The listener’s experience as an embodied subject is at the centre of this work. Embodied experience forms the basis for analyses of three contemporary compositions that sample bodily sound, in order to question how such works represent and mediate the body. The possible applications of this embodied methodology are illustrated through three case studies: Crackers by Christof Migone (2001), A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure by Matmos (2001) and Ground Techniques (2009) by Neil Luck. The findings of each analysis are placed within discussion of critical and theoretical concerns related to the (re)presentation, mediation and manipulation of the body both as materiality and as social construct, using, in particular, work by Hansen (2004) and Wegenstein (2006). The sampling practices of these works lead to the fragmentation of the represented bodies, in which margins between bodily interiors and exteriors are frequently crossed, bringing about a reconfiguration of the musical subject. Furthermore, the celebration of the bodily origins of these works complicates notions of recorded sound as disembodied. The analytical methodology developed in this thesis derives from a consideration of approaches in a number of fields: feminist musicology, music psychology, embodied cognition, phenomenology, music and gesture and new media theory. The sensations and affective responses of the listening body are discussed alongside an examination of how listening is shaped by processes of technological mediation. This thesis attends to both the body that is listening and the body that is listened to. I argue that it is not adequate to understand the works studied as merely representing the body, but suggest it would be more appropriate to understand the relationship between work and body as multi-faceted, conceptualising the body and recorded sound as mutually framing. This uncovers not only technology as mediation, but also the body as mediation. Finally, the case studies are used to reflect upon the limits of the embodied analysis methodology and its potential for wider application.

"What is cinema? The emergent digital era poses this question in a new and interesting way because for the first time in the history of film theory the photographic processes is challenged as the basis of cinematic representation. If the discipline of cinema studies is anchored to a specific material object a real conundrum emerges with the arrival of digital technologies as a dominant aesthetic and social force" (D.N. Rodowick 2007: 9). Over the past twenty-five years or more there has been a paradigm shift occurring in the manner in which moving images are conceived, acquired, produced, disseminated and consumed. This transformation of the modus operandi of production can be attributed to the overwhelming expansion and rapid advance of digital technologies. Through both critical reflection and creative practice this thesis will explore the extent to which there might be a discontinuity between analogue and digital cinematography; whether cinema itself and the basis of photographic representation have been changed, as Rodowick infers. It will draw on debates of realism, the index, and of the medium in relation to the seminal theories of new media. The thesis will introduce the term Digital Fluidity. This is the central concept that has emerged out of my research that describes how technologies utilised in production and post-production function together to enable a fluid process or mode of filmmaking, based on a logic of hybridity and technological convergence. Digital Fluidity engages with two key arguments in new media theory, namely that of ‘re-mediation’ (Bolter and Grusin, 2000), and the ‘computerisation of culture’ (Manovich, 2001). The thesis comprises of a 30 000 word dissertation and a portfolio of practical work of three films. Firstly there are two documentary shorts Grasp the Words Which Sing (2010), and Picnic Pilgrimage (2012), which deal with themes such as the perception of art in the case of the former and the mobility of both the camera and the subject in the latter. In the documentary productions the reflective focus is concentrated on the digital camera as capture device, re-appropriation of technology, and continuity with analogue production techniques. The films are produced on a modified DSLR camera with 35mm lenses and demonstrate a progression in visual style from a static camera in the case of the first film to a necessarily more mobile camera in the second and third. A longer dramatic production Not For Human Consumption (2013) is a tragic love story that explores the emotive social issue of legal high substance misuse. This film uses improvisation and experimental camera systems as well as some conventions that hold their lineage in the silent era, such as the long take and frontal framing. Here the theoretical analysis explores the integration of analogue and digital techniques and equipment by looking at the processes involved and relating these practices with the concept of Digital Fluidity. The improvised narrative was created as the film was in production – a choice that was facilitated largely by the decision to shoot digitally. The three films, although very different, are related by the connection between the processes of filmmaking undergone in each case and the thesis’ core definition of Digital Fluidity. The central research question poised within this thesis will therefore be: ‘Do digital technologies offer the filmmaker enhanced opportunity for creating new cinematic language and a more fluid mode of production than previous forms?

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Text in English with abstracts in English and Afrikaans / The objective of this study was to investigate how the integration of social media applications such as Facebook can be advantageous to students in Open Distance Learning (ODL) settings or environments. This study was carried out in the context and recognition that the use of social media has become a norm in modern-day society where people in general, and students in particular, can upload videos, images and texts towards achieving a common purpose. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher employed two theoretical frameworks, namely Connectivism and New Media Theory. The study also used Qualitative Research Methodology, particularly the qualitative content analysis research technique and focus group interviews. The study found that the use of Facebook provided students with better access to online resources and facilitated more interaction with fellow students. In an ever-changing world, the study established that technology has the potential to innovate distance learning, providing students with an open space to learn, collaborate and communicate more effectively. This means that social media applications have the power to connect people and bridge the gaps of time and distance. This is especially relevant in ODL environments where students operate in isolated spaces and have little or no direct interaction with their lecturers and fellow students. / Die doel van die studie is om ‘n ondersoek te loods na sosiale media integrasie, meer spesifiek Facebook, en hoe voordelig die gebruik daarvan vir studente in die konteks van ‘n Oop- en Afstandsonderrigleer (OAL) is. Die studie was gedoen binne die konteks, en met inagneming van, hoe die gebruik van sosiale media ‘n norm in die hedendaagse samelewing geword het, en hoe mense oor die algemeen videos, prente, en teks kan oplaai om ‘n gesamentlike akademiese doel te bereik. Ten einde die doel van die betrokke studie te bereik, het die navorser twee teoretiese raamwerke gebruik, naamlik Konnektivisme (Connectivism) en Nuwe media-teorie. Die studie het gebruik gemaak van ‘n kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetode, meer spesifiek kwalitatiewe inhoudsanalise en fokus-groep onderhoude. Die studie het bevind dat die gebruik van Facebook studente beter toegang tot aanlynhulpbronne verleen, en ook meer interaksie tussen studente bewerkstellig. In ‘n veranderende wêreld het die studie bevestig dat die gebruik van tegnologie oor die potensiaal beskik om innoverende afstandonderrig aan te bied en ope platforms vir studente bied om met mekaar saam te werk asook meer effektief te kommunikeer. Sosiale media beskik dus oor die vermoë om mense nader aan mekaar te bring, en ook die gaping van tyd en afstand te oorbrug. Dit is hierin ook die geval waar studente dikwels in isolasie, met min of geen direkte kontak met dosente of mede studente in ‘n OAL konteks, studeer. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)