And so the PhD journey begins...

It has been a while since my last post but I am pleased to say that this is because I have been busy navigating the first few months of my PhD at the University of Bristol. I was very honoured to receive an Alumni Research Scholarship from the University, without which I could not pursue my research into representations of British culture in the Harry Potter and James Bond films, with a particular focus on paratextual analysis.

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

Published work: The Power That Lies Within: Ideologies in Daniel Craig's Bond Films

In 2015 I was very honoured to present at the IAFOR MediAsia conference in Kobe, Japan. Speaking at the time of Spectre's release worldwide, my paper discussed this film's apparent shift in themes and ideas from its predecessor, Skyfall, and the socio-political context that may have influenced this. Having previously written about Bond's national identity in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, my 2015 presentation attempted to look more widely at the relationship between the ideologies in Bond films and contextual socio-political factors. As such this paper provided what I hoped was an accessible discussion of this concept with opportunities to explore aspects in further detail as I moved forward with my research interests and ambitions for PhD study.

I was very pleased to receive recent correspondence from IAFOR requesting permission to feature this work on their publishing platform, THINK. This paper can be viewed by clicking on the image below:

Cinema Rediscovered 2017

I recently volunteered at this year's Cinema Rediscovered film festival. Predominantly hosted by the Watershed in Bristol, the eclectic programme included digital restorations, lesser known film gems and classics 're-viewed' through thought-provoking introductions and Q+As. It was fantastic to be part of this truly cinephilic event. Of the festival's offerings I particularly enjoyed Dr Peter Walsh's walking tour of Bristol's cinema history and filming locations, and a screening of Sweet Smell of Success (1957): a dark portrayal of corruption in the press industry, forming part of the festival's 'Manipulating the Message' strand. Having recently watched Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, it was also interesting to see another depiction of WWII on the big screen, this time through the British Government commissioned Millions Like Us (1943), which follows several women as they take up work in a British wartime aircraft factory. You can read more about Cinema Rediscovered here: www.watershed.co.uk/cinema-rediscovered

Volunteers and organisers of Cinema Rediscovered

National Cinema(s) course at 20th Century Flicks

This Spring I completed a film course run by the wonderful 20th Century Flicks in Bristol. The subject matter of National Cinema(s) sparked many discussions that I felt were particularly relevant to my research interests and I produced a short summary of my experience that has been posted on the 20th Century Flicks blog.

BAFTSS conference

I recently attended the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) conference at the University of Bristol. It was wonderful to return to the film and television department at Bristol and to see the lecturers that had made my masters degree study and subsequent teaching there such rewarding experiences. I am returning to start a PhD in Film and Television in the Autumn and the conference was an opportunity to listen to the work of other PhD students as well as some bigger names in the field of screen studies.

I attended some panels that I thought could be relevant to my research interests and noted the following key points/questions that could feed into my project:

Heritage and Quality Genres

Which socio-political events could be linked to the recent resurgence of British heritage film and television texts such as Downton Abbey, Great British Bake Off, The Imitation Game (and arguably Skyfall and Harry Potter)?

Twitter and social media brings a new element to British heritage discourse and may provide sources for analysing the audience reception/implications for these texts.

The concept of capitalising on British heritage and imperial nostalgia, not just through film and television texts but paratexts such as merchandise, theme parks and literature, and the particular ideas these texts reinforce.

Diversity in the UK Screen Industries

The top down influence of the Oscars on the business case for diversity at production level (only white males win awards and therefore make money).

Film Academics and Film Festivals

What role do film festivals play in the case for diversity on screen and, as a possible practical aspect to my research, how could a film festival challenge ideas about British heritage cinema?

Euro-Bollywood

The representation of British culture and landscapes in the products of film industries from other countries (e.g. Bollywood) and the relationship this has with exported images of Britain/Britishness.

A Thoroughly English movie Franchise: The James Bond Films

The successful ‘backwards and forwards looking’ formula of the James Bond and Harry Potter films and the implications for this.

MAPACA and Yale Conferences

Sorry this post is rather delayed as I have been busy with various things including applications for PhD study and funding.

My recent travels around North America culminated in two tri-state conferences. I very much enjoyed returning to the PCA/ACA community (I have previously attended SWPACA and EuPOP) and presenting at the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Drawing on the construction of the films' posters to demonstrate my points, I compared Daniel Craig's latest portrayal of James Bond in Spectre with his initial interpretation in Casino Royale, and I discussed some of the possible influences on and implications for this. My abstract can be viewed here: https://mapaca.net/conference/2016/p/contemporary-british-hero-daniel-craig-james-bond

The discussion following my presentation raised some really interesting questions around differences in the international reception of Bond and the franchise's relationship with an ever evolving cultural context.

- Why do different countries receive different cuts of these films e.g. China received a different cut of Skyfall
- Why did US and UK audiences respond differently to Spectre?
- Why is Bond still so popular when we have moved away from misogyny?

I was very honoured to find out that my presentation had been nominated for a Ralph Donald Award and I hope to hear the outcome of this soon.

As always I very much enjoyed watching presentations from fellow scholars, particularly those on Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, as I found them to be relevant to my research and indicative of a general interest in representations of British culture in popular entertainment texts.

I also attended a conference on Photography and Britishness, held at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT. It was particularly interesting to see representations of British culture in another medium and the differences in these images depending on the producer. Bristol based photographer Martin Parr gave a keynote on his career 'capturing' Britain and the following Q&A highlighted an association with tradition as the audience drew on his images of events of the British Establishment that haven't changed for hundreds of years (the odd ceremonies at Oxford University, the Epson Derby, the uniforms at Christ's Hospital School). This association was particularly interesting to me as I considered its application to the representations of British culture in some hugely successful film and television texts of recent years (Downton Abbey, The Queen, The King's Speech etc.). I found myself thinking of Riz Ahemd's quote again: 'The reality of Britain is vibrant multiculturalism, but the myth we export is an all-white world of lords and ladies.' (from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/15/riz-ahmed-typecast-as-a-terrorist)

Keep Calm and Carry On... Travelling!

I haven’t posted in a while as I have been busy travelling across the USA on a trip that is serving multiple purposes: 1) visiting potential PhD programs, 2) attending two conferences, 3) satisfying my general curiosity (and hopefully PhD research topic) regarding representations of British culture abroad, 4) holiday!

My travels began on the West Coast giving me time to explore Los Angeles and California before I moved onto Texas and up through the mid-west to the East Coast for the final leg of the trip. It has been particularly interesting to see elements of British influence and presence and to try to understand what ideas this might be conveying about ‘Britishness‘ today.

The title of this post is appropriate because the Keep Calm and Carry On motto has made it across the Atlantic and adorns many notepads and pencil cases in the stationary stores I have visited in the States. As a phrase originating from World War II this can be considered a more old fashioned representation of Britishness: the idea of maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of wartime adversity (insert picture of Winston Churchill here!). This association of Britishness with a sort of old fashioned chic was repeated to me when visiting the highly regarded British works of art and literature at the Huntington Library and Art Collections in San Marino, CA. In the early 1900s, American railway pioneer Henry E. Huntington sought older pieces from Britain to display in his Californian ranch and with Gainsborough’s Blue Boy (ca. 1770) being considered one of the most highly prized items in the collection I felt that Britain was again being associated with an enduring past. Moving onto Texas a conversation with a local revealed that he very much associated Britishness with the television show Downtown Abbey (a drama depicting British aristocrats in the early 1900s) and the idea of old-fashioned sophistication. I felt this theme prevail again in Michigan when, upon revealing my nationality, I was asked on more than one occasion what I thought of various members of the Royal family. Of course this is in no way a reliable picture of the influence and presence of Britishness in the USA today but from the snapshots I experienced I could feel a sense of admiration for Britain’s long history, the traditions that have come with that long history and remain today, and the sense of sophistication that seems to be associated with these traditions. The stiff upper lip motto Keep Calm and Carry On could be seen as encompassing aspects of both tradition and sophistication with the phrase’s connotations of robustness and quiet pride.

My experience in the USA has reminded me of a piece by Riz Ahmed, which was published in the Guardian in September 2016: Typecast as a Terrorist. In discussing his experiences as a British Muslim actor working in the USA, Ahmed writes, ‘The reality of Britain is vibrant multiculturalism, but the myth we export is an all-white world of lords and ladies.’ I had certainly felt this in my travel observations and now the big question is why is this myth exported? Why does British culture manifest abroad in ways such as the ones I experienced on my travels? What are the implications for this?