Este trabalho desenvolve um estudo do sistema de produção estabelecido por fãs da trilogia de filmes O Hobbit. Nós partimos da questão “como se organiza o fandom de O Hobbit a partir da produção de fanworks sobre fanworks?” com o objetivo de verificar como as práticas de consumo e produção internas ao fandom de O Hobbit podem defini-lo como comunidade interpretativa. Assim, tomamos por objeto teórico o sistema de produção de fãs que se estabelece a partir do que um fã faz sobre o trabalho já produzido por outros fãs, fanworks de fanworks. Para embasar nossa pesquisa, apresentamos uma contextualização dos estudos de fãs em Comunicação, a partir de um panorama da literatura internacional e seu desenvolvimento sobre o conceito, com um aprofundamento na produção de teses e dissertações nacionais, que nos permitem compreender como o tema, e esse objeto em específico, vem sido trabalhado academicamente para situar a nossa pesquisa. Desenvolvemos também uma reflexão teórica buscando problematizar a produção dos fãs com relação aos processos de consumo cultural e midiático e sua articulação em comunidade. A partir desse contexto teórico, desenvolvemos duas pesquisas exploratórias que se embasam na interpretação de dados levantados por pesquisas maiores realizadas por terceiros: AO3 Census e o Hobbit Project. Os dados da primeira pesquisa nos permitem compreender mais sobre os fãs e suas práticas de consumo e produção, enquanto os dados da segunda nos lança luz sobre o fandom dos filmes de O Hobbit em específico. A partir da análise de conteúdo realizada nessas exploratórias, fundamentamos delimitações de contexto e ferramentas metodológicas a serem apropriados em nossa pesquisa. Com inspiração etnográfica, realizamos dois experimentos buscando as interações dos sujeitos envolvidos nos processos de produção realizados pelos fãs: uma imersão em um site de postagem de fanworks, o AO3, em que analisamos as notas deixadas por autores de fanworks produzidos sobre outros fanworks para os seus leitores. Pudemos não só nos aprofundar nas formas de produção, mas também nas relações pessoais estabelecidas entre fãs nesse processo. O segundo experimento se fundou em uma imersão em campo, em que realizamos entrevistas pré-estruturadas com fãs de O Hobbit participantes da I Feira Medieval de São Leopoldo, buscando compreender mais de suas interações e formas de produção. Por fim, nossa análise se volta para as particularidades do sistema de produção de fanworks sobre fanworks com relação ao fandom como comunidade, trazendo como principais resultados a constituição de uma rede de produção estruturada nos critérios interpretativos dos fãs e o processo de identificação do fã como fã. / This work develops a study on the production system established by fans of The Hobbit movie trilogy. Our starting point was the question “how does The Hobbit fandom organize itself based on the fanworks about fanworks?” with the objective of verifying how the consumers practices and internal productions of The Hobbit fandom are able to define it as an interpretive community. Thus, we took as a theoretical objective the fans production system established by the work a fan made based on a work created by another fan, fanworks of fanworks. In order to base our research, we present a contextualization of the fans studies in Communication, from an overview of international literature and its development about the concept, with a deepening in the production of national theses and dissertations. That allow us to comprehend how the topic, and this objective in specific, have been worked on academically to situate our research. We also developed a theoretical reflection with the intention of discussing the fan production in relation to the cultural and media consumption and its articulation in community. Two exploratory researches that are based on the interpretation of data collected by to major researches made by third parties were developed from this theoretical context: AO3 Census and the Hobbit Project. The data from the first research allowed us to comprehend more about the fans and their practice of consumption and production, while the data from the second one shines a light on the films’ fandom for The Hobbit in specific. Then, based on the content analysis done on these exploratory researches we substantiated boundaries of context and methodological tools to be appropriated in our research. Inspired by ethnography, we’ve conducted two experiments in search of the interactions between subjects involved on the production process done by the fans: an immersion in a fanwork website, AO3, in which we analysed the notes left by authors of fanworks about other fanworks to its readers. We were able to not only deepened in the ways of production, but also in the personal relations established between fans in this process. The second experiment was based on a field immersion, in which we’ve conducted pre-structured interviews with fans of The Hobbit participating on the I Medieval Fair of São Leopoldo, with the intention of comprehending more about their interaction and ways of production. Finally, our analysis focus on the singularities of the production system of fanworks of fanworks related to the fandom as a community, rendering as its main result the building of a production network established on the interpretative criteria of the fans and the process of identification of the fan as a fan.

This thesis deals with slash fanfiction and yaoi manga, disparate yet similar phenomena of fan culture. Yaoi manga as genre of Japanese comics created by women and dedicated to women , and slash fanfiction as women's reaction to pop culture generally made by male authors, are both genres dealing with a romantic relationship between two men characters. This relationship is portrayed as an innocent romantic story as well as a hardcore pornography. The autor aims to describe the terms and inctroduce some of the most influential approaches to research of the topic. Author is interested in the issue in the way of cultural and gender approach. Cultural perspective provides a summary of approaches of Frankfurt and Birmingham schools, clarifys point of view of Abercrombie and Longhurst and other authors on the current and future trends in development of audiences. Mapping the internet, important space for the fan communitiy, is also a part of this paper. Gender perspective provides a description of the points of view on the women's status in popular culture, explains the motivation of the readers/authors related to the issue of homosexuality, and describes opinions of different feminisms about pornography. Research among fangirls and fanboys or authors of slash fanfiction and yaoi manga is included.

布袋戲於臺灣已近百年歷史，它勇於就地謀生，汲取民間養分、庶民文化之特質，將流行元素置於文本結構、角色人物當中，使其歷百年而不墜，隨時代變遷而演進更生。本研究以霹靂布袋戲迷為主體，探討霹靂布袋戲迷文化之生成，為何而迷，著迷之物，以及迷、偶、官方—霹靂國際多媒體三者之關係。戲偶對於布袋戲迷而言並非死物，它趨近「仿人」式的擬真動作，即便在形體、動作上有其限制，該限制卻同時為發展之契機。經由霹靂國際多媒體塑造之偶，經由布袋戲迷及官方對偶之想像，賦神於偶，使「它」→「他」，「偶」→「偶像」。「偶」作為迷與官方之間的關鍵連結，雙方對「偶」的想像使三者形成密切網絡，迷與官方之間因「偶」的作用導致關係複雜多變。霹靂布袋戲迷透過迷活動實踐過程，將無生命之「偶」賦予生命，予無情者有情。 / Glove puppet drama in Taiwan has a rich history around one hundred years. It is characterized by absorbing nutrition from folk and popular culture, and also integrates with popular elements into texts and structures. This feature helps puppet drama to live and improve with the wheel of time turning. This paper will focus on the issue of Pili-puppet drama fans, including the discussion of Pili-puppet drama fan culture, process of being fascinated by the “puppet”, and the relation between the three: fan, puppet, and Pili Multimedia Inc.. To Pili-fans, glove puppets are not inanimate objects however, they are idols with feelings. Though puppets are limited in doing some gestures, the limitation is the turing point on the contrary. Being structured by Pili Multimedia Inc., embraced with the imagination and fantasy by official organization and fans, puppets are empowered with spirits through transformation, the object “it” becomes “him/her”, “puppet” then becomes “idol”. The Pili puppet is a crucial element connected with fans and the producer. Moreover, the relation between fans and the producer is incredible complicated because of the “puppet”. Pili-fans empower the spirit on puppets with practice, making inanimate objects alive and with feelings, also.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: Interactivity and participation - a qualitative study about the making of machinima with</p><p>World of Warcraft (Interaktivitet och och deltagande – en kvalitativ studie kring skapandet av</p><p>machinima med World of Warcraft)</p><p>Number of pages: 68 total, 50 without appendix</p><p>Author: Peter Brandberg</p><p>Tutor: Else Nygren</p><p>Period: Autumn 2006</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at the phenomenon machinima by analysing a number of specific movies from the site worldcraftmovies.com. This analyse is focusing on how the content of these movies relate to the wider game culture of the MMORPG World of Warcraft, what specific elements in the movies is referring to and if there is differences or similarities between different genres (or categories).</p><p>Material/Method: The method used in analysing the movies is a combined method inspired by hermeneutic, semiotics and discourse analysis.</p><p>Main results: Instead of answers this study raises many questions about the diverse content of the movies. A general division can be seen between movies focusing on the games rules and movies that are trying to present a fictive world. But the study also shows how there are many movies moving between these two points. The study also suggests that further studies need to focus on the emotional investment players put into the game.</p><p>Keywords: cultural studies, participatory culture, convergence culture, fan culture, new media, game studies, machinima, MMORPG, World of Warcraft</p>

Abstract Title: Interactivity and participation - a qualitative study about the making of machinima with World of Warcraft (Interaktivitet och och deltagande – en kvalitativ studie kring skapandet av machinima med World of Warcraft) Number of pages: 68 total, 50 without appendix Author: Peter Brandberg Tutor: Else Nygren Period: Autumn 2006 Course: Media and Communication Studies C University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at the phenomenon machinima by analysing a number of specific movies from the site worldcraftmovies.com. This analyse is focusing on how the content of these movies relate to the wider game culture of the MMORPG World of Warcraft, what specific elements in the movies is referring to and if there is differences or similarities between different genres (or categories). Material/Method: The method used in analysing the movies is a combined method inspired by hermeneutic, semiotics and discourse analysis. Main results: Instead of answers this study raises many questions about the diverse content of the movies. A general division can be seen between movies focusing on the games rules and movies that are trying to present a fictive world. But the study also shows how there are many movies moving between these two points. The study also suggests that further studies need to focus on the emotional investment players put into the game. Keywords: cultural studies, participatory culture, convergence culture, fan culture, new media, game studies, machinima, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

The project of this thesis has been to examine the results of the development of the reputation and concept of the historical figure of Horatio Nelson as symbol of masculinity from nearly the beginning of the myth-making and mythologizing in the nineteenth century to the present. There have been several studies recently that examine Nelson the myth, Nelson as legend, Nelson as hero: they study the process of the development of this character. As a result of the mythologizing the history of Horatio Nelson is likely lost. However the memory of Nelson a very different thing and the focus of this thesis has been reinforced through commemoration throughout the two centuries since his death coming to a logical conclusion in 2008. This was done in both the public sphere (in the form of monuments) and in the private sphere (Nelson was merchandised) with the logical result in the first part of the twenty-first century being a manifestation of Nelson in fan culture on the internet. He has now been essentialised, extrapolated, and used in a wide variety of ways to navigate masculinity by both genders.

This research considers how the culture of game developer Cyan Worlds influences the gameplay environment and the culture of fans in Myst Online: Uru Live. The game has gone through two commercial releases and in both cases it was cancelled after a short time. Fans have attempted to salvage the game by producing their own server software and content creation tools. Recently, Cyan released their own source code and development tools to the fan community, giving fans an official channel for creating new content. This work builds off of Pearce's (2009b) study of the culture of Uru players and emergent play, but adds the dimension of considering the culture of developers themselves. A primary goal of this study was to determine how the culture of a game developer like Cyan shapes the constraints of the designed "play ecosystem" (Pearce 2009b: 7), and how it shapes the processes by which fans can salvage aspects of the game to create new content. One finding is that the design of Uru's gameplay environment is rooted in the cultural practices, personal philosophical goals and individual personality traits of its developers. Fans were able to assert ownership over the Uru story-world and the means of production of new content by proactively applying technical and problem-solving skills--the same sorts of skills that players must apply to solving puzzles in Myst games. This fan action, coupled with Cyan's goal of making an open-ended world, has helped to propel the initiative to provide open-source tools for creating new content. When fans produce new content, they draw significantly from an existing shared cultural repertoire of cues and conventions. These conventions are supported both by the software affordances of the development environment and by cultural precedent--they are readily adapted to Myst-like narratives and are easily "read" by experienced players.

The project of this thesis has been to examine the results of the development of the reputation and concept of the historical figure of Horatio Nelson as symbol of masculinity from nearly the beginning of the myth-making and mythologizing in the nineteenth century to the present. There have been several studies recently that examine Nelson the myth, Nelson as legend, Nelson as hero: they study the process of the development of this character. As a result of the mythologizing the history of Horatio Nelson is likely lost. However the memory of Nelson a very different thing and the focus of this thesis has been reinforced through commemoration throughout the two centuries since his death coming to a logical conclusion in 2008. This was done in both the public sphere (in the form of monuments) and in the private sphere (Nelson was merchandised) with the logical result in the first part of the twenty-first century being a manifestation of Nelson in fan culture on the internet. He has now been essentialised, extrapolated, and used in a wide variety of ways to navigate masculinity by both genders.

The advent of social media has witnessed a transformation in how audiences interact with marketers online. While previous research has shown that media consumers generally hold a negative view of advertising, today’s media consumers are engaging with brands more than ever. This study examines what it means to be an active fan of marketers in social media to the modern media consumer through an investigation of how audiences relate to brands in the social media space. Centered around audiences’ uses and gratifications of three successful brand communities within Facebook through qualitative (field observations and individual interviews) and quantitative (surveys) methods, this study intends to gain further knowledge about the role of social media and its impact on forming new cultural trends. The findings suggest that while the uses and gratifications of Facebook brand pages and what becoming a fan of a brand on Facebook signifies to social media users vary, the prevailing motivation for and function of brand community membership is the construction of one’s digital identity in association with the brands of one’s choosing. Furthermore, despite being aware that Facebook brand communities are marketing platforms, fans were largely receptive to and held a positive attitude towards the brands. This critical study of brand fans on Facebook presents the importance of studying social media’s uses and implications in order to better understand new audience cultures within the interactive media landscape.

After experimental beginnings in the 1970s, a commercial push in the 1980s, and an underground existence in the 1990s, from 2000 to 2007 contemporary Australian horror production has experienced a period of strong growth and relative commercial success unequalled throughout the past three decades of Australian film history. This study explores the rise of contemporary Australian horror production: emerging production and distribution models; the films produced; and the industrial, market and technological forces driving production. Australian horror production is a vibrant production sector comprising mainstream and underground spheres of production. Mainstream horror production is an independent, internationally oriented production sector on the margins of the Australian film industry producing titles such as Wolf Creek (2005) and Rogue (2007), while underground production is a fan-based, indie filmmaking subculture, producing credit-card films such as I know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer (2006) and The Killbillies (2002). Overlap between these spheres of production, results in ‘high-end indie’ films such as Undead (2003) and Gabriel (2007) emerging from the underground but crossing over into the mainstream. Contemporary horror production has been driven by numerous forces, including a strong worldwide market demand for horror films and the increasing international integration of the Australian film industry; the lowering of production barriers with the rise of digital video; the growth of niche markets and online distribution models; an inflow of international finance; and the rise of international partnerships. In light of this study, a ‘national cinema’ as an approach to cinema studies needs reconsideration – real growth is occurring across national boundaries due to globalisation and at the level of genre production rather than within national boundaries through pure cultural production. Australian cinema studies – tending to marginalise genre films – needs to be more aware of genre production. Global forces and emerging distribution models, among others, are challenging the ‘narrowness’ of cultural policy in Australia – mandating a particular film culture, circumscribing certain notions of value and limiting the variety of films produced domestically.