Lisa Portolan Phd Thesis Podcast Film Event File
By staging her research as a podcast film event, Portolan creates a feedback loop. She researches the communal aspects of cinema, creates an audio work about it, and then often presents that work within a communal setting. This mirrors the "live cinema" or "expanded cinema" movements of the avant-garde, where the act of projection and the presence of the audience become part of the artwork. Her thesis suggests that academic research itself is a performance—a "knowledge event" that requires an audience to be fully realized.
From Archive to Airwaves: Reimagining the Film Event in Lisa Portolan’s Audio Research lisa portolan phd thesis podcast film event
In her podcast, Portolan utilizes soundscapes, interviews, and voice-over narration to evoke the atmosphere of the film events she studies. This aligns with what media scholars call "acousmatic sound"—sound that is heard without its source being seen. By stripping away the visual element of the films and focusing on the discourse and sounds surrounding them, Portolan forces the listener to engage with the idea of the film event in a purely cognitive and imaginative way. The podcast becomes a site of "remediation," where the live, communal aspects of the cinema are transposed into a digital, yet deeply personal, auditory sphere. By staging her research as a podcast film
Beyond the theoretical implications, Portolan’s podcast thesis addresses the growing demand for accessible academic work. The traditional PhD thesis is often sequestered in university libraries, read only by examiners and a handful of specialists. The podcast format, however, is inherently democratic. It allows the research to travel, to be consumed in transit, and to reach audiences outside the ivory tower. Her thesis suggests that academic research itself is
