Bruce Kawin

Bio: Bruce Kawin is an academic researcher from University of Colorado Boulder. The author has contributed to research in topics: Narrative & Monster. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 25 publications receiving 250 citations.

Telling It Again and Again: Repetition in Literature and Film

Abstract: How do writers and filmmakers use repetition? It is useful when accenting an idea, but, in this original and thought-provoking book, Bruce F. Kawin argues that it serves a more important function as a manipulator of our sense of time and of the timeless. Brilliantly pitching the aesthetics of novelty against those of repetition, Kawin shows that the connections and rhythm of repetition offer revelations about literature and film, nature and memory, and time and art.

How movies work

Abstract: "How Movies Work" offers the filmgoer an engaging and informative guide to the appreciation and evaluation of films. It provides a comprehensive consideration of movies from idea to script, casting, financing, shooting and distribution. Bruce Kawin addresses the book not just to students of film but to any filmgoer curious to know more about the process of the conception and creation of our favorite entertainment and art form.

Mindscreen: Bergman, Godard, and First-Person Film

Abstract: The Description for this book, Mindscreen: Bergman, Godard, and First-Person Film, will be forthcoming.

The mind of the novel : reflexive fiction and the ineffable

Abstract: The Description for this book, The Mind of the Novel: Reflexive Fiction and the Ineffable, will be forthcoming.

Horror and the Horror Film

Abstract: Horror films can be profound fables of human nature and important works of art, yet many people dismiss them out of hand. ‘Horror and the Horror Film’ conveys a mature appreciation for horror films along with a comprehensive view of their narrative strategies, their relations to reality and fantasy and their cinematic power. The volume covers the horror film and its subgenres – such as the vampire movie – from 1896 to the present. It covers the entire genre by considering every kind of monster in it, including the human.

Gaffers, Gofers, and Grips: Role-Based Coordination in Temporary Organizations

Abstract: Temporary organizations are known to provide flexibility for industries that rely on them, but we know little about their implications for how work is accomplished and coordinated. In this paper, I propose that common portrayals of temporary organizations as ephemeral and unstable are inaccurate: Temporary organizations are in fact organized around structured role systems whose nuances are negotiated in situ. This paper analyzes one type of temporary organization, film projects, exploring the way in which roles both organize immediate work and maintain continuity across different projects. On each film set, role expectations are communicated through practices of enthusiastic thanking, polite admonishing, and role-oriented joking, which enable crew members to learn and negotiate role structures. Two important structural characteristics of film projects provide the organizational context within which coordination takes place: interorganizational career progression and projects as temporary total institutions. By showing how these structural elements and role enactments support one another, this work generates a more complete understanding of the conditions that affect coordination, including role duration, expectations of future interaction, and visibility of work.

Content-preserving warps for 3D video stabilization

Abstract: We describe a technique that transforms a video from a hand-held video camera so that it appears as if it were taken with a directed camera motion. Our method adjusts the video to appear as if it were taken from nearby viewpoints, allowing 3D camera movements to be simulated. By aiming only for perceptual plausibility, rather than accurate reconstruction, we are able to develop algorithms that can effectively recreate dynamic scenes from a single source video. Our technique first recovers the original 3D camera motion and a sparse set of 3D, static scene points using an off-the-shelf structure-from-motion system. Then, a desired camera path is computed either automatically (e.g., by fitting a linear or quadratic path) or interactively. Finally, our technique performs a least-squares optimization that computes a spatially-varying warp from each input video frame into an output frame. The warp is computed to both follow the sparse displacements suggested by the recovered 3D structure, and avoid deforming the content in the video frame. Our experiments on stabilizing challenging videos of dynamic scenes demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique.

Audio-visual content-based violent scene characterization

Abstract: We present a novel technique to characterize and index violent scenes in general TV drama and movies. Our goal is to identify violent signatures and localize violent events within a movie to support "high-level" video indexing. In particular, we exploit multiple "audio-visual" signatures to create a perceptual relation for conceptually meaningful violent scene identification. Potential applications are automatic blocking of violence in movies watched by children, hiding violence using data hiding or information filtering and genre classification of digital video database.

Filling Empty Seats: How Status and Organizational Hierarchies Affect Exploration Versus Exploitation in Team Design

Abstract: Informal and formal mechanisms affect choices between exploitation and exploration in team design. We argue that the status differentiation of team members and differences in organizational structure limit exploration in the form of introducing newcomers to teams and creating new combinations of team members. High- and low-status team members and one- and three-layer organizational structures were expected to be positively related to exploration, and middle-status team members and two-layer structures were expected to be negatively related to it. We used data on 6,446 motion pictures produced by the Hollywood film industry in the period 1929-58 to test our hypotheses.