Liz Evans

Contact

workRoom B72 Trent Building
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
UK
work0115 9514241
elizabeth.evans@nottingham.ac.uk

Expertise Summary

I am primarily interested in the relationship between technology and the experience of narrative. My research focuses on film and television audiences, in particular in relation to the development of cross-platform narrative forms. I am concerned with issues such as interactivity, agency and immersion. My first book, Transmedia Television, explores the attitudes, opinions and values of audiences towards the development of the internet and mobile phone as extensions and alternatives to the television set:

I am currently involved in four research projects:

Vicarious: This project involves 'thrill engineer' Brendan Walker from Thrill Laboratory and academics from computer science. The aim is to create a new television programme format that integrates biosensing technologies to give audiences data on the physical responses of participants. It is funded by Horizon: http://www.horizon.ac.uk/Current-Projects/Vicarious.

Exploring Multi-Screen Household Ecologies: This project examines the function of communal and personal screen technologies within multi-screen households It aims to develop a toolkit to simultaneously monitor and log use of multiple screen technologies including television, laptops, tablets and smartphones. In doing so it will gather data on who engages with screen media on multiple devices, how they engage with it, when they do and the impact of household dynamics and routines on that engagement. It aims to conduct this search via longitudinal methods to allow an examination of how new services and technologies become integrated into households.

Moving Experience: This is an interdisciplinary research group that is working with filmmaker Rik Lander to create a series of pervasive media events. The aim is to collect audience data throughout the events in order to answer questions concerning the nature of engagement with pervasive drama and the relationship between narrative, media form, technology and space. It brings together researchers from film and television studies, music, performances studies, computer science, psychology and learning sciences.

Regional Screens: This project is a collaboration with the PBQ network of independent cinemas across the East Midlands. It involves running audience research projects on the social and cultural role of independent cinemas in their local communities. It considers questions of taste, exclusion and the value of cinema spaces to their audiences.

Teaching Summary

My teaching interests are primarily focused within the fields of television studies, new media studies and research methods. I have taught on a number of modules including those concerned with… read more

Research Summary

I am primarily interested in the relationship between technology and the experience of narrative. My research focuses on film and television audiences, in particular in relation to the development of… read more

Selected Publications

EVANS, ELIZABETH JANE, 2012. Ghostwatch and Interview with Stephen Volk Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies. Available at: <http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/February_2012/ftv_reviews.pdf#page=2>
EVANS, E, 2011. Transmedia Television: Audiences, New Media and Daily Life Routledge.
EVANS, ELIZABETH JANE, 2011. Superman vs Shrödinger’s Cat: Taste, Etiquette and Independent Cinema Audiences as Indirect Communities Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies. 8(2),
EVANS, ELIZABETH JANE, 2011. 'Carnaby Street, 10am': KateModern and the Ephemeral Dynamics of Online Drama. In: GRAINGE, PAUL, ed., Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube Palgrave Macmillan. 156-174

View all publications

My teaching interests are primarily focused within the fields of television studies, new media studies and research methods. I have taught on a number of modules including those concerned with textual analysis, introducing students to television studies, audience research and video production. I have also supervised dissertations on topics including the representation of soldiers on British television, 'tween' girls' engagement with makeover programmes, alternate reality films and technophobia, smartphone use, and the use of profile pictures on Facebook.

I am particularly interested in developing the use of new technologies (most notably tablet computers and smartphones) in the teaching of audio-visual material including television, film and 'interactive' forms such as video games.

Current Research

I am primarily interested in the relationship between technology and the experience of narrative. My research focuses on film and television audiences, in particular in relation to the development of cross-platform narrative forms. I am concerned with issues such as interactivity, agency and immersion. My first book, Transmedia Television, explores the attitudes, opinions and values of audiences towards the development of the internet and mobile phone as extensions and alternatives to the television set.

I am currently involved in four research projects:

Vicarious: This project involves 'thrill engineer' Brendan Walker from Thrill Laboratory and academics from computer science. The aim is to create a new television programme format that integrates biosensing technologies to give audiences data on the physcial responses of participants. It is funded by Horizon: http://www.horizon.ac.uk/Current-Projects/Vicarious.

Exploring Multi-Screen Household Ecologies: This project examines the function of communal and personal screen technologies within multi-screen households It aims to develop a toolkit to simultaneously monitor and log use of multiple screen technologies including television, laptops, tablets and smartphones. In doing so it will gather data on who engages with screen media on multiple devices, how they engage with it, when they do and the impact of household dynamics and routines on that engagement. It aims to conduct this search via longitudinal methods to allow an examination of how new services and technologies become integrated into households.

Moving Experience: This is an interdisciplinary research group that is working with filmmaker Rik Lander to create a series of pervasive media events. The aim is to collect audience data throughout the events in order to answer questions concerning the nature of engagement with pervasive drama and the relationship between narrative, media form, technology and space. It brings together researchers from film and television studies, music, performances studies, computer science, psychology and learning sciences.