My PhD journey began in September when I attended 'Ken Adam: Designing Bond and Beyond' at the V&A Museum. This event gave me an insight into the work of the production designers for many of the James Bond and Harry Potter films and the role that their sets play in representation by 'simplifying and making meaning clear'.
Since then I have been refining my research question and methodology while reviewing existing literature around paratextual analysis, approaches to cinema history and British film.
I have also undertaken two research trips to the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter to analyse promotional material and merchandise for the first two Harry Potter films (Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets). Over the Christmas break I also visited Edinburgh and participated in one of the city's many JK Rowling walking tours. Arguably, these are also paratexts for the Harry Potter franchise since they tell a compelling story about the author, her influences and the rocky road to publication. They also reinforce many of the representations of British culture conveyed by the films through the inclusion of supposed real-world inspirations for certain settings and characters.
My next trip will be to the British Library and the BFI in London to analyse news media materials from the build up to the cinematic release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
From the walking tour: Inspirations for Hogwarts, Prof McGonagall and the graveyard in book/film 4
