An investigation of affect in the cinema: Spectacle and the melodramatic rhetoric in Nil by Mouth

This article argues that the affective, visceral dimension of cinema spectatorship is a central component of our engagment with cinema. With reference to Tom Gunning's work on the cinema of attractions, I suggest that cinematic spectacle is affective by nature and is pervasive in contemporary narrative cinema, buried in the melodramatic tropes of realism as much as it is overtly present in action cinema. Drawing on Christian Metz's work on the nature of our relationship to the cinematic image, I explore the operation of affect via Nil By Mouth's use of close-up, colour, setting and voice. Claiming this intensely realist film as melodrama, I show how the spectacular qualities of its melodramatic mise-en-scene give rise to the film's astonishing affective power

Book review: The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom, Deborah Allison (2013)

This is a review of Deborah Allison's book, The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom (2013), which was published in Film International, Volume 11 Issue 5, DOI: 10.1386/fiin.11.5.77_5

Soul Power (Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, 2008, USA) [Film review]

This is a review of the 2008 documentary, Soul Power, that was published in Film International, Volume 8 Issue 6, December 2010. DOI: 10.1386/fiin.8.6.7

Organising counter-cultures: Challenges of structure, organisation and sustainability in the Independent Filmmakers Association and the Radical Film Network

The Independent Filmmakers Association (IFA) was formed in London in 1974 to represent the various strands of predominantly leftist and experimental independent filmmaking in post-war Britain. For the next fifteen years, the IFA played a key role in the expansion of British independent film, lobbying the establishment for funding and recognition, and even securing its own department within the new Channel 4 upon its launch in 1982. Four decades after the IFA was founded, the Radical Film Network was formed by a collection of artists, activists and academics (including ex-IFA members) involved in the resurgence of progressive and experimental film culture currently ongoing in the UK and elsewhere. Despite almost four decades between them, many of the questions and challenges facing the RFN today were addressed by those involved with the IFA. What constitutes oppositional film culture? How should a counter-cultural network be organised? What roles should different actors – filmmakers, academics, activists, the state – play within that culture? Drawing on archival research, interviews and the growing body of contemporary scholarship engaged in ‘rediscovering’ 1970s independent film culture, this article situates these questions within a conceptual framework derived from various approaches to network theory found in cultural studies, social movement studies, organisational studies and management studies. In doing so, it offers fresh insight into the IFA’s legacy and the lessons it holds for those involved with the RFN. Moreover, the article demonstrates the importance of such network organisations and their crucial role in developing film cultures, and contributes a new methodology for their analysis

The political avant-garde: Oppositional documentary in Britain since 1990

This thesis explores radical left-wing documentary produced in Britain since 1990. Despite constituting a lively and diverse part of contemporary British film culture, oppositional documentary has been overlooked by film and media scholars for much of the last twenty-five years. Indeed, the last book-length study of radical British filmmaking was Margaret Dickinson’s Rogue Reels: Oppositional Film in Britain, 1945-90 (1999). The lack of subsequent research on the topic suggests that a politicised documentary film culture in Britain is now all but non-existent. Yet, on the contrary, the thesis reveals oppositional documentary to be a thriving aspect of alternative British culture, albeit one that has undergone significant changes as it has adapted to the major technological, socio-economic and political developments that have taken place since 1990.As well as recovering this history, this thesis also suggests some reasons for its neglect in the first place. Asserting an admittedly problematic yet necessary distinction between the aesthetic and the political avant-garde, I claim oppositional documentary as a manifestation of the latter: an explicitly partisan and committed kind of filmmaking in which the need for aesthetic innovation is subordinate to the communication of political ideas. The legacy of a trend dominant in political film theory since the 1970s, I argue that the values and priorities of the aesthetic avant-garde have become the benchmark of political film practice such that the very existence of the political avant-garde has been effaced altogether. Exploring both the video-activist and feature-length efforts of oppositional documentary filmmakers over the last two decades, this thesis re-claims the political avant-garde as an important part of contemporary radical filmmaking in Britain

Book review: Migration Documentary Films in Post-war Australia, Liangwen Kuo (2010)

This is a review of Liangwen Kuo's book, Migration Documentary Films in Post-war Australia (2010), that was published in WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society in 2013

Go West! Bristol's film and television industries

The report, based on two major surveys and numerous interviews, is an overview of the history, evolution and current configuration of the film and television industries in the Bristol region, identified as an important 'creative cluster'. It analyses in detail their social, cultural and economic significance and provides detailed evidence about the number of companies and their location, their size, number of employees and the six sub-clusters - natural history, animation, factual, post-production, corporate and facilities - which compose this sector. It discusses the crucial role played by the BBC and its Natural History Unit, the success of Aardman Animations and the interconnections between the companies, which often share 'untraded interdependencies': ideas, knowledge, expertise and also, informally, freelance labour, rather than enter into formal business arrangements. It shows the importance of Bristol's attractiveness as a location, socially, culturally and economically but also its disadvantages compared to London and the South-East. The report shows the importance of media organisations in cementing relationships and in universities in providing a 'talent pipeline'. It analyses the importance of freelancers but also shows the difficulties they face. The report also locates a lack of social and ethnic diversity in these industries in the Bristol region, which reflects the national picture. The report concludes with a series of eight recommendations to address the issues raised including the significant lack of a major drama production company

Autonomy and dependency in two successful UK film and television companies: An analysis of RED Production Company and Warp Films

This article analyses the production cultures of two film and television companies in the UK – RED Production and Warp Films – by discussing the companies’ formation and identity, aims and ethos, internal structures and their networks of external relationships. The article argues that although managing directors and senior personnel exercise considerable power within the companies themselves, the companies’ depend on the extent to which they are able to engage with other industry agents, in particular the large scale institutions that dominate the industries. By situating analysis of these negotiated dependencies within shifting macro economic, historical and cultural contexts, the article argues that the increasing power of multinational conglomerates and the cultural convergence between film and high-end television drama marks a threshold moment for both companies which will alter their production cultures significantly

The political avant-garde : oppositional documentary in Britain since 1990

This thesis explores radical left-wing documentary produced in Britain since 1990. Despite constituting a lively and diverse part of contemporary British film culture, oppositional documentary has been overlooked by film and media scholars for much of the last twenty-five years. Indeed, the last book-length study of radical British filmmaking was Margaret Dickinson’s Rogue Reels: Oppositional Film in Britain, 1945-90 (1999). The lack of subsequent research on the topic suggests that a politicised documentary film culture in Britain is now all but non-existent. Yet, on the contrary, the thesis reveals oppositional documentary to be a thriving aspect of alternative British culture, albeit one that has undergone significant changes as it has adapted to the major technological, socio-economic and political developments that have taken place since 1990. As well as recovering this history, this thesis also suggests some reasons for its neglect in the first place. Asserting an admittedly problematic yet necessary distinction between the aesthetic and the political avant-garde, I claim oppositional documentary as a manifestation of the latter: an explicitly partisan and committed kind of filmmaking in which the need for aesthetic innovation is subordinate to the communication of political ideas. The legacy of a trend dominant in political film theory since the 1970s, I argue that the values and priorities of the aesthetic avant-garde have become the benchmark of political film practice such that the very existence of the political avant-garde has been effaced altogether. Exploring both the video-activist and feature-length efforts of oppositional documentary filmmakers over the last two decades, this thesis re-claims the political avant-garde as an important part of contemporary radical filmmaking in Britain.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

GO WEST! 2 Bristol's Film and Television Industries

This report updates and substantially extends the 2017 report, Go West! Bristol's Film and Television Industries. It revises all the statistical information, including the number of companies. The report analyses the major changes that have occurred since 2017, notably Bristol being awarded a UNESCO City of Film status; the arrival of Channel 4, which located one of its two regional 'creative hubs' in Bristol ;and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the screen sector. There are revised profiles of BBC - placing the Natural History Unit in BBC Studios - and of Aardman Animations as the two principal 'anchor' firms. The report also contains numerous case studies of Bristol's independent companies, including several of the new ones that have emerged since 2017. There is a substantailly enlarged section on natural history filmmaking, examining Bristol's global role as the 'Green Hollywood'. The report argues that Bristol, in terms of company numbers and variety, is the second largest screen production cluster after London and that the screen sector plays a vital role in the city's economy and culture