User:Croftscv

Dr Charlotte Crofts is a filmmaker and Associate Professor in Filmmaking at the University of The West of England, Bristol, School of Film and Journalism.

Research[edit]

My research is interdisciplinary and spans the perceived theory / practice divide. Having established a strong research profile through traditional research methods leading to publication (including a book, several chapters in books and refereed articles), I am currently developing my research through film practice alongside publication. My doctoral research was on Angela Carter's writing for radio, film and television (since publised by MUP). After completing my PhD I undertook two years of vocational training in video and film production, going on to work in the industry as an editor, and this has informed my current research trajectory.

My research interests include feminist film theory and practice; race, gender and representation; screen adapatation; editing and the impact of digital technology on film and screen-based media. I have published articles on the use of sound in Terence Malick's work, the representation of whiteness and gender in Hollywood film and have revisted Angela Carter's work from a post colonial perspective.

Recently I have reflected on my own film practice, presenting and screening my short film, Bluebell at a number of academic conferences and film festivals. I am currently working on a practice research project exploring the impact of digital technology on feature film production. In future I intend to develop my research on Angela Carter's experiences in Japan into a film practice research project, using bunraku puppetry to explore the politics of white intellectual travellers' experiences of the East.

Postgraduate Opportunities[edit]

I am interested in supervising audio-visual PhDs or practice students on the MA in Digital Film Production. If you would like to discuss a potential research project or ideas, please contact me via the LSBU phonebook.

Screen Media Practice Research[edit]

I am involved in debates around articulating screen media practice research and issues of peer review of practice. I am on the editorial board of the Journal of Media Practice (JMP) and Associate Editor of ScreenWorks, an academically peer-reviewd DVD of screen media practice research, both published by Intellect. I organised the JMP symposium entitled, 'Articulating Media Practice as Research' (June 2005) exploring the challenge of contextualising practice as research for the forthcoming Research Assessment Exercise RAE2008. I also presented at the JMP Symposium on the 'Peer Review and Dissemination of Media Practice Research' at Salford University (June 2006). I was involved in the AMPE consultation on RAE 2008 guidelines for practice research. I am chair of the Practice Section of the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA).

Celluloid, High Definition and "The Cinema"[edit]

Celluloid, High Definition and "The Cinema" (Pilot, 2006, HDV, 3 minute)

My current research, funded through the HEFCE Promising Researcher Fellowship, is a practice research project entitled Celluloid, High Definition and "the Cinema" which uses an embodied practice methodology to explore the impact of High Definition video and other digital technologies on feature film production, post production and distribution. An elegy to celluloid, shot on HDV, the project explores this moment of transition between emulsion (35mm film) and digital aquisition, post-production and exhibition formats, drawing on Lev Manovich's contention that there is no such thing as "new" media in The Language of New Media.

Work in progress has been presented at the MeCCSA with AMPE annual conference (Jan 2007) and the Department of Arts, Media and English Research Seminar, London South Bank Unviersity (Jan 2007). A three-minute pilot is available.

Bluebell[edit]

Bluebell (2003, 16mm, 6 minutes)

Synopsis: "Mummy, why am I called Bluebell?": a small child's innocent question triggers a chain of flashbacks which reveal the disturbing circumstances of her conception in the bluebell woods.

Screenings and Presentations: Bluebell has been disseminated at numerous international academic conferences and film festivals, including the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Film (2004), Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (2004), Rushes Soho Shorts (2004), Imaginaria Film Festival, Conversarno, Italy (2005), Third International Language, Communication, Culture Conference, Evora University, Portugal (2005) and the Second International, Interdisciplinary Emotional Geographies Conference, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada (2006), Journal of Media Practice Symposium on 'Peer Review and Dissemination of Media Practice' at Salford University (2006), The Centre for Media Research, Ulster (2006), British Society of Cinematographers New Cinematographers Showcase, Pinewood (2006) and Narrative, Non-Narrative and Anti-Narrative Conference, UWE in association with Encounters short film festival (2006).

Availability: Acquired by the University of Technology Sydney Library (http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/%7C UTS Library) and the British Film Institute Archive (BFI). Please contact me via the LSBU Phonebook if you wish to acquire a review copy.

Publications[edit]

Chapter in book (2006), '"The Other of the Other": Angela Carter's "New-Fangled Orientalism"', in Becky Munford (ed.), Re-Visiting Angela Carter: Text, Contexts, Intertexts, Palgrave Macmillan.

Book (2003), Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter’s Writing for Radio, Film and Television, Manchester University Press (95,000 words).

Refereed Article (2001), ‘From the “Hegemony of the Eye” to the “Hierarchy of Perception”: The Reconfiguration of Sound and Image in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven’, Journal of Media Practice, 2:1, 19-29 (5,000 words).

Chapter in Book (1999) (with Rachel Connor), ‘Assuming White Identities: Racial and Gendered Looking across the Literature / Media Divide’ in White?Women: Critical Perspectives on Race and Gender, York: Raw Nerve Books, 113-129 (3,000 words).

Entries (1999) on Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber (1979) and Nights at the Circus (1984) and Edna O'Brien Girls With Green Eyes (1964) in Lorna Sage (ed.), The Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 69, 469.

Chapter in Book (1998), ‘Curiously Downbeat Hybrid or Radical Retelling?: Neil Jordan’s and Angela Carter’s The Company of Wolves’ in Cartmell, Hunter, Kaye and Whelehan (eds), Sisterhoods Across the Literature / Media Divide, London and Sterling, Virginia: Pluto Press, 48-63 (5,000 words).

Researcher, Angela Carter (1997), Shaking A Leg: Collected Journalism and Writings, London: Chatto and Windus.

Review (1996/7) of Cartmell, Hunter, Kaye and Whelehan (eds) (1996), Pulping Fictions: Consuming Culture Across the Literature/Media Divide, London and Chicago: Pluto Press in ManuScript, 1:3, Winter.

Review (1996), of Angela Carter (1996), The Curious Room: Collected Dramatic Works, London: Chatto and Windus in Times Literary Supplement, 8 November, 34.

Refereed Article (1995), '"The Peanut Crunching Crowd" in the work of Sylvia Plath: Holocaust as Spectacle?' in ManuScript 1:1, Autumn [1]

Founding and Managing Editor of ManuScript, biannual graduate journal in english, University of Manchester (1995-1997).

Other Films[edit]

Wings (2003, miniDV, 90 Seconds)

Even angels get the blues... Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire meets Benny Hill, when an handsome angel feels inadequate on encountering his well-endowed rival. Screened at Brief Encounters International Short Film Festival (2003) and was runner-up in the DepicT! 90-Second Film Competition (judged by Peter Jackson) and has also been screened at the Women in Media Studies Network Screening at MeCCSA/AMPE Joint Annual Conference, Lincoln (2005). Watch it now on YouTube.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (2003, Super 8, 3 mintues) with Yvonne Davies

Kermit gets flustered whilst preparing dinner for his friends and everything goes pear-shaped. This silent comedy was screened at Joyof8, Bristol. The Joyof8 challenge requires you to hand over the exposed roll of film, whilst you prepare the soundtrack without every having seen the images, which will be projected together for the first time on the night of the premier. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? was screened with a live Foley performance.

Wurlitzer (2004, miniDV, 15 minutes)

The Trocadero Wurlitzer is the largest Wurlitzer ever shipped to the UK. Originally housed in the 3,400 seater Trocadero Cinema, Elephant and Castle, London, the organ was decommissioned in the 1960s and rescued by the Cinema Organ Society. This documentary features live performances by Robert Wolfe and Richard Hills and a behind the scenes look at the pipe chambers.

Once Upon a Time (2004, Super 8, 3 mintues)

Gregory is a young skateboarder who doesn't like heaven because the angels don't want to play with him. To pass the time in eternity, he takes up photography and makes a name for himself in homoerotic porn, proving that sado-masochistic iconography is a much safer and more rewarding pastime than skateboarding. Filmed on location at Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol and Aulon Cemetery, France. Screened at Joyof8, Bristol