Blondie Bear
Zydrate Addict
On June 3-6, academics from around the world converged on St. Augustine, Florida, for the 4th biannual Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses. Flagler College hosted the conference on their small but beautiful campus.
On Thursday night, Dr. David Lavery of Middle Tennessee State University, co-founder of Buffy studies, gave a talk on Joss Whedon as a conversationalist, having several volunteers help by reading the parts of interviewers and Joss in conversations such as "100 Questions for Joss Whedon," a Fresh Air (NPR) interview, and the Onion AV Club interviews. The topics of these interviews range from Roseanne to Alien: Resurrection to the Buffy movie to Toy Story, with a generous helping of Joss' childhood, feminism, and writing process thrown in. The speech/dialogue was received with much laughter and applause.
Friday morning's keynote speech was Janet K. Halfyard (University of Central England) discussing the music of Buffy. Her assertion that the "Buffy-Angel Love Theme" was nothing of the sort"”rather, a theme that tells of Buffy's loss, not just of Angel but of friends and love"”provided a fascinating re-read of the second season. Rather, she asserts, there is a theme we hear twice, in "Innocence" and "Amends," the only two times we get to see Buffy and Angel consummating their love, that more accurately fits the description of a "love theme." She also examined the use of the loss theme in the Angel episode "I Will Remember You," when it is presented in a major key to offset the sadness, then again in its original key when the reversal spell is about to take effect. That is the last time, in either series, that we hear the love/loss theme. She also points out the similarities in love/loss themes in the series; with similar intervals and pacing, the Giles/Jenny theme can invoke the same emotions and expectations that the Angel/Buffy theme does. At the same time, Parker's theme is remarkably similar to the Buffy/Angel theme, presented in an overblown, highly orchestral fashion in "Beer Bad." This, Halfyard claims, is Buffy trying to force Parker to be Angel. "We have a word for this," she says, "rebound."
Halfyard's book Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer covers these and many other themes and is available on Amazon.
Panels and sessions during the conference included Dollhouse, vampires, monsters, Buffy and Angel, various characters from the various shows, teaching, Firefly/Serenity, narrative, sexuality, philosophy, and production.
Possibly the most fascinating presentations of those I attended were Katheryn Wright's (Florida State U) "River's Gift: The Production of the Affective Body in Firefly and Serenity" and Joe Velasquez's (Stonehill College) "Skies of Coupled Color: Humor and Fright in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Wright examined the psychological idea of affect and used it to examine River's and Cordelia's psychic abilities as well as Echo's ability to integrate her personalities. Velasquez is attempting to build a philosophical language and structure that could be used to discuss the way concepts and emotions"”such as humor and fright"”combine in Buffy (or any literature, really).
Saturday night's festivities included a screening of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and the Firefly episode "Out of Gas." While there was little to no singing along with Dr. Horrible, everyone in the room participated in the Firefly theme song.
Overall, the conference was a lot of fun, intellectually stimulating, and a great chance to get together with other academics and be complete nerds together.
Papers presented at the conference may be archived on the Slayage website (http://www.slayageonline.com) for anyone who's interested.
On Thursday night, Dr. David Lavery of Middle Tennessee State University, co-founder of Buffy studies, gave a talk on Joss Whedon as a conversationalist, having several volunteers help by reading the parts of interviewers and Joss in conversations such as "100 Questions for Joss Whedon," a Fresh Air (NPR) interview, and the Onion AV Club interviews. The topics of these interviews range from Roseanne to Alien: Resurrection to the Buffy movie to Toy Story, with a generous helping of Joss' childhood, feminism, and writing process thrown in. The speech/dialogue was received with much laughter and applause.
Friday morning's keynote speech was Janet K. Halfyard (University of Central England) discussing the music of Buffy. Her assertion that the "Buffy-Angel Love Theme" was nothing of the sort"”rather, a theme that tells of Buffy's loss, not just of Angel but of friends and love"”provided a fascinating re-read of the second season. Rather, she asserts, there is a theme we hear twice, in "Innocence" and "Amends," the only two times we get to see Buffy and Angel consummating their love, that more accurately fits the description of a "love theme." She also examined the use of the loss theme in the Angel episode "I Will Remember You," when it is presented in a major key to offset the sadness, then again in its original key when the reversal spell is about to take effect. That is the last time, in either series, that we hear the love/loss theme. She also points out the similarities in love/loss themes in the series; with similar intervals and pacing, the Giles/Jenny theme can invoke the same emotions and expectations that the Angel/Buffy theme does. At the same time, Parker's theme is remarkably similar to the Buffy/Angel theme, presented in an overblown, highly orchestral fashion in "Beer Bad." This, Halfyard claims, is Buffy trying to force Parker to be Angel. "We have a word for this," she says, "rebound."
Halfyard's book Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer covers these and many other themes and is available on Amazon.
Panels and sessions during the conference included Dollhouse, vampires, monsters, Buffy and Angel, various characters from the various shows, teaching, Firefly/Serenity, narrative, sexuality, philosophy, and production.
Possibly the most fascinating presentations of those I attended were Katheryn Wright's (Florida State U) "River's Gift: The Production of the Affective Body in Firefly and Serenity" and Joe Velasquez's (Stonehill College) "Skies of Coupled Color: Humor and Fright in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Wright examined the psychological idea of affect and used it to examine River's and Cordelia's psychic abilities as well as Echo's ability to integrate her personalities. Velasquez is attempting to build a philosophical language and structure that could be used to discuss the way concepts and emotions"”such as humor and fright"”combine in Buffy (or any literature, really).
Saturday night's festivities included a screening of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and the Firefly episode "Out of Gas." While there was little to no singing along with Dr. Horrible, everyone in the room participated in the Firefly theme song.
Overall, the conference was a lot of fun, intellectually stimulating, and a great chance to get together with other academics and be complete nerds together.
Papers presented at the conference may be archived on the Slayage website (http://www.slayageonline.com) for anyone who's interested.
