Paul Grainge
Associate Professor of Film Studies, Faculty of Arts
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Expertise Summary
My research concentrates on contemporary film, television and media culture. I have written extensively on branding in the film and television industry, and have also published books and articles on the subject of nostalgia and media memory. Currently, I am concerned with the promotional screen industries. My recent publications include (see publication tab for full list):
Books:
- Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube (editor) (BFI, 2011)
- Brand Hollywood: Selling Entertainment in a Global Media Age (Routledge, 2008)
- Film Histories: An Introduction and Reader (co-author) (Edinburgh University Press, 2007)
- Memory and Popular Film (ed) (Manchester University Press, 2003)
- Monochrome Memories: Nostalgia and Style in Retro America (Praeger 2002)
PhD supervision: I have supervised 8 PhD students to completion (three with AHRC awards) on subjects including video nasties (Kate Egan), Sharon Stone (Rebecca Feasey), cinematic digital effects (Michael Duffy) Hollywood masculinity (Donne Peberdy), memories of cinemagoing (Sarah Stubbings), science-fiction magazines (Nathan Hunt)British documentary (Jack Newsinger), transnational media flow (Iain Robert Smith) and temporality and narrative in US television (JP Kelly). I am currently co-supervising 4 doctoral candidates working on topics including US television in Europe (Alessandro Catania), media memories of World War Two (Debra Ramsay) and American national funerals (Fran Fuentes). I would be happy to supervise PhD students keen to work on the cultural/screen industries, digital culture, Hollywood entertainment, marketing and branding, nostalgia and memory, or on general topics relating to contemporary film and television that take a cultural or industrial approach.
Professional Service: I have been a member of the AHRC Peer Review College since 2007 and serve on the editorial boards of Screen, Memory Studies and Scope.
Teaching Summary
In recent years, I have taught the modules Understanding the Cultural Industries, Film History, The New Hollywood, and Researching Culture, Film and Media. I have been particularly concerned on… read more
Research Summary
I have recently been exploring the 'ephemeral' texts that exist beyond and between films and television programmes, focusing on the role of promotional media such as logos, promos, idents and… read more
Recent Publications
PAUL GRAINGE, 2012. A Song and Dance:: Branded Entertainment and Mobile Promotion International Journal of Cultural Studies. 15(2), 165-180 PAUL GRAINGE, ed., 2011. Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI.
PAUL GRAINGE, 2011. Introduction: Ephemeral Media. In: PAUL GRAINGE, ed., Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI. 1-19
PAUL GRAINGE, 2011. TV Promotion and Broadcast Design: An Interview with Charlie Mawer. In: PAUL GRAINGE, ed., Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI. 87-101
In recent years, I have taught the modules Understanding the Cultural Industries, Film History, The New Hollywood, and Researching Culture, Film and Media. I have been particularly concerned on Understanding the Cultural Industries to encourage students to reflect on the complex workings of the film and television industry: from the role of advertising and the rise of market research to issues surrounding copyright, media convergence and creative labour. This has culminated in students devising and pitching their own 'transmedia franchise,' a group project designed to provide hands-on experience of the dynamics and challenges of work in the media industries. This model of theoretical and applied learning, tapping the creativity of students, has been extremely rewarding and has produced some highly innovative film and TV ideas.
Current Research
I have recently been exploring the 'ephemeral' texts that exist beyond and between films and television programmes, focusing on the role of promotional media such as logos, promos, idents and trailers. I was principal investigator of the AHRC 'Beyond Text' workshop on 'ephemeral media' held at the University of Nottingham in 2009, and am also the principal investigator of the AHRC Follow-On Project 'TV and Digital Promotion: Agile Strategies for a New Media Ecology' (see future research).
From the ephemeral media workshop, see the edited collection, Ephemeral Media: transitory screen culture from television to YouTube (London: British Film Institute, 2011). Videos and sound clips of the plenary lectures (including talks by John Caldwell, Barbara Klinger, William Uricchio, Jon Dovey, Hugh Hancock, Rik Lander and Charlie Mawer) can be found at:
http://projects.beyondtext.ac.uk/project_gallery.php?i=8&p=Ephemeral%20Media&t=v&Keywords=&Category=
Future Research
I am currently investigating the emergence of new kinds of promotional culture for the television industry in the digital media era through an AHRC project on TV and Digital Promotion (with Cathy Johnson). This engages with Britain's leading media and broadcast design company, Red Bee Media, to explore how companies specializing in brand communication and promotional design are developing strategies to 'connect viewers to content' in a multiplatform world. Observing Red Bee's Creative department for seven months in 2012, the project will also hold a symposium at the University of Nottingham on the emerging practice of 'social television' and collaborate with the British Film Institute to curate two public events on TV design, focusing on the art and value of promotional forms such as logos, promos, idents, trailers, title sequences, and branded entertainment.
In beginning to think about why we might study logos, channel idents and emerging forms of branded entertainment, see the link below for a YouTube video addressing the subject: 'Why study television idents?'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsCUcmfaZLo
PAUL GRAINGE, 2012. A Song and Dance:: Branded Entertainment and Mobile Promotion International Journal of Cultural Studies. 15(2), 165-180 PAUL GRAINGE, ed., 2011. Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI.
PAUL GRAINGE, 2011. Introduction: Ephemeral Media. In: PAUL GRAINGE, ed., Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI. 1-19
PAUL GRAINGE, 2011. TV Promotion and Broadcast Design: An Interview with Charlie Mawer. In: PAUL GRAINGE, ed., Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube London: BFI. 87-101
GRAINGE, PAUL, 2009. Lost Logos: Channel 4 and the Branding of American Event Television'. In: ROBERTA E. PEARSON, ed., Reading Lost London: I. B. Tauris. 95-115
GRAINGE, PAUL, 2008. Brand Hollywood: Selling Entertainment in a Global Media Age London: Routledge.
PAUL GRAINGE, 2008. Selling Spectacular Sound: Dolby and the Unheard History of Technical Trademarks. In: JAY BECK AND TONY GRAJEDA, ed., Lowering the Boom: Critical Studies in Film Sound University of Illinois Press. 251-268
GRAINGE, P, JANCOVICH, M. and MONTEITH, S., 2007. Film Histories: An Introduction and Reader Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
GRAINGE, P.D., ed., 2003. Memory and Popular Film Manchester: Manchester University Press.
GRAINGE, P.D., 2003. Colouring the Past: Pleasantville and the Textuality of Media Memory. In: GRAINGE, P.D., ed., Memory and Popular Film Manchester: Manchester University Press. 202-219
GRAINGE, P.D., 2003. Introduction: Memory and Popular Film. In: GRAINGE, P.D., ed., Memory and Popular Film Manchester: Manchester University Press. 1-20
GRAINGE, P.D., 2002. Monochrome memories : nostalgia and style in retro America Westport, CT: Praeger Press.
GRAINGE, P.D., 2002. Remembering the `American century': Media memory and the <i>Time</i> 100 list International Journal of Cultural Studies. VOL 5(NUMB 2), 201-219
GRAINGE, P.D., 2001. GLOBAL MEDIA AND THE AMBIGUITIES OF RESONANT AMERICANISATION AMERICAN STUDIES INTERNATIONAL. VOL 39(PART 3), 4-24
GRAINGE, P.D., 2000. Nostalgia and Style in Retro America: Moods, Modes, and Media Recycling JOURNAL OF AMERICAN AND COMPARATIVE CULTURES. VOL 23(NUMB 1), 27-34 GRAINGE, P., 2000. Advertising the Archive: Nostalgia and the (Post)National Imaginary American Studies. 41(2/3), 137-157