Tag Archives: affective landscapes

Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes

Academic, Announcements, Book, book chapter, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, game, Virtual travel,

If anyone would like a review/inspection copy of the edited book “Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes: The Real, the Virtual, and the Cinematic” (out 30.12.2022, cover to come) there is a link on the webpage.

  1. Introduction
  2. Screen Tourism: Marketing the Moods and Myths of Magic Places
  3. Windshield Tourism Goes Viral: On YouTube Scenic Drive Videos of U.S. National Parks
  4. “Forever Bali”: Surf Tourism and Morning of the Earth (1972)
  5. Locating Fellini: Affect, Cinecittà, and the Cinematic Pilgrimage
  6. Walking in Cary Grant’s footsteps: the Looking for Archie walking tour
  7. Vancouver Unmoored: Hollywood North as a Site of Spectres
  8. Always The Desert – Creating Affective Landscapes Through Visual Storytelling In Breaking Bad
  9. Nordic Noir and miserable landscape tourism
  10. Serial Killer Cinema and Dark Tourism: The Affective Contours of Genre and Place
  11. Down the Rabbit Hole: Disneyland Gangs, Affective Spaces, and Covid-19
  12. Immersive Worlds and Sites of Participatory Culture: The Evolution of Screen Tourism and Theme Parks
  13. Hobbiton 2.0, 20 years on: Authenticity and Immersive Themed Space
  14. Swords, Sandals, and Selfies: Videogame-induced Tourism

Swords Sandals and Selfies

3D and game editors, Academic, book chapter, Digital Humanities, game, serious games, virtual heritage, visualisation, , ,
An abstract from a draft chapter. I have written the chapter but hope to revise it further. It is for a book entitled Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes, out, I hope, early 2023.

The prospect and potential of videogame-induced tourism has only recently been discussed in academic publications. I will examine three possible reasons why, I will provide evidence to the contrary, and suggest new developments that may accelerate the impact of videogames on tourism (and the related experiencing of affective landscapes). My main case study will be Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. This 2019 game draws the player into the exploration of idyllic and war-torn historic and mythic landscapes of Athens and Sparta, via questing and simulated violence. It also features a non-violent “Discovery” mode, photographical functions, and a Story Creator mode allowing quests (and in-game photos) to be designed and shared with other players. Beyond violent gameplay, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey allows the exploration of idyllic historic landscapes and heritage sites. Given the company employs both high-quality designers and professional historians (and archaeologists), we can employ such sandbox games as both a pre-visitation visualisation tool and as a hybrid fictional and yet also factual learning environment.

Book Chapters on the way (provisionally)

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  1. Champion, E. (2021: pending). Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity: Virtual opportunities. In E. Wandl-Vogt (Ed.), Biodiversity in connection with Linguistic and Cultural Diversity. Vienna, Austria. Written.
  2. Champion, E. (2021: under review). Not Quite Virtual: Techné between Text and World” In Texts & Technology: Inventing the Future of the Humanities, edited by Anastasia Salter and Barry Mauer, University of Central Florida, Orlando Florida USA. Written.
  3. Champion, E. (2021: under review). Workshopping Game Prototypes for History and Heritage. In Digital Humanities book, Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Aracne Publishing Company. Written.
  4. Champion, E., & Hiriart, J. (2021: pending). Workshopping Board Games for Space Place and Culture. In C. Randl & M. Lasansky (Eds.), Playing Place: Board Games, Architecture, Space, and Heritage. Written. Publisher being negotiated.
  5. Champion, E. (2021). Reflective Experiences with Immersive Heritage: A Theoretical Design-Based Framework. In A. Benardou & A. M. Droumpouki (Eds.), Difficult Pasts and Immersive Experiences. London, UK: Routledge. Abstract accepted.
  6. Champion, E., Nurmikko-Fuller, T., & Grant, K. (2021: pending, invited). Blue Sky Skyrim VR: Immersive Techniques to Engage with Medieval History. In R. Houghton (Ed.), Games for Teaching, Impact, and Research UK: De Gruyter. Abstract accepted, full chapter due March 2021.
  7. Champion, E. (2022: pending). Swords, Sandals and Selfies: A Tour You’d Kill For. In C. Lee & E. Champion (Eds.), Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes Publisher to be confirmed.

CFP Chapters for Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes (edited book)

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Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes (edited book)

Edited by Ear Zow Digital (University of South Australia), Jane Stadler (UQ) and Robert Peaslee (TTU).

We are soliciting contributions for an edited book that will explore the affective landscapes – both real and imaginary – in screen tourism.

Screen tourism is a burgeoning global industry whereby tourists visit locations that are featured in or are associated with film and television texts (e.g. filming locations, theme parks, the creator’s former abode). This simultaneously niche yet mainstream market has now extended the bucket list of travel destinations to include the likes of Westeros (Dubrovnik, Game of Thrones), Middle-earth (New Zealand, The Lord of the Rings), and Platform 9¾ (London, Harry Potter).

The book will explore how affective landscapes in screen tourism are sights/sites of transformation, play and possibility. It will broach a spectrum of topics, ranging from the tourist’s/fan’s affective response to place, to the strategic design of ventures to enhance the experiential through creating senses of place and narrative. The book will further advance discussions of the future potential of the industry (e.g. use of mixed/augmented reality).

Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes will be a comprehensive collection of essays by international scholars and screen tourism practitioners, opening up a space for dialogue between the academy and industry. This interdisciplinary book will be informed by fields including cultural studies, tourism studies, media studies, cultural heritage and visualisation studies.

Possible areas of research include (but are not limited to):

  • narrative and affective landscapes
  • liminal spaces
  • embodied experiences
  • themed experiences and places
  • augmenting place through technology
  • modes of reality
  • (popular) cultural heritage and authenticity
  • the screen tourist’s gaze
  • fandom communities and engagement

Chapters are expected to be approximately 6000–7500 words.

Proposals should be sent by email (in a Word document) to the Editors by March 1, 2019. This should include an abstract (250 words) and a short contributor bio (one paragraph including institutional affiliation, position and recent publications). Please note that the submission date for accepted papers is October 4, 2019.

Contributors, please address all inquiries and proposals to:

Erik Champion (erik DOT champion at UNISA DOT edu DOT au)

NB post updated: editors changed, book reviewed positively, just need one or more chapters on African or Asian-focused screen tourism topics.