Fandom/producer relationship by Aramina

BUFFYVERSE

Fandom/producer relationship

POSTED BY: ARAMINA
UPDATED: Sunday, July 10, 2005 01:42
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VIEWED: 4800
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Friday, April 15, 2005 10:19 AM

Hi,

Longtime Bronzer, short time FFF.net-er
I think this is the first time I'm posted in the Buffyverse forum.

Anyhoo. I'm involved in some research into the relationship between fans and the producers of their shows, especially the ways in which the relationship is benificial to each side. This is more than just about the fact the fans give producers money and producers give fans something to think about, while that is a part of it.

I'm looking for examples of events in the Buffy fan community which illustrate how this relationship works and how it can be beneficial to the fans and the producers. If anyone has any ideas or links they think would be useful, please let me know.

Thanks

Aramina

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Friday, April 15, 2005 11:26 AM

THIEFJEHAT

I suppose one link twixt producers and fans in the buffy universe exists in the whedonesque blog.

http://whedonesque.com/

Joss has a login there and actually responds to postings. I do believe he reads this board once in a while, but I'm not sure. Jewel and Adam do.

I've had a long respect for Joss's intuition as to what fans want and his conviction to give it to them (At least when networks or movie studios don't mess with him) I also hold high regard for his willingness to chat with us and accept our feedback.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 4:07 AM

EMMA

Oooh interesting, I have just written my PhD proposal and one of my chapters involves researching fan communities.

I am writing about how sci-fi and fantasy helps to form understanding of biblical characters. (Before anyone moans at me I said helps!)

What are you doing?

I really should get me a signature

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 1:37 PM

ARAMINA

He Emma,

This is for a Masters assignment. I'm proposing a model which shows how fan culture, production in particular, helps the positive development of both the fans and the original text and also helps to resolve some of the contradictions of fan theory. It's to do with recognising fan production as a form of play.

Something that may help you is an article by Sarah Wakefield about an X-files fan community:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_3_29/ai_79350861

full referencing details should be available there too.

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 1:53 PM

DIZ

I've always held affection for artists who take the time to respond to their fans. And I am tickled when they actually respond to a question or comment I have made. This has happened to me at viewaskew.com, where Kevin Smith answered my question about a band in one of his movies (as well as others; it's been a while). I also used to be a fan of a band named Throwing Muses, and their lead singer used to post all the time on her website, and there are several comic websites where one can "talk" to the creators. As far as Joss goes, it just blows me away that someone in his position has the time and inclination to post to the fans. I would say the biggest thing I get out of it is a thrill that I, a fan, am heard and appreciated. It makes me a bigger fan of anyone who takes the time to post to us. What a producer gets out of it is a rabid fanbase that will do anything to promote his/her product. We fans are easy to please; give us a few personal posts here and there, and we'll adore you forever.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 8:55 PM

EMMA

Hey Aramina

Do you mean positive development as in influence over the future scripts, characters etc or as re-imagining the existing ones? Of course it could mean the latter resulting in the former. That is quite a standard theory although I like the idea that this is play - a very cool spin. Particularly if you work in psychoanalysis, which disciplines are you working with? Also, is this an assignment or your thesis?

Sorry to be the inquisitor, my programme is all about the Bible so finding people interested in fan theory is a little tricky for me! Everyone is much more interested in the never-ending apocalypse - bit like Whedon really

Are you going to the Serenity con? If so it would be cool to meet up (although if work is way off your agenda that weekend no problemo).

I really should get me a signature

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 2:55 AM

KESSIE

hey hun ...

Found something while surfing which might be useful to you
http://www.atpobtvs.com/existentialscoobies/archives/aug03_p12.html

Scroll to : BTVS(also ATS) and The Pitfalls of the Television Medium ( long w/footnotes) -- shadowkat (trying something new), 09:56:39 08/23/03 Sat

and btw didnt know if POD told ya but you can ask me too

They say it’s the last song
They don’t know us, you see
Its only the last song
If we let it be

http://www.darknessenemyinc.de.vu/

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 3:36 AM

EMBERS

I'm having trouble knowing what exactly you mean by 'producer'
if you mean creator...like Joss, then you might enjoy going through the posts Joss Whedon has made at Whedonesque (a site where people post any and all news about anything that has some tie in with the worlds Joss created),
evidently Joss reads Whedonesque and feels free to comment to his fans there, which creates a nice relationship:
http://whedonesque.com/?user=13

However there is also the studio, Twentieth Century Fox, which produced Buffy, Angel, and Firefly...and the relationship there is a much darker and more tenuous one...where we buy the merchandise they have allowed on their shows and we feel ignored and unappreciated.
sigh

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 8:39 AM

ARAMINA

Emma

As well as the positive developments you mentioned (and yes, that part of what I am talking about is pretty standard), I mean also things like the careers of the cast/crew, the wallet of the network etc. But what I am suggesting using some play-based psychoanalysis is that being a part of fan culture can also be beneficial to the fan. One aspect of play theory is that it helps to keep us sane by making us subjects both inside and outside of ourselves. I intend to suggest that by viewing fan culture as a playful activity, it can solve some of the fan culture binaries that exist in current theory, or at least tie them together more efficiently.

This is for an assignment. I'm on a part time course because I have to work full time to pay for it. I've got a year left until I do my dissertation. The degree is in Cultural and Media Studies and the module I'm working on at the moment is Game Culture.

And inquire away.

I'm also inquisitive about your work also.

Will you be suggesting that fan culture can/should be viewed as a religion, or that it is helpful to do so? Either way, i think that article I referred you to above could be very helpful, I used it for my BA degree dissertation about the investments of fans. From memory it describes a particular fan community as a religion and note the discourse etc that makes it so.

If you haven't already read them there are some 'canon' fan culture books you should look into:

Matt Hills - Fan Cultures
Henry Jenkins - Textual poachers: television fans and participatory culture
Camille Bacon-Smith - Enterprising Women
John Tulloch/Henry Jenkins - Watching Star Trek and Dr Who

Henry Jenkins' website also has lots of articles you may be interested in.

Depending on how long you've been interested in fan culture I imagine you've already used these, if not I've found them invaluable.

Is Serenity Con in the US? I'm in the UK, besides that, I've never been to a con because I either can't afford it or can't find anyone to go with!

If you want to read more about play theory then check out http://powerup.motime.com

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 8:45 AM

ARAMINA

Hey Embers

'Producer' pretty much means all of the above, at the moment - anyone connected with making/distributing the actual original text.

I have found Whedonesque to be very helpful in the past and I'm sure it will be again for this assignment, as is the Joss archive at the Bronze where I'm a regular.

Thanks

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 9:04 AM

ARAMINA

Kessie!

Hey hun.

Wow! Thanks for that link, it looks like it may be very interesting, but I may have to take a few weeks off work to read it!

Aramina

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 9:13 PM

EMMA

Hey Aramina

Your theory sounds super and so logical it is amazing no-one has thought of it before. It could be worth developing into your thesis.

I checked out the play link, the post by Andie was interesting, is that your work?

I know of the books you mention but didn't know about Jenkins' website - fabby, it sent me to great places.

Serenity is a UK con next weekend ( www.starfury.co.uk) It is taking place at Heathrow airport and should be good. I know about the money thing though, I have to save up for a year to go to one and this year is even harder as I am just about out of money. I so need my funding to come through for September or I am buggered.

My thesis (funding permitted) will only address fan culture in the last of 6 chapters. I will be using fan culture to prove my arguments of the previous 5. I am a Biblical Studies student and in my subject nobody ever tries to prove their argument, it is all 'people believe this and people believe that' without ever justifying their belief. I intend on doing exactly that. I am using sci-fi and fantasy appropriations of Jesus' resurrection and such like (Prophecy Girl in BtVS is a good example) to prove that Western Secular Society increasingly understands biblical stories and characters through films, tv, literature etc. Fan theory comes into it because I will be using the methodologies used by Tulloch, Bacon-Smith and so on to research into the views, opinions and knowledge of fans. With a bit of luck everyone will prove me right and I can get a book out of it, if not I will have wasted 4 years!

It would be great to read your paper when it is done, I may be able to incorporate it into my research. That would certainly be interesting - suggesting that fans play with the texts threby implying that they play with biblical stories by default further reducing the original meaning behind the Biblical narrative. Cool

Any thoughts?

By the way, I like your sig!

I really should get me a signature

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Friday, April 22, 2005 7:57 AM

ARAMINA

Emma

My thesis is a little way off yet, I start it in about a year's time but I suppose I need to start thinking about it sometime now so I can start gathering my research.

Yup, Andie is me. Most of the people who post there are either tutors at my college or members of the play research community. This module is my first foray into play theory but I am finding it all interesting a new, much more exciting than reading old culture and media theory. We had a visit from a fairly well established play theorist (Jesper Juul) yesterday and I managed to ask him what he thought about me using his theory to define fan production as a game, don't think he was very impressed, I remember a comparison to figure skating!

I keep thinking that one day the time will come when I can afford to go to a con, and then there will either be no shows I'm interested in (slim pickings at the moment, at least while I'm confined to terrestrial TV). As far as funding goes, I'm paying for my fees by working full time, it's so not a good way to be. I'm so stressed at the moment but I've only got four weeks left until we break for Summer. If I ever get to do a phD it'll be full time for sure. As long as I can get the funding that is.

I'm a little confused about what side you're coming at your chapter from: are you saying it's easier for the media industry to get their characters/event across by using people/events from the bible, or that people use their familiarity with the bible to read more into the media. Or am I completely not getting it?

I don't mind sending you a copy of my paper when it's done but as far as citing it I'm not sure how my uni would treat that. I think that anything I write as a part of their course comes under their copyright or something instead of mine, or I might be making that up, something is sticking in my head though. But I wouldn't mind at all. Perhaps I could read your chapter when it's done?

Everytime I watch Firefly I come across lines I really want to have as a signature and then I forget them!

If you want to take this thread off the board (I think we've gone a little off on one) feel free to e-mail me purple_and@hotmail.com

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Thursday, July 7, 2005 8:34 AM

ARAMINA

Just wanted to thank you all for answering my questions. I got a very high distinction for my paper and my tutor is trying to get it published. Hurrah!

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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Thursday, July 7, 2005 8:57 PM

EMMA

Well done you!

You should be proud, let us know where it gets published.

extremely dimensionally transcendental

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Sunday, July 10, 2005 1:42 AM

ARAMINA

I am proud, and more than a little shocked.

If it does get published it will probably be on an online journal so I'll pop by and let you know the link.

How's your work going?

Oh and nice signature.

When I think of an interesting signature you'll be the first to know.

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