The “Family Film” as Amateur Production Genre: Frank Marshall's Comic Narratives
- Submitting institution
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Ravensbourne University London
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- RS01
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
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10.5749/movingimage.15.2.0001
- Title of journal
- The Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 1
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 1532-3978
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2015
- URL
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https://muse.jhu.edu/article/602748
- Supplementary information
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-
- Request cross-referral to
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This journal article was submitted to an academic journal and it was accepted for publication following blind peer-review.
The research question was: what can the close study of an individual filmmaker reveal about the historical development of the ‘family film’ genre in amateur cinema?
My interest in the amateur films of Frank Marshall originated in a short chapter in my doctoral thesis. This chapter explored how Marshall crafted screen entertainment with the help of his family in domestic settings. However, many of his films were not available to view at the archive, as viewing prints or VHS copies had not yet been made. Therefore this thesis chapter focused on the textual analysis of a small selection of his films that were available to view.
The opportunity to rethink my PhD chapter was provided when I presented a revised version of this material at a conference held at University College Cork in 2010. This presentation focused on the close analysis of three newly available films which illustrated the stylistic progression in the filmmaker’s creative development.
Following this conference I undertook a period of further research - of around four months - using the paper archives of the Moving Image Archive in Scotland to understand the historical context of these productions. This new material from public interviews, newspapers, magazine articles and family records enabled me to link his particular contributions in this genre, to its wider significance within international amateur film festival networks.
This research has been referenced in a journal article published in The History of the Family (Routledge).
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -