WSU communication Prof. McDevitt chairs Det. Film Theatre's 40th anniv. celebration...
As an added component to the excitement of the New Year, the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theatre (DFT) will host An Affair to Remember January 10-12, 2014 and Karen McDevitt, lecturer in the Department of Communication, will be right in the middle of it.
McDevitt, who has been a teacher of film and new media studies at Wayne State for 12 years, is chairing the event, which is part of the DFT's 40th anniversary celebration. She even came up with the name. "I'm a huge fan of the movies, from the '40s and '50s especially," McDevitt said. "The name just seemed fitting for what we're talking about."
An Affair to Remember, a strolling dinner that will take place in the famous Rivera Court, Jan. 11, 2014, is the kickoff to the film theater's 40th anniversary weekend, which will feature ten films played over two days, each offered at the 1974 admissions price of $2. That's ten films for $20 to celebrate 40 years.
"It's quite a celebration," McDevitt said. "It's the culmination of theatre that originates in Detroit that has a national reputation."
McDevitt, who worked as a graphic artist for over 20 years before she obtained her individual interdisciplinary PhD from Wayne State in 2002, is captivated by the visual image, which sparked her foray into film and media studies.
"I've always been very interested in the image and the power of persuasion," she said. "Film's such a great way to tell a story. I love knowing how it's done and I'm looking at how well it turns out and the meaning being made."
As part of her research and teaching, McDevitt also studies the influence of new media on contemporary social practices.
"Media as a whole is converging," she said. "When we see something that's being produced by Netflix and it's got a film quality to it, and then wins an award, is that a movie or is that a television show? And then when we see something produced as a webisode and it's only available online, is that a film? What is that? It's media."
McDevitt said there always will be traditionalists who reject the new forms of media but she's definitely not one of those.
"Bring it on," she said. "When you go to the theater, it's one experience, but that doesn't mean it's the only experience. The point is, it's a media experience."
Despite her openness to new forms of media, as a scholar in the field and one of the Detroit Film Theatre's board members, McDevitt thinks the DFT is one of Detroit's most important cultural gems, in that it supports smaller films, independent films and new filmmakers who aren't getting the attention they deserve.
"The Detroit Film Theatre is a Detroit institution, part of the DIA, a national icon, across the street from Wayne State," she said. "How much better can it get? Part of my mission is to let people know that it exists. It's such a treasure…and being here at Wayne State, we have to think of it as one of our benefits, too."
- Samantha Scannell