Dr Keith M Johnston
| Job Title | Contact | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Lecturer in Film & Television |
Keith dot Johnston at uea dot ac dot uk
Tel: +44 (0)1603 59 2274 |
Registry And Council House 3.24 |
Biography
Keith M. Johnston came to UEA in September 2008. He studied at the University of Stirling, University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Kent, where he was awarded his PhD. He also taught at the University of Kent between 2004 and 2008, and was employed as a writer/producer in the British media industry for eight years (1996-2004), working mainly on trailer advertising for film, television and radio.
His current teaching and research focuses on the interplay of new technology and aesthetics, film marketing, new media, and genre. Teaching and research interests combine in a focus on the introduction of new technology in Britain in the 1950s, and how Technicolor, CinemaScope and 3-D were produced and sold to audiences. He has taught on different aspects of British cinema and television history since 2005, and is now developing new postgraduate work around the idea of 'spectacle' in British cinema, continuing the recent publication of his work on Ealing Studios and colour.
His interest in film marketing (and its role within culture and national media industries) has been central to undergraduate teaching on modules such as Reception & Audience Studies and Selling Spectacle. These have grown out of his work on the film trailer which has been published in Film International, Journal of Popular Film and Television, Convergence and in his book 'Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology' (Jefferson, NC: McFarland 2009).
He has also recently finished a study of the cross-media creation and historical mutation of the science fiction genre, and continues to investigate the past and current fascination with 3-D technology, both in cinemas and, nowadays, on television and the Internet.
Key Research Interests
3-D cinema in the 1950s, specifically around the British experience of 3-D in film production and - exhibition
British cinema and technology, particularly around Ealing Studios, and the introduction of colour and widescreen in the 1950s British film industry
Film marketing materials and 'selling spectacle' in posters, pressbooks and film trailers
Science fiction genre - creation and generic mutation in the first 100 years of cinema
The impact of the 'digital turn' on the film, television and media industries, from DVDs and the Internet to Twitter and the iPhone
Selected conference papers:
'Selling Spectacle: The Day After Tomorrow,' Invited speaker at 'Culture and the Environment', UEA, March 2010
'Three Times as Thrilling!': Developing a Critical Language for Talking About the 3-D Spectacle' at 'The Spectacle of Screen Media' conference, University of Warwick, February 2010.
'"The coolest way to watch movie trailers in the world" (Steve Jobs) :Digital Technologies in Film Promotion’ 'What is Film' conference, University of Oregon, November 2009
'Ealing's Colour Aesthetic', 'Colour and the Moving Image' conference, University of Bristol, July 2009
'Underground, Overground: Remembering The Wombles', invited speaker at the 1970s British Culture conference, University of Portsmouth, July 2008.
‘Becoming Attractions: History, Theory and the Film Trailer.’ Invited speaker at the University of East Anglia, January 2008.
‘The most anticipated two minutes of film ever’: Selling Star Wars in the digital age.’ Marketing the Movies conference, University of Warwick, February 2007.
‘The “rival” screen: The search for aesthetics in early British television trailers.’ Screen conference, July 2006.
‘“Something BIG is coming”: The big screen and the big sell in 1950s widescreen film trailers’, Screen conference, July 2005
Teaching Interests
Undergraduate Teaching
Film, Television and New Media
Selling Spectacle
Reception & Audience Studies in Film & Television Analysing Television British Cinema and the Past Film History: Cinema to 1930 Nineteenth Century Culture and the Emergence of Cinema
MA Teaching
Spectacle in British Cinema
Effects, Audiences and the Media
Research and Methodology Skills
Article
Johnston, Keith M (2012) A technician's dream? The Critical Reception of 3-D in Britain. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 32 (2). pp. 245-65. ISSN 0143-9685
Johnston, Keith M (2012) Pop-up footballers, pop concerts and popular films: The past, present and future of 3D TV. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 18 (4).
Johnston, Keith M (2011) "Now is the time (to put on your glasses)": 3-D Film Exhibition in Britain, 1951-55. Film History, 23 (1). pp. 93-103.
Johnston, Keith M (2011) 'An intelligent and effective use of the rival screen’: Re-discovering early British television trailers. Media History, 17 (4). pp. 377-388. ISSN 1368-8804
Johnston, Keith M (2010) Ealing's Colour Aesthetic: Saraband for Dead Lovers. Journal of British Cinema and TV, 7 (1). pp. 21-33.
Johnston, Keith M (2008) "Three Times as Thrilling!": The Lost History of 3-D Trailer Production, 1953-54. Journal of Popular Film and TV, 36(3). pp. 50-60.
Johnston, Keith M (2008) 'The Coolest Way to Watch Movie Trailers in the World': Trailers in the Digital Age. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 14 (2). pp. 145-60. ISSN 1354-8565
Johnston, Keith M (2007) Selling Genre in the 1930's: The Universal Horror Trailer. Film International.
Johnston, Keith M (1995) From the Wedding to the Grave. Focus, 15. pp. 18-29.
Book Section
Johnston, Keith M (2012) "A riot of all the colours in the rainbow": Ealing Studios in Colour. In: Ealing Revisited. British Film Institute/Palgrave, London, pp. 195-205. ISBN 9781844575107
Williams, Melanie, Duguid, Mark, Freeman, Lee and Johnston, Keith M (2012) Revisiting Ealing: Introduction. In: Ealing Revisited. British Film Institute/Palgrave, London. ISBN 978-1844575107
Johnston, Keith (2010) Underground, Overground: Remembering The Wombles. In: Culture and Society in 1970s Britain: The Lost Decade. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge, pp. 154-163. ISBN 9781443817349
Book
Johnston, Keith M (2013) An unlimited field for experiment: Britain's Steroscopic Landscapes. British Film Institute/Palgrave, London. (In Press)
Duguid, Mark, Freeman, Lee, Johnston, Keith M and Williams, Melanie, eds. (2012) Ealing Revisited. British Film Institute/Palgrave, London. ISBN 9781844575107
Johnston, Keith (2011) Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction. Berg. ISBN 978-1847884763
Johnston, Keith (2009) Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology. McFarland & Co Inc, p. 228. ISBN 9780786444328
