre, RMIT University