In Defense of African Film Studies

Scanned probe microscopes (SPM) have been widely used for studying the structure of a variety material surfaces and thin films. Interpretation of SPM images, however, remains a debatable subject at best. Unlike electron microscopes (EMs) where diffraction patterns and images regularly provide data on lattice spacings and angles within 1-2% and ∽1° accuracy, our experience indicates that lattice distances and angles in raw SPM images can be off by as much as 10% and ∽6°, respectively. Because SPM images can be affected by processes like the coupling between fast and slow scan direction, hysteresis of piezoelectric scanner, thermal drift, anisotropic tip and sample interaction, etc., the causes for such a large discrepancy maybe complex even though manufacturers suggest that the correction can be done through only instrument calibration.We show here that scanning repulsive force microscope (SFM or AFM) images of freshly cleaved mica, a substrate material used for thin film studies as well as for SFM instrument calibration, are distorted compared with the lattice structure expected for mica.

Download Full-text

Film Studies: Psychological Orthodoxies and the Unconscious ViewerFilm Studies: Psychological Orthodoxies and the Unconscious Viewer

PsycCRITIQUES ◽

10.1037/a0037356 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5959 (3232) ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Keyes

Keyword(s):

Film Studies ◽

The Unconscious

Download Full-text

Bollywood and Postmodernism

10.3366/edinburgh/9780748696345.001.0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Neelam Sidhar Wright

Keyword(s):

Film Studies ◽

First Century ◽

Indian Cinema ◽

Alternative Method ◽

Twenty First Century

‘New Bollywood’ has arrived, but its postmodern impulse often leaves film scholars reluctant to theorise its aesthetics. How do we define the style of a contemporary Bollywood film? Are Bollywood films just uninspired Hollywood rip-offs, or does their borrowing signal genuine innovation within the industry? Applying postmodern concepts and locating postmodern motifs in key commercial Hindi films, this book reveals how Indian cinema has changed in the twenty-first century. Equipping readers with an alternative method of reading contemporary Indian cinema, the book takes Indian film studies beyond the standard theme of diaspora, and exposes a new decade of aesthetic experimentation and textual appropriation in mainstream Bombay cinema. A bold celebration of contemporary Bollywood texts, this book radically redefines Indian film and persuasively argues for its seriousness as a field of cinematic studies.

Download Full-text