Cinesonica: Sounding the Audiovisuality of Film and Video

The dissertation presents an exploration of neglected and under-theorised aspects of film and video sound. In doing so, the study proposes a sounding of the cinesonic; that is, it considers the deployment of sound within an audiovisual context. The key concern of this dissertation is how we might map and negotiate the materiality of film and video sound both beyond, and in relation to, its signitive dimensions, and what might be at stake in a critical engagement with that materiality. In particular, this sounding engages with the inscription of difference that is common to Saussurian linguistics, signitive formulations of sound-image relations, and notions of what might constitute the properly 'political' in an audiovisual poetics founded on modernist paradigms. The research demonstrates that any coming-to-terms with film and video's materiality needs to be informed by the idea that the material events we term 'the film' or 'the video' are marked by a relationship between sound and image. Thus the dissertation negotiates a sounding of these media in relation to that materiality best described as audiovisuality. The dissertation opens with a consideration of the way in which sound is commonly conceptualised in terms of its relationship with an object source, and how the formulation of sound as signifier militates against an engagement with its material dimensions. The following chapters explore neglected aspects of film and video sound by drawing on a range of theoretical resources predominantly - but not exclusively - derived from the work of Gilles Deleuze, with detailed case study analyses of specific film and video texts, and interviews with filmmakers. The topics covered in these chapters include the phenomenon of optical crackle, electronic sounds, the correspondence of sound and image pejoratively termed 'mickey-mousing', and the organisation and manipulation of sounds in British Scratch Video of the 1980s

Examining university student satisfaction and barriers to taking online remote exams

Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of online exams at universities, due to the greater convenience and flexibility they offer both students and institutions. Driven by the dearth of empirical data on distance learning students' satisfaction levels and the difficulties they face when taking online exams, a survey with 562 students at The Open University (UK) was conducted to gain insights into their experiences with this type of exam. Satisfaction was reported with the environment and exams, while work commitments and technical difficulties presented the greatest barriers. Gender, race and disability were also associated with different levels of satisfaction and barriers. This study adds to the increasing number of studies into online exams, demonstrating how this type of exam can still have a substantial effect on students experienced in online learning systems and technologies

Triaging the academy: torch-bearing for Eurohorror in a spontaneous generation

This study gives attention to a timeline and the development of critical scrutiny applied to European horror films, especially as defined by the term, Eurohorror, and their symbiotic relationship with European art house cinema. In adopting the methodology of a cultural historian, as defined by James Chapman, together with elements of a vernacular scholar, as defined by Thomas McLaughlin, and establishing the previously limited range of critical coverage of such films, I reflect upon how my own published work in this area, primarily from 1993 - 2008. Examples of my influence on the scholarly discourse surrounding Eurohorror films, which helped bridge the gap between fan writing and scholarship, thus enabling academic researchers to embrace Eurohorror film study, underpins the thesis, together with my dual contribution in this field both as writer and publisher. By discussing the spontaneous generation of film critics whose discourse revolved around not what films they had seen, but rather, what films they had been denied, I scrutinise the increasing availability of films on video, together with the growth in film fanzines, to highlight an unholy trinity of pivotal directors; Mario Bava, Jess Franco and Jean Rollin. In addition, I explore the correlation between Eurohorror and European arthouse films. Taking Matt Hills (2002) discourse revolving around fan academics and academic fans, Jeffrey Sconce’s concept of paracinema (1995) and its increasing status in academia, together with both David Sanjek’s (2000) observations on fanzine culture and Joan Hawkins (2000) theories on Sleaze Mania, Euro-Trash, and High Art, I integrate my own earlier published work with those of my contemporaries and illustrate a legacy as to how my own work is repeatedly used to progress the narrative today. I argue that by being in the vanguard of early English language writers, recognising the importance of these hitherto neglected films, this has actively informed and influenced subsequent writers and extended the scholarly discourse surrounding the European horror and European art house genres. Where once such films were marginalised, they are now placed firmly front and centre and afforded due critical consideration. That these films are now vaunted rather than vilified, and subjected to the highest academic scrutiny, reveals a comprehensive reevaluation that indeed signifies a triaging of the academy