Associate Professor Susan Smith, MAVA, teaches a diversity of courses at the American University of Sharjah including documentary, film production and theory courses. Smith’s research focuses on cultural identity and gender based violence among migrants of the MENA region. Recent research examines historical trauma among United Arab Emirates migrants experiencing loss and grief. Migrant stories which trace memories of homeland can be found at http://migrants.speaktrauma.org. A considerable amount of Smith’s publications explore net-work text analysis of television and film scripts predicting their potential success.
The specific objective of the present study is to develop and test an early-stage, empirical mode... more The specific objective of the present study is to develop and test an early-stage, empirical model for predicting the audience of new television series. We test our model on a sample of 107 new dramatic television series that debuted on one of the four major US television networks during the 2010-2014 seasons. In particular we examine the role of three previously untested predictors of the performance of new television shows, all of which can be known prior to the decision to greenlight the pilot script. Those three are the originality of the concept of the show, the track record of success of the show's creative team, and the size of the conceptual network created from the teleplay of the pilot episode.
Empirical studies of the determinants of the ratings of new television series have focused almost... more Empirical studies of the determinants of the ratings of new television series have focused almost exclusively on factors known after a decision has been made to broadcast the series. The current study directly addresses this gap in the literature. Specifically, we first develop a parsimonious model to predict the audience size of new television series. We then test our model on a sample of 116 hour-long, scripted television series that debuted on one of the four major US television networks during the 2009-2014 seasons. Our key predictor is the size of the main component of the text network developed from the script of the pilot episode of each series. As expected, this size measure strongly explains the number of viewers of the new series' first several episodes.
Advances in Language & Literary Studies, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 29-38, Aug 31, 2015
Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from lingu... more Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from linguistic data. Its key insight is that the position of words and concepts in a text network provides vital clues to the central and underlying themes of the text as a whole. Recent research has relied on inductive approaches to identify these themes. In this study we demonstrate a deductive approach that we apply to the screenplay of the 2014 World War II-era film Fury. Specifically, we first use genre expectations theory to establish prior expectations as to the key themes associated with war films. We then empirically test whether words and concepts associated with the most influentially-positioned nodes are consistent with themes common to the war-film genre. As predicted, we find that words and concepts associated with the least constrained nodes in the text network were significantly more likely to be associated with the war, action, and biography genres and significantly less likely to be associated with the mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, and film-noir genres.
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 3(1), 9-19, Mar 2013
Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within... more Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within narrative. However, few if any, have articulated theories about the relationship between the repetition of the words that comprise the screenplay itself and repetition of the themes that lend coherence to the narrative. In this study we address this gap in the screenwriting and film literature. Specifically, we analyze repetition of words and themes in the screenplay of Sunshine Cleaning, a critically-acclaimed independent film. Based on our survey of the literature, we expect and we find several varieties of repetition among words associated with the major themes in Sunshine Cleaning. This repetition includes but is not limited to polyptoton (words formed by inflections, declensions, and conjugations of a common stem), homonymy, paregmenon (words sharing a common derivation), and compounding (words formed by combining two or more
words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with
the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im-
plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.
Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concept... more Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from linguistic data. Its key insight is that the position of words and concepts in a text network provides vital clues to the central and underlying themes of the text as a whole. Recent research has relied on inductive approaches to identify these themes. In this study we demonstrate a deductive approach that we apply to the screenplay of American Sniper, an Academy Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2014. Specifically, we first use genre expectations theory to establish prior expectations as to the key themes associated with war films. We then empirically test whether words and concepts associated with the most influentially-positioned nodes are consistent with themes common to war-film genre. As predicted, we find that words and concepts associated with the least constrained nodes in the text network were significantly more likely to be associated with the war, action, and biography genres and significantly less likely to be associated with the mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, and film-noir genres.
Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within... more Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within narrative. However, few if any, have articulated theories about the relationship between the repetition of the words that comprise the screenplay itself and repetition of the themes that lend coherence to the narrative. In this study we address this gap in the screenwriting and film literature. Specifically, we analyze repetition of words and themes in the screenplay of Sunshine Cleaning, a critically-acclaimed independent film. Based on our survey of the literature, we expect and we find several varieties of repetition among words associ- ated with the major themes in SunshineCleaning. This repetition includes but is not limited to polyptoton (words formed by inflections, declensions, and conjugations of a common stem), homonymy, paregmenon (words sharing a common derivation), and compounding (words formed by combining two or more words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im- plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.
The specific objective of the present study is to develop and test an early-stage, empirical mode... more The specific objective of the present study is to develop and test an early-stage, empirical model for predicting the audience of new television series. We test our model on a sample of 107 new dramatic television series that debuted on one of the four major US television networks during the 2010-2014 seasons. In particular we examine the role of three previously untested predictors of the performance of new television shows, all of which can be known prior to the decision to greenlight the pilot script. Those three are the originality of the concept of the show, the track record of success of the show's creative team, and the size of the conceptual network created from the teleplay of the pilot episode.
Empirical studies of the determinants of the ratings of new television series have focused almost... more Empirical studies of the determinants of the ratings of new television series have focused almost exclusively on factors known after a decision has been made to broadcast the series. The current study directly addresses this gap in the literature. Specifically, we first develop a parsimonious model to predict the audience size of new television series. We then test our model on a sample of 116 hour-long, scripted television series that debuted on one of the four major US television networks during the 2009-2014 seasons. Our key predictor is the size of the main component of the text network developed from the script of the pilot episode of each series. As expected, this size measure strongly explains the number of viewers of the new series' first several episodes.
Advances in Language & Literary Studies, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 29-38, Aug 31, 2015
Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from lingu... more Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from linguistic data. Its key insight is that the position of words and concepts in a text network provides vital clues to the central and underlying themes of the text as a whole. Recent research has relied on inductive approaches to identify these themes. In this study we demonstrate a deductive approach that we apply to the screenplay of the 2014 World War II-era film Fury. Specifically, we first use genre expectations theory to establish prior expectations as to the key themes associated with war films. We then empirically test whether words and concepts associated with the most influentially-positioned nodes are consistent with themes common to the war-film genre. As predicted, we find that words and concepts associated with the least constrained nodes in the text network were significantly more likely to be associated with the war, action, and biography genres and significantly less likely to be associated with the mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, and film-noir genres.
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 3(1), 9-19, Mar 2013
Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within... more Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within narrative. However, few if any, have articulated theories about the relationship between the repetition of the words that comprise the screenplay itself and repetition of the themes that lend coherence to the narrative. In this study we address this gap in the screenwriting and film literature. Specifically, we analyze repetition of words and themes in the screenplay of Sunshine Cleaning, a critically-acclaimed independent film. Based on our survey of the literature, we expect and we find several varieties of repetition among words associated with the major themes in Sunshine Cleaning. This repetition includes but is not limited to polyptoton (words formed by inflections, declensions, and conjugations of a common stem), homonymy, paregmenon (words sharing a common derivation), and compounding (words formed by combining two or more
words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with
the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im-
plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.
Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concept... more Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from linguistic data. Its key insight is that the position of words and concepts in a text network provides vital clues to the central and underlying themes of the text as a whole. Recent research has relied on inductive approaches to identify these themes. In this study we demonstrate a deductive approach that we apply to the screenplay of American Sniper, an Academy Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2014. Specifically, we first use genre expectations theory to establish prior expectations as to the key themes associated with war films. We then empirically test whether words and concepts associated with the most influentially-positioned nodes are consistent with themes common to war-film genre. As predicted, we find that words and concepts associated with the least constrained nodes in the text network were significantly more likely to be associated with the war, action, and biography genres and significantly less likely to be associated with the mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, and film-noir genres.
Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within... more Several works on film theory and screenwriting practice take up the question of repetition within narrative. However, few if any, have articulated theories about the relationship between the repetition of the words that comprise the screenplay itself and repetition of the themes that lend coherence to the narrative. In this study we address this gap in the screenwriting and film literature. Specifically, we analyze repetition of words and themes in the screenplay of Sunshine Cleaning, a critically-acclaimed independent film. Based on our survey of the literature, we expect and we find several varieties of repetition among words associ- ated with the major themes in SunshineCleaning. This repetition includes but is not limited to polyptoton (words formed by inflections, declensions, and conjugations of a common stem), homonymy, paregmenon (words sharing a common derivation), and compounding (words formed by combining two or more words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im- plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.
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Papers by Susan Smith
words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with
the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im-
plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.
Drafts by Susan Smith
words). We further expect and find that the repetition of words linked to themes is extensive and found in the large majority of the scenes of the screenplay. Finally, we expect and find that words associated with
the themes are repeated far more frequently than in a random sample of screenplays contained within the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We conclude the paper with a discussion of our study’s im-
plications for the art and craft of screenwriting.