tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/aberystwyth-8526/articlesAberystwyth – The Conversation2024-03-27T17:07:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265582024-03-27T17:07:01Z2024-03-27T17:07:01ZThe total solar eclipse in North America could help shed light on a persistent puzzle about the Sun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584141/original/file-20240325-24-ot473c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/totality-during-2023-australian-total-solar-2344355767">aeonWAVE / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/types/#hds-sidebar-nav-1">total solar eclipse</a> takes place on <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/">April 8 across North America</a>. These events occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the Sun’s face. This plunges observers into a darkness similar to dawn or dusk.</p>
<p>During the upcoming eclipse, the path of totality, where observers experience the darkest part of the Moon’s shadow (the umbra), crosses Mexico, arcing north-east through Texas, the Midwest and briefly entering Canada before ending in Maine.</p>
<p>Total solar eclipses occur roughly <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/solar-eclipse-guide.html">every 18 months at some location on Earth</a>. The last total solar eclipse that crossed the US took place on August 21 2017. </p>
<p>An international team of scientists, led by Aberystwyth University, will be conducting experiments from <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/2024-eclipse-dallas-crowds-traffic">near Dallas</a>, at a location in the path of totality. The team consists of PhD students and researchers from Aberystwyth University, Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Caltech (California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena. </p>
<p>There is valuable science to be done during eclipses that is comparable to or better than what we can achieve via space-based missions. Our experiments may also shed light on a longstanding puzzle about the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere – its corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eclipse shadow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The path of eclipse totality passes through Mexico, the US and Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5186/">NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Sun’s intense light is blocked by the Moon during a total solar eclipse. This means that we can observe the <a href="https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml">Sun’s faint corona</a> with incredible clarity, from distances very close to the Sun, out to several solar radii. One radius is the distance equivalent to half the Sun’s diameter, about 696,000km (432,000 miles).</p>
<p>Measuring the corona is extremely difficult without an eclipse. It requires a special telescope <a href="https://www.space.com/what-is-a-coronagraph.html">called a coronagraph</a> that is designed to block out direct light from the Sun. This allows fainter light from the corona to be resolved. The clarity of eclipse measurements surpasses even coronagraphs based in space.</p>
<p>We can also observe the corona on a relatively small budget, compared to, for example, spacecraft missions. A persistent puzzle about the corona is the observation <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119815600.ch2">that it is much hotter</a> than the photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun). As we move away from a hot object, the surrounding temperature should decrease, not increase. How the corona is heated to such high temperatures is one question we will investigate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Solar eclipse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/solar-eclipse-diagram-1146598682">Andramin / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have two main scientific instruments. The first of these is Cip (coronal imaging polarimeter). Cip is also the Welsh word for “glance”, or “quick look”. The instrument takes images of the Sun’s corona with a polariser. </p>
<p>The light we want to measure from the corona is highly polarised, which means it is made up of waves that vibrate in a single geometric plane. A polariser is a filter that lets light with a particular polarisation pass through it, while blocking light with other polarisations. </p>
<p>The Cip images will allow us to measure fundamental properties of the corona, such as its density. It will also shed light on phenomena such as the solar wind. This is a stream of sub-atomic particles in the form of plasma – superheated matter – flowing continuously outward from the Sun. Cip could help us identify sources in the Sun’s atmosphere for certain solar wind streams.</p>
<p>Direct measurements of the magnetic field in the Sun’s atmosphere are difficult. But the eclipse data should allow us to study its fine-scale structure and trace the field’s direction. We’ll be able to see how far magnetic structures called large “closed” magnetic loops extend from the Sun. This in turn will give us information about large-scale magnetic conditions in the corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Coronal loops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions of the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/coronal-loops-an-active-region-of-sun/">NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second instrument is Chils (coronal high-resolution line spectrometer). It collects high-resolution spectra, where light is separated into its component colours. Here, we are looking for a particular spectral signature of iron emitted from the corona. </p>
<p>It comprises three spectral lines, where light is emitted or absorbed in a narrow frequency range. These are each generated at a different range of temperatures (in the millions of degrees), so their relative brightness tells us about the coronal temperature in different regions. </p>
<p>Mapping the corona’s temperature informs advanced, computer-based models of its behaviour. These models must include mechanisms for how the coronal plasma is heated to such high temperatures. Such mechanisms might include the conversion of magnetic waves to thermal plasma energy, for example. If we show that some regions are hotter than others, this can be replicated in models. </p>
<p>This year’s eclipse also occurs during a time of heightened solar activity, so we could observe a <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections">coronal mass ejection (CME)</a>. These are huge clouds of magnetised plasma that are ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere into space. They can affect infrastructure near Earth, causing problems for vital satellites. </p>
<p>Many aspects of CMEs are poorly understood, including their early evolution near the Sun. Spectral information on CMEs will allow us to gain information on their thermodynamics, and their velocity and expansion near the Sun.</p>
<p>Our eclipse instruments have recently been proposed for a space mission called <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/feasibility-study-moon-enabled-sun-occultation-mission-mesom">Moon-enabled solar occultation mission (Mesom)</a>. The plan is to orbit the Moon to gain more frequent and extended eclipse observations. It is being planned as a UK Space Agency mission involving several countries, but led by University College London, the University of Surrey and Aberystwyth University.</p>
<p>We will also have an advanced commercial 360-degree camera to collect video of the April 8 eclipse and the observing site. The video is valuable for public outreach events, where we highlight the work we do, and helps to generate public interest in our local star, the Sun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Morgan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The eclipse will allow scientists to get rare measurements of the Sun’s atmosphere.Huw Morgan, Reader in Physical Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1066802018-11-09T12:15:33Z2018-11-09T12:15:33ZDot and Billy: how love letters document the stories of lives torn apart by World War I<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244754/original/file-20181109-116832-1xzijv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sending my love.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-reading-letter-past-199277192">Agnes Kantaruk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During World War I, the only way to keep in touch with loved ones who were serving in the armed forces was through letters. Sent back and forth over periods of months or even years, they tell the day-to-day stories of soldiers’ lives and those of the people they had left behind. We are fortunate that so many of these letters were kept and treasured to this day so that we can retell their tales.</p>
<p>I have been working on the Heritage Lottery Fund-sponsored community project, <a href="https://aberystwyth-at-war.blogspot.com/">Aberystwyth at War 1914-1919: Experience, Impact, Legacy</a>, to bring some of the town’s war stories back to life using letters and other evidence. One of the most intriguing that we have uncovered so far is that of Billy and Dot, an army captain and a university student who sent each other love letters during his deployment.</p>
<p>Stanley Wilbrahim Burditt (“Billy”) was a captain in the Cheshire Regiment, who spent part of 1915 in camp in Aberystwyth, on the coast of west Wales. Agnes Dorothy French (“Dot”) was a undergraduate student at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. They appear to have met at a series of social gatherings arranged between the visiting officers and female undergraduates. When the Cheshires left Aberystwyth for France in July 1915, Dot promised to write to Billy. Their wartime correspondence, comprising more than 170 letters, provides a personal insight into two young people whose lives were irrevocably shaped by the war.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244753/original/file-20181109-35554-1hvoj5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dot writes a letter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jane Bradly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Billy and Dot’s love story was a complicated one. Billy was clearly besotted from the start. Dot’s early letters are affectionate but light-hearted. When in February 1917 Billy openly declares his love for her, Dot’s response is raw in its confusion and honesty. She had no idea he felt that way, indeed would never have written in that tone if she had. She is uncertain of her own feelings – she is desperate to remain friends – but she fears to make promises she can’t keep. </p>
<p>Billy is duly apologetic in turn, and Dot agrees to be his “<em>fiancée pendant la guerre</em>” (“girlfriend for the duration”). As the letters continue into the summer of 1917, Billy’s feelings persist and Dot’s soften. By July they are both desperate for Billy to come home on leave so they can meet again and assess their feelings. For, as Dot notes, she has never actually seen him out of uniform. He finally gets home leave in late August and they spend two chaste but emotionally intense days together. They begin to plan their future. On September 30 Billy is killed by a German bomb.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244752/original/file-20181109-36763-189vkfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Billy, pictured in his uniform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jane Bradly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through their letters the correspondents’ characters shine through. Dot’s are open and impulsive; Billy’s are solicitous and romantic. The early letters talk a lot about the books they have read and the plays they have seen, as they find interests and tastes in common (Peter Pan is a constant reference point). Dot’s letters recount in self-deprecating detail her wartime life as, first, an ill-fated voluntary aid detachment (VAD) nurse (she is invalided out after contracting scarlet fever), and then a sadly disorganised schoolteacher. </p>
<p>Billy’s letters are more serious and lyrical, seeking to describe and make order of the world around him, from his “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/inside-first-world-war/part-ten/10865658/old-bill-cartoons-boosted-morale.html">Bairnsfather</a>” farmhouse billet, to – in one striking passage – a “Nevinson” scene of a German plane pinpointed in a black night sky by British searchlights, reminiscent of the artist’s depictions of the horrors of modern war. And throughout their letters they are seeking, haltingly and touchingly, to articulate and analyse their feelings towards each other in a world of strict social and sexual convention.</p>
<p>Like so many letters of this kind, the couple constantly skirt around the grief of war. At one point Dot asks Billy to try to find her young uncle’s grave near Couin in northern France and he reassures her of the peacefulness of the spot. There is a conversation where Dot broaches, very tentatively, how she might find out if the worst does happen to Billy, and another where she dreams of him coming home with a “Blighty” injury (serious but not fatal). The deaths of friends are reported sadly but not lingered over.</p>
<p>And the letters are a story in themselves. They are initially irregular, but eventually Dot and Billy are writing almost daily. They take anything from a few days to several weeks to be delivered, so their narrative is characteristically fragmented, with conversations jumping across and between letters. Sometimes there is a lull, filled by what they call “deaf and dumbs” (field postcards with pre-printed messages).</p>
<p>Reading such letters provokes a range of emotions. They are not historically “important” – indeed, they are in places determinedly trivial. They say nothing at all about the horrors of war, that was not why either of them wrote. But we are drawn intimately into the couple’s daily lives, thoughts and hopes – whether Billy’s reminiscences of tea parties at Aberystwyth, Dot’s of university life once the men had gone (very quiet), the disappearance of chocolate biscuits from the shops, the pilfering of Billy’s spare kit by person or persons unknown – or the mutual happiness that ends almost as soon as it has begun.</p>
<p>Dot would live to the age of 94. She would never marry. Her letters to Billy were returned to her after his death and she kept the complete correspondence her whole life. That, too, is a story of the war.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The project Aberystwyth at War 1914-1919: Experience, Impact, Legacy, is financially supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Thanks to Jane Bradly and Tom James for the use of Dot and Billy’s letters. Photographs by permission of Jane Bradly.</span></em></p>Stacks of treasured love letters can tell the intimate stories of war.Sian Nicholas, Reader in History, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/963152018-05-09T10:38:42Z2018-05-09T10:38:42ZHorror film festivals: why their best screenings never make it to multiplexes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218251/original/file-20180509-34027-m9rnck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cut. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Kiselev Andrey Valerevich</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the east coast of Scotland, calendars are circled in blood: it’s time once again for Dundead, the horror film festival that descends on Dundee each May. </p>
<p>Launched eight years ago for campaigning locals who wanted a dedicated festival to rival Glasgow’s <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/glasgow-2018.html">FrightFest</a>, Dundead screens various previews and even premieres. There is always a gem among these mostly shoestring productions – like last year’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3289956/">The Autopsy of Jane Doe</a>, starring Dundee’s own Brian Cox, aka the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/">original Hannibal Lecter</a>. </p>
<p>The buzz this year has centred on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7026370/">Vampire Clay</a>, a Japanese film about possessed sculptures running amok in an art college. But my money is on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4399952/">The Lodgers</a>, a slice of Irish Gothic from Brian O'Malley, a young filmmaker whose <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3148348/">Let Us Prey (2014)</a> was a surprise hit at the festival several years back. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ltIcW2xMuzs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>These new releases are always built around a carefully curated themed retrospective. Last year’s focus was Stephen King; this year it’s the late Tobe Hopper – starting with his first and finest film, <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre">The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)</a>.</p>
<p>It’s not only Scots that want to scream at the likes of Leatherface, of course. Horror movie festivals have become big business in recent years. There is <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/back-from-the-dead-how-horror-is-this-year-s-rising-film-trend-1.3268256">Horrorthon</a> in Dublin; <a href="http://www.abertoir.co.uk">Abertoir</a> in Aberystywth; <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/horror-on-sea-film-festival-19-28-january-2018-tickets-38033279563">Horror on Sea</a> in Southend; while London has both the <a href="https://filmfreeway.com/BritishHorrorFilmFestival">British Horror Film Festival</a> and another <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/frightfest-dates-for-2018.html">FrightFest</a>. </p>
<p>Yet now that the genre finally seems to have gained mainstream acceptance, you might wonder if afficionados will need so many festivals in future. Look no further than Jordan Peele winning Best Original Screenplay for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/">Get Out</a> at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oscars-inclusivity-riders-are-a-start-but-change-needs-to-come-from-the-ground-up-92946">Academy Awards</a> this year. Everyone rightly celebrated Peele being the first African American ever to win this category, but most people failed to realise it is also very rare for a horror film to be recognised in this way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jordan Peele takes Best Screenplay.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/awards">The Silence of the Lambs</a> did take the five biggest Oscars in 1992, but it is the exception to the rule: horror movies rarely even get nominated, let alone win these categories. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/">The Exorcist (1973)</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/">Jaws (1975)</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/">The Sixth Sense (1999)</a> are the only others to have even been nominated for Best Picture in the past. </p>
<p>Not only has Get Out now been added to that list, it was beaten by Guillermo del Torro’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">The Shape of Water</a> – a fantasy film with horror elements. Meanwhile, three Stephen King adaptations were also released in the past year, and were all quite good. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/">remake of It</a> performed well at the box office, while <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748172/">Gerald’s Game</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6214928/">1922</a> must rank as two of the best films to be premiered on Netflix. </p>
<h2>Anatomy of horror</h2>
<p>But while there is bound to be some overlap between horror festivals and these mainstream box office movies, Dundead helps to illustrate some differences. Many films showing at the festival have no advertising budget and therefore fall under the radar of most mainstream cinema exhibition chains. Yet in many cases, they would not be considered serious enough for many arthouse cinema programmers either. This lack of distribution can be a big problem for people working in the genre. </p>
<p>Festivals like Dundead, with its specialist programmer Chris O’Neill, help filmmakers working on the margins of the industry, including local talent, to get their work seen on the big screen.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aaaaargh!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Joe Prachatree</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Horror films can, of course, be works of art. As a British cinema specialist, I think that Michael Powell’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/">Peeping Tom (1960)</a>, Jack Clayton’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055018/">The Innocents (1961)</a>, Roman Polanski’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059646/">Repulsion (1965)</a> and Nicolas Roeg’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/">Don’t Look Now (1973)</a> rival any film the UK has produced. </p>
<p>The best horror films reject the aesthetics, narrative codes and mores of conventional Hollywood cinema and replace them with something more innovative and subversive. Films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068833/">The Last House on the Left (1972)</a> addressed the Vietnam war long before any major studio dared to, just as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093286/">It’s Alive III (1987)</a> was years ahead of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107818/">Philadelphia (1993)</a> in confronting HIV/Aids. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/">The Blair Witch Project (1999)</a> proved that professional sheen was not a prerequisite for success. </p>
<p>Above all, a good horror movie provides a vicarious thrill. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/">Psycho (1960)</a> lets you be both Marion Crane and Norman Bates – the predator and the prey. We can confront both our darkest fears and even live out murderous fantasies, always in the knowledge it is only a movie. Put this together and you would have to conclude that horror is further from the mainstream than any other genre. </p>
<h2>Knives out?</h2>
<p>All this considered, this year’s recognition for Get Out was a double-edged sword. It is great to see a genre you love getting limelight, but being welcomed into the Academy can only lead to the genre becoming more bland and safe. </p>
<p>There are echoes of this in Dundee right now around plans for a nine-screen multiplex in the city centre. The site is right next to <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk">Dundee Contemporary Arts</a>, where Dundead takes place, and people are <a href="https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/646042/dundee-city-centre-multiplex-will-imperil-future-of-dundee-contemporary-arts/">rightly concerned</a> about the future of the centre. </p>
<p>It is hard to imagine a proper horror festival in a multiplex – even if Dundead was created in response to popular demand. Horror festivals are the antidote to Hollywood populism. Dundead attracts a crowd that includes DCA regulars and people who might not otherwise visit an independent cinema or watch a subtitled film. We all happily sit through an Italian giallo, a Korean zombie movie, or an Argentine ghost story. </p>
<p>So while it’s nice to see horror films going through a phase of mainstream critical recognition, brace yourself for some expensive turkeys in the coming months. If it’s the genre’s beating heart you are looking for, get along to horror festivals like Dundead instead. </p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/dundead">Dundead</a> runs from May 10 to 13 at Dundee Contemporary Arts.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Hoyle writes programme notes for Dundee Contemporary Arts, but is not paid for this and is not an employee of the centre. </span></em></p>From Dundee to Dublin, horror spectaculars are springing up like zombies from the dead.Brian Hoyle, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219072014-01-14T13:59:54Z2014-01-14T13:59:54ZHow do you evacuate a university during a storm surge?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38766/original/9r763w6h-1389294909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">No you can't go back for your iPad.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Thompson/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Born on a perilous rock” is the title of a classic book by W J Lewis which describes Aberystwyth past and present; last weekend the town fully lived up to this description. To all intents and purposes, 3 January started as a normal mid-winter day in Aberystwyth with a gale howling in off the sea and spectacular waves crashing off the sea front. Most of the university had extended the Christmas vacation to have a few more days’ rest and less that 150 of the 700 plus students who live in our sea front halls had returned to prepare for their exams.</p>
<p>That it was going to be an unusual evening became apparent when John received a call from his mother-in-law, living in sheltered accommodation by the harbour, saying she was being asked to leave because of the storm. At much the same time Rebecca received a call saying Ceredigion County Council workers were trying to deliver leaflets by hand to all student residences, advising their occupants that evacuate the promenade at least one hour before the high tide at 9.11pm.</p>
<p>How does one evacuate numerous buildings in darkness in the teeth of a storm on a midwinter night and transport people to a place of safety? The answer was to intercept the leaflets and set off the fire alarms in each building in turn, advising the assembled residents to prepare a bag of essentials to be ready to be taken to the main campus. Transport was by requisitioning the small fleet of minibuses owned by the student unions and directing the students to a central place, in a street behind the sea front and from there to the Penglais Campus, several hundred feet above sea level, where we opened up our main refectory and fed and watered our evacuees.</p>
<p>By 8.45pm the evacuation was complete. Having taught and researched hazard management for 20 years John had the opportunity to put theory into practice as it was apparent that his research field had come to him. It was clear we had to make a number of decisions.</p>
<p>When could our students return to their halls? This was straightforward, once National Resources Wales issued this advice and when we had checked our buildings we transported our students back to their halls at 1.30am.</p>
<p>Had the risk of spring tide coupled with storm surge diminished? No. The weather forecast predicted a number of storm events coupled with high tides through to the morning of the 7th.</p>
<p>Was travel to Aberystwyth easy? No, the transport infrastructure was breaking down and trains were not reaching Aberystwyth, being stuck in various flooded stretches of the railway.</p>
<p>Could we easily evacuate 1,000 students from the seafront in the middle of the night during a storm? No.</p>
<p>By midnight on the 3rd, having established these points we made two key decisions:</p>
<p>First, discourage all students from travelling to Aberystwyth from their homes until further notice and certainly no earlier than the 8th. This guidance was issued by email and a variety of social media.</p>
<p>Second, postpone all scheduled examinations by one week.</p>
<p>These bought us the space and the capacity to manage the sequence of storm surges and tides we then faced.</p>
<p>On the morning of the 4th it was clear the seafront in Aberystwyth was badly damaged but we had no need to evacuate during the day as the wind speeds had fallen. On the evening of the 4th given the slightly lower wind speed, we announced a partial evacuation of the sea-facing rooms but not of the whole building at high tide.</p>
<p>On the 5th it was clear we were facing exceptionally high spring tides, storm force winds and a significant storm surge. All students were clearly briefed by email, social media and video and were evacuated to Penglais Campus again, where they were very well fed and given a bed for the night.</p>
<p>The clear lesson learned for us was to break the problem down into its constituent parts, establish what our priority was and then make the decisions we needed to make, however large and potentially disruptive they may be.</p>
<p>We are now planning for the next spring tides in late January and early February and in particular the very high 5.8 metre tide scheduled to arrive late at night on 2nd February. Wish us luck.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21907/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>“Born on a perilous rock” is the title of a classic book by W J Lewis which describes Aberystwyth past and present; last weekend the town fully lived up to this description. To all intents and purposes…John Grattan, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Aberystwyth UniversityRebecca Davies, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.