Dafna Lemish
The 8th Berlin International Director’s Lounge film festival offered screenings of two Southern Illinois University Carbondale College of Mass Communication and Media Arts short films: We Want to Give You $40, Ask Us How by Deron Williams and Nudes Descending a Staircase No. 2 by H.D. Motyl.
We Want to Give You $40, Ask Us How was produced in 2010 by Deron Williams, a M.F. A. student. The three-minute film features a cash store located on Highway 13 in Carbondale, Ill.
“The sign read ‘We want to give you $40, ask us how,’ which sounds very proactive,” said Williams. “But it hides what the business is really trying to do.”
Williams said he tries to get at the dynamics of signs, and how signs tell us to do things that we do not necessarily want to do.
Williams’ film was shown as part of the Urban Research Area at the festival. Videos that explore urban space and what makes up public spaces were highlighted in this category, according to Williams.
This film uses a quasi-documentary, experimental mode, according to Williams. Feeling connected in environments that makes people feel disconnected is a theme that Williams plans to continue to focus on in future projects.
The film was also screened in 2011 at the Experiments in Cinema festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“The coolest part of this is that it is my first international screening,” said Williams. “It is so exciting. I am very happy my film was selected. This is certainly a stepping stone for my work.”
Nudes Descending a Staircase No. 2 is a film by H.D. Motyl, assistant professor in the Radio Television department, attended the festival for the screening of his film during the Director’s Lounge Selection #3 on Feb. 11.
“The work at the festival was really top-notch and I was honored to be included in it,” said Motyl. “Its a small festival but well supported by Berliners with sold-out screenings almost every night.”
Motyl’s film was Inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s 1912 painting Nudes Descending a Staircase No. 2. The film uses images of male nudes descending a staircase. The video was then edited so that the final product appears as a collage of images, similar to the original painting.
“I took a series of moments and collapsed them into one,” said Motyl. “I use vertical and horizontal strips of the images and weave them together.”
The five-minute video took about three hours to shoot and well over 40 hours to edit.
“I wanted to create a video that would really looked like the painting,” said Motyl. “No one has really done this by fragmenting the images. I tried to mimic the idea that the body could be stretched.”
Motyl is planning to produces Nudes Descending a Staircase Nos. 1 and 3. No. 1 will be shot this spring using a stairwell in Faner Hall. Motyl said the theme of this video is dichotomy. He will use a man and a woman, as well as night and day filming.
Nudes No. 3 will be completely different than No. 1 and No. 2. Motyl hopes to gain access to the escalators in the Student Center.
“The directors of the festival were lovely, fun people and great hosts,” said Motyl. “We are already talking about collaborations and exchanges and, of course, next year's festival.”
Information about the Director’s Lounge film festival can be found online (click here). Photos from the event will be post at http://lounge.net/ very soon.
CARBONDALE - Life on the rodeo circuit makes for interesting images. Some of them are currently on display in the Rotunda Art Space at Morris Library.
H.D. Motyl, an assistant professor in the radio and television department at SIU Carbondale, spent the summer of 2009 following four men and videotaped nearly every move they made, inside and outside the rodeo arena, as they traveled the circuit.
Motyl was shooting footage to create a feature-length documentary about steer wrestlers and their quest for fame and fortune. Over three weeks, Motyl and his crew traveled to Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska.
Before he left, a colleague suggested that Motyl take a still camera along with the video equipment. The result was "some wonderful images," said Megan Lotts, assistant professor and fine arts librarian at SIUC. "There are some portraits of cowboys, and many other glimpses into a world that is seldom seen outside the West.
The exhibition, "Cowboy Christmas: Photographs From the Rodeo," will be on display throughout January.
A reception is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, with a special showing of Motyl's art video, "Nudes Descending a Staircase #2," at 6 p.m. in the library's Guyon Auditorium.
For more information contact Megan Lotts at 618-453-2663 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Decemeber 2010 Radio-Television Faculty news updates.
Radio-Television - Phylis Johnson and Jan Thompson
Phylis Johnson and Jan Thompson have been recognized in an award ceremony for their years of service to SIUC in the Provost and Vice Chancellor area, on Friday December 3rd. Phylis has been with SIUC for 20 years and Jan for 10 years.
Radio-Television - David R Burns, Wago Kreider, HD Motyl, Jacob Podber
Four members of RT are presenting their creative work in the SIUC museum faculty exhibit: David Burns, Wago Kreider, Howard Motyl, and Jake Podber.
Radio-Television students Gabrielle Ntsimi and Brittney Edwards
Two RT students in the media industries sequence from this Fall's programming class have been accepted as interns for the National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE) international conference in Miami this coming January. Gabrielle Ntsimi and Brittney Edwards were selected from among hundreds of applicants who are studying the electronic media at universities throughout the nation. Interns help with information distribution, registration, seminar seating, publications distribution and other assignments that make the meeting go smoothly. The NATPE Educational Foundation pays the cost of conference registration, provides meals and covers the cost of housing at the Fontainebleu, Miami Beach for one week in January 2011, but the students are responsible for their own travel arrangements. The conference is not open to the public thus the student interns receive a unique, behind-the-scenes view of the television industry. Interns put in long hours but each student has an all access pass to the conference.
Radio-Television - Jacob Pobder
Jacob Podber attended the Oral History Association National Conference in Atlanta, GA, in October, where his article “Television’s Arrival in the Appalachian Mountains of the US: An Oral History," published in the journal Media History, was recognized as the 2010 Outstanding Article of the Year Award - Honorable Mention.
We get various faculty updates with publications and conference presentations. Here is a list of some events from November of 2010.
Radio-Television - RT Chair Dafna Lemish
Dafna Lemish gave a keynote address about media in the lives of immigrant families and children at a European Union Network of Communication Researchers in Lisbon
Radio-Television - H.D. Motyl
H.D. Motyl latest video work, Nudes Descending a Staircase # 2, was selected for the 8th Annual PPP [Process Performance Projection] exhibition at the Surplus Gallery at SIUC. The show, which ran Nov 2-5 is curated by faculty members from the School of Art and Design, SIUC. This piece is also in the annual Combined Faculty Exhibit at the University Museum, running until Dec 14.
Radio-Television - H.D. Motyl
H.D. Motyl was selected to participate in the Faculty Seminar, presented and coordinated the Emmy Foundation, a branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He, along with 19 other faculty members from colleges and universities across the country, had direct access to the movers and shakers of the Los Angeles television industry, including showrunners, network program schedulers, writers, directors, editors and producers of current TV programming.
Radio-Television - David R. Burns
David R. Burns was invited to present his paper, Borders, surveillance, and control in the digital age, and digital animation, Visit-US, at "Soft Borders Conference & Festival – Upgrade! International 2010" in São Paulo, Brazil. “Soft Borders” is an international conference and festival for new media art, and art related technology under umbrella of the Upgrade! International network of new media artists and curators.
Radio-Television - David R. Burns
David R. Burns exhibited his digital animation, Visit-US, at the SIUC Museum Combined Faculty Exhibition.
Radio-Television - Eileen R. Meehan
Eileen R. Meehan presented a paper on “A Legacy of Neoliberalism: Transindustrial Conglomeration in the Entertainment-Information Sector of the U.S. Economy” at the Historical Materialism Conference hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London on 12 November 2010.
Radio-Television - John Hochheimer
John Hochheimer attended the annual convention of the National Communictaion Association in San Francisco November 14-17.
He chaired two sessions:
Calling All Acting Folk! (And Other Talented Persons)
Auditions for 3 Original Sitcom Pilots.
21 Acting Roles.
For Male and Female Ages Ranging from Teens to 60's. Comedic Monologues Provided.
For more information contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
When: Feb 16th. @ 2:30 PM to 5 PM.
Where: Studio A / Communications 1065
Download HD Motyl's CVTV and Film Writing, Narrative TV and Film Production, Media Representation of Men and the Male Body, Gay Representation in Media, Storytelling in the 21st Century, Experimental Media.
H.D. Motyl, Assistant Professor, teaches Media Production and Writing, with his primary interest is in teaching students how to tell engaging and thought-provoking stories with words and images. His narrative and experimental work, including "Token of Love" and "Messages from Jeanne," has been screened in festivals worldwide. His most recent video, "Three Creeks" premiered at H2O: Film on Water at the Great Falls VT Art Center. Another, "Oh Michael/Oh Jesus" played at the Calgary Fringe Film Festival, where the lead performance was nominated for a Best Actor award. He has produced and written documentaries for The History Channel, National Geographic Channel and A&E, among others. For the home video and educational markets, he has produced such diverse work as the best-selling "Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film," "The Journey of Amistad," and the award-winning Show & Tell series of childrens videos. Professor Motyl is currently producing a feature documentary, "Cowboy Christmas", about professional rodeo steer wrestlers, as he completes a new video installation, "Nudes Descending a Staircase.," an homage to Duchamp's seminal work using 21st Century technology.
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- H.D. Motyl, an assistant professor in Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Department of Radio-Television, recently earned a fellowship that gives college professors unique access to the television industry.
Motyl received a 2010 National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Faculty Seminar Fellowship.
Twenty faculty members from across the United States will attend the seminar, Nov. 9-13, in Los Angeles. The five-day program offers "discussions, presentations and interactions with major studios, production companies, the networks and their top production and programming people," according to the organization website.
"It sounds like five days of really intensive, exhausting work but I think in the end it will be wonderful," Motyl said. "I'm really looking forward to it."
Motyl said the fellowship will offer additional insight into both the creative and business sides of the television entertainment industry. The fellowship fits in well with his classes, which includes a senior level, two-course television writing class for sitcoms and dramas. The first course deals with script writing; the second focuses on production where students take two of the class' scripts into production.
Students in his class sit around a writers' table and pitch their own work with the class providing further discussion and critiques.
"It's one thing to be on the outside looking in and say, 'This is how they pitch ideas and what they go through'," Motyl said. "It's another to actually get to be out there with the creators and producers of shows and find out how they deal with networks, and how producers deal with writers or the production staff."
Motyl also sees long-term benefits from the fellowship. It will allow him to build relationships with television faculty across the country and also provide some inroads to production companies. It could also offer the chance to obtain "show bibles" -- scripts and information about shows, settings, and character development for classroom use.
"We are very proud of Professor Motyl's acceptance to this prestigious industry seminar," said Gary P. Kolb, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts. "It is testament to the quality of our faculty and our continuing relationship with the television industry at the highest levels. This opportunity to learn from industry insiders will provide invaluable insights for professor Motyl's teaching and creative work."
Dafna Lemish, professor and chair of the Department of Radio-Television, said the opportunity is exciting for Motyl and the department, "because it speaks volumes to the prestige of our faculty within the television industry."
The seminar will enrich Motyl's first-hand knowledge of the industry in all of its dimensions, allow him direct networking with "leading players in the field," and 
create connections that may facilitate possibilities for internships in the future and perhaps open up doors for future student employment," Lemish said.
"We believe this opportunity will be invaluable both for Howard as a central faculty member of our department, as well as for students -- both through him, but also through strengthening the department's ties with the industry."
Motyl came to SIUC in 2007. His previous work includes a full-time lecturer in television at Columbia College, Chicago, and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University's Department of Radio/Television/Film. Motyl earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Film/Video Production and Screenwriting from Northwestern University in 1990, and his bachelor's degree in English from Penn State University.
His work also includes numerous writing, production, and directing efforts on documentaries, including several for National Geographic Channel, The History Channel, and the A&E Channel, including "Jonestown Tragedy," "Waco Tragedy," "9/11," "Warrant to Kill," "Lincoln Assassination," "John Glenn, An American Legend," and "Image of An Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film."
Motyl's current project is a documentary on steer wrestlers. He followed three professional rodeo cowboys for three weeks in summer 2009, and is currently editing the film. He hopes to have the documentary finished in December.
Original article:¬ http://news.siuc.edu/news/September10/092210par10133.html
Radio-TV Good News
Lisa Brooten reported that two scriptwriting students from Howard Motyl's class placed in the BEA Festival 2010 in the Student Scriptwriting Competition for the Original Television Series Pilot Category. Daniel Cozza's "I'm Ryan Smith" placed second and Jason M. Barr's "Reality" placed 3rd
Jan Thompson's Documentary Production class received an Honorable Mention in the Student Documentary Competition, Long-Form Category for "Silent Monster"-- Melissa Coleman, Devin Miller, Eric Robinson,Lauren Roberts, Will Roberts, Victoria Carter, Nadia Samie, Zubedah Nanfuka, and Dawn Stricklin a PhD student in Anthropology.
Bret Beherns placed third in the Sports Anchor competition. Bret is the RREE Sports Director. He reports news as well as anchors the news one night a week.
Alum Zlatko Filipovic received an Honorable Mention in the Television: Hard News Reporting Category for his report on the 2009 snowstorm "Iced Out" that closed SIU campus and its impact on disabled students. According to Jim Gee, SIU was the only school in Illinois to place in Hard News category.
College of Mass Communication and Media Arts
Class Preview Day
Friday February 26, 2010
This Friday we are holding a first-time special event called MCMA Class Preview Day to give students the opportunity to sample some of the cool classes we will be offering in the fall and to meet some of our wonderful instructors. We hope you join us on Friday for all or part of the day!
WHO: All students planning to take Fall 2010 classes
WHAT: College of Mass Communication and Media Arts Class Preview Day
Come check out some of the classes that will be offered in the Fall!
WHERE: SIUC Communications Building
WHEN: Friday, February 26 10am until 12:35pm
15 minute class preview sessions will run from 10am until noon, then again from 12:20 until 12:55. At noon there will be a 15 minute break with free pizza available. Look for signs to indicate where and when the various classes will be held.
COMM 1032
JRNL 396 Online Journalism Anita Stoner
COMM 1046
RT 325 Media Industries Paul Torre
COMM 1018
10:20-10:35am¬CP 102 Introduction to Sound and Image Production Angela Aguayo
COMM 1032
JRNL 435 Advanced Graphic Communication Aaron Veenstra
COMM 1046
10:40-10:55am CP 230 Introduction to Digital Photography Antonio Martinez
COMM 1032
RT 489 Media Industries ProSeminar Jim Wall
COMM 1046
11:00-11:15am CP 470D Web Production I: Creating Web Portfolios Robert Spahr
COMM 1032
MCMA 592 Proseminar John Hochheimer
COMM 1052
11:20-11:35am RT 389 Corporation/Industry Media Workshop Eileen Meehan
COMM 1032
11:40-11:55am RT 477 Investigative Reporting for TV, Radio or Online Eileen Waldron
COMM 1032
RT 476 Creative Audio Producing Todd Herreman
COMM 1052
12-12:15pm Pizza Break
12:20-12:35pm RT 483 Script to Screen H.D. Motyl
COMM 1032
MCMA 560 History of Media Jake Podber
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