Books by Charlotte Crofts
Angela Carter is best known for her novels, short fiction and journalism, but she also produced a... more Angela Carter is best known for her novels, short fiction and journalism, but she also produced a substantial body of writing for media other than the printed page, including five radio plays, two film adaptations, an original television documentary and a number of unrealized scripts for stage and screen. Despite increasing academic interest in Carter's work, these dramatic writings have largely been ignored. In this book, Charlotte Crofts redresses this lack of critical attention by examining Carter's dramatic writings together for the first time (including two unpublished works), giving them a more central position in the Carter canon
You can read an excerpt of the book here:http://books.google.com/books?id=RsMnIC72qC0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=anagrams&ie=ISO-8859-1&cd=9&source=gbs_gdata#v=onepage&q&f=false
Cited in Jack Zipes (2010), The Enchanted Screen, The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films; Susanne Gruss (2009), The pleasure of the feminist text, reading Michèle Roberts and Angela Carter and Laura Di Michele (2005) Shakespeare, una "Tempesta" dopo l'altra
Papers by Charlotte Crofts
Routledge eBooks, Dec 12, 2022
Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography, 2012
This seminar will focus on the documentation and dissemination of creative arts research and know... more This seminar will focus on the documentation and dissemination of creative arts research and knowledge exchange activities. Initial scoping work by CDD Research Associate, Anna Farthing, has revealed that: a) Some of the CDD schools’ existing activities could be regarded as ‘research’ according the HEFCE definition ‘a process of investigation, leading to new insights, effectively shared’. The element that prevents the activity being recognised as research is the “effective sharing” rather than the two earlier stages of the process. b) Much of the CDD schools’ existing activity could be regarded as providing a conduit for two-way knowledge exchange between Higher Education and the professional creative and cultural sectors. Schools work regularly with professional tutors, and writers, directors and choreographers frequently make new work on students. c) Some of this research and knowledge exchange activity delivers a beneficial economic and/or social impact. However, at present this ...
BFI Cary Grant Season Aug/Sept 2019 Season Intro Cary Grant: From Knockabout to Knockout 60-word ... more BFI Cary Grant Season Aug/Sept 2019 Season Intro Cary Grant: From Knockabout to Knockout 60-word blurb Cary Grant’s screen persona was clearly a construction, so much so that he is famously quoted as saying “Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant”. How did Bristol-born Archie Leach, son of a tailor’s presser, reinvent himself as a global film star and style icon, whose image still circulates as the epitome of elegance today? Longer version (150 words) Cary Grant’s screen persona was clearly a construction, so much so that he is famously quoted as saying “Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant”. It’s a kind of urbane masculinity that not only doesn’t exist any more, but arguably never existed at all, except in the movies. So, how did Bristol-born Archie Leach, son of a tailor’s presser who ran away with Bob Pender’s troupe of “Knockabout Boys” and cut his teeth in vaudeville and music hall, reinvent himself as a global film star and sty...
This session examines the conversion to digital projection and distribution, and charts how many ... more This session examines the conversion to digital projection and distribution, and charts how many cinemas worldwide are converting to digital. Now that editing is almost entirely accomplished via digital means, it is unusual that digital is taking longer to permeate the exhibition and distribution sectors of the film industry. Director of Photography Geoff Boyle, and Dr Charlotte Crofts discussed the possible reasons for this, the benefits of digital, and the rate in which digital conversion is happening in cinemas across the world and the implications of this for 35mm film. Hosted by Terry Flaxton.
Spatialising the archive: Dramatisation, oral history and locative heritage in the Curzon Memorie... more Spatialising the archive: Dramatisation, oral history and locative heritage in the Curzon Memories App at IMTAL International Museum and Theatre Alliance Conference, Bristol, October (invited).
It has become almost axiomatic to state that the transition to digital technologies represents a ... more It has become almost axiomatic to state that the transition to digital technologies represents a momentous period of change for the cinema. As Angelo D’Alessio of the European Digital Cinema Form suggests, “the Cinema industry is confronting unparalleled levels of complexity, dynamic change and pressure to innovate.” But it is the final move to digital distribution that signals a complete paradigm shift for the industry: “the recent introduction of digital technologies into the final links in the production and distribution chain is, in fact, a ‘tipping point’ that fundamentally changes the industry’s economics and practices” (“Digital Dilemma” 8). The rollout of digital distribution is contingent upon the wider infrastructure, the adoption of digital projection by the cinema operators, and the provision of digital content, so there is some unavoidable cross-over into the areas of cinema exhibition and production in the following discussion of what is a complex and rapidly shifting ...
The presentation will focus on the importance of designing for the location whilst acknowledging ... more The presentation will focus on the importance of designing for the location whilst acknowledging that not all users will choose / be able to physically be there. How can we design both for both here and there? What is the added value of being there? Charlotte Crofts is a creative producer and senior lecturer in Film Studies and Video Production in the faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education, UWE. Charlotte’s recent practice research project, funded by DCRC and a UWE Spur Early Career grant, resulted in the Curzon Memories App which was developed with Jo Reid from Calvium using the AppFurnace app development software. Visitors explore the cinema with a mobile handset that uses their GPS position and QR codes to trigger interactive site-specific media content to enhance knowledge and understanding of the exhibits. Charlotte’s next project is part of the AHRC REACT Hub ‘Heritage Sandbox’ scheme to develop ‘City Strata‘ a new mobile curation / authoring platform which enables...
This paper presents a practice-based research project based at the Curzon Community Cinema, Cleve... more This paper presents a practice-based research project based at the Curzon Community Cinema, Clevedon, home of the Curzon Collection, an archive of cinema projectors donated by the Projected Picture Trust. The original cinema was built in 1912 and is one of the oldest, continuously operating, purpose-built cinemas in the world. They have recently won a Heritage Lottery Fund to renovate the building and reinterpret the collection and I am working closely with them to develop a "Heritage Application" for the iPhone, which pilots a number of “locative” or “context-aware” technologies (GPS, WiFi, RFID, QR Codes, motion sensors) that will enhance their new exhibit, enabling visitors to gain further insight into the history of the building, projection equipment and cinema itself. The paper explores how the Curzon Heritage App seeks to use locative media to add depth to the everyday architecture of the cinema beyond that which is immediately apparent. One of the key aims of the pr...
i-docs2012 Abstract Charlotte Crofts Title: ‘Geo-spatial and Geo-temporal documentary: The Curzon... more i-docs2012 Abstract Charlotte Crofts Title: ‘Geo-spatial and Geo-temporal documentary: The Curzon Memories App, City Strata and The Cinemap Layer’ The affordances of mobile technologies enable the i-doc experience to occur in dialogue between the material world and its mediation. This presentation will primarily explore the Curzon Memories App, a smartphone heritage app designed to enhance vistors’ understanding of the history of the Curzon Community Cinema in Clevedon, supplementing their ‘Living History’ exhibition and The Curzon Collection of cinema technology. The presentation will discuss some design principles for locative media and experience design, examine the ways in which the user is situated both by and through mobile technologies and explore the triumvirate relationship between physical location, media “content” and user interface. The presentation will then outline the City Strata platform and the Cinemap Layer – both being prototyped through the REACT Hub ‘Heritage Sa...
The project piloted locative technologies to develop a smartphone application that provides a dig... more The project piloted locative technologies to develop a smartphone application that provides a digital tour of the interior and exterior of the Curzon Community Cinema in Clevedon using GPS and QR Codes respectively to trigger dramatisations and oral memories of the cinema in the exact places where they happened, from snogging in the back row to the bomb that exploded in the entrance in 1941. The app was published in March 2012 in time for the Curzon’s centenary celebrations and launched with a cream tea in the Curzon’s Oak Room Cafe. Available on iTunes and Google Play.
**this poster won the poster prize at MeCCS@ 2012** Original MeCCSA Abstract for a Poster and Dem... more **this poster won the poster prize at MeCCS@ 2012** Original MeCCSA Abstract for a Poster and Demo: I would like to present a poster and a demo of my Curzon Memories App, a practice-research project that uses mobile technologies and locative media to explore memories and the history of the Curzon Community Cinema in Clevedon. The original cinema, The Picture House, was built in 1912, expanding to the current building in 1921/2, so the launch of the App at MeCCSA 2012 will coincide with the centenary year. The Curzon Memories App takes you on a tour of both the outside and the interior of the cinema, using GPS, QR Codes and Arduino circuitry to trigger content in relation to specific areas of the building. The poster will briefly outline the project, using images and graphics from the App to illustrate the user interface, introduce key mobile technologies and reflect on the main learning outcomes of this practice research project in terms of the affordances and limitations of locative media in a screen heritage context. The demo will involve printing QR codes on the poster that people can scan with their smart phone to download the application for iPhone or Android platforms. There will also be a series of QR Codes to scan from within the App, which would ordinarily be situated within the cinema (e.g. Back Row, Kiosk, Aisle), so people can get a taste of some of the content and the user interface. Technical Requirements : The hope is to provide an iPad with which people can try the App if they don’t have a smart phone – it would therefore be useful to have a secure room in which to do the demo and some sort of table or surface on which to situate the iPad adjacent to the poster. I would also like to bring the Projection Hero Installation which could sit on the same table – it’s a miniature cinema, about as big as a small rabbit hutch. A room with a strong 3G signal and/or access to WiFi would also be good. For more information please see my research blog: http://curzonproject.wordpress.com
Contemporary Women's Writing
This article outlines the development of a feature-length screenplay adaptation of Angela Carter’... more This article outlines the development of a feature-length screenplay adaptation of Angela Carter’s short story “Flesh and the Mirror,” situating it within a critical discussion of her metaleptic narrative strategies and the challenges of translating them to the screen. The screenplay incorporates Carter’s Japanese short stories and journalism, which are said to be her most autobiographical writings. The article explores Carter’s attitude to life writing and highlights the dangers of a straightforward biographical adaptation, contextualizing her Japanese writings within her wider engagement with Japanese literature and the I-novel. It demonstrates how the screenplay aims to emulate Carter’s playful experimentation with narrative form, overlapping metaphors of magic mirrors, puppetry, theater, and film sets, attempting a delicate balancing act of transposing Carter’s “literary gymnastics” to the silver screen.
This presentation was jointly presented with Cathy Poole, Education Office at the Curzon Cinema C... more This presentation was jointly presented with Cathy Poole, Education Office at the Curzon Cinema Clevedon, exploring how the affordances of mobile media can be used to enhance learning and teaching about cinema history, cinema-going and cinema technologies.
The Lost Cinemas of Castle Park is a smartphone app which enables you to discover the hidden hist... more The Lost Cinemas of Castle Park is a smartphone app which enables you to discover the hidden history of Bristol's cinema-going past, by using your GPS position to trigger context-specific stories whilst you explore what used to be the heart of Bristol's commercial district before the Blitz. You'll hear about some of the city's lost cinemas - including The Tivoli, where the first "moving pictures" were shown in 1896, The Bio-Pictureland, a converted Baptist Chapel, The Queens Hall, the first purpose-built cinema, The Dolphin with its screen bordered in blue velvet, The Gem a "fleapit" which later became an illegal boxing den, the huge "supercinema", The Regent, the seedy Europa - and one extant art-deco masterpiece, The Odeon, still operating since 1938. Celebrating cinema-going through the ages, each cinema is brought to life with dramatisations, stories and memories, archive images and sound effects creating a nostalgic cinematic experi...
We are delighted to publish this volume of Screenworks, a special issue dedicated to exploring va... more We are delighted to publish this volume of Screenworks, a special issue dedicated to exploring various forms of radical filmmaking. This issue was produced in association with the Radical Film Network, an international network of organisations involved in politically-committed and aesthetically innovative film culture, with support of the Digital Cultures Research Centre at UWE Bristol. Indeed, each of the seven works featured in this issue are underpinned by their political commitment – be it to issues of migration and national identity, media power, sex and gender, inclusivity, war and peace – and there is scarce reference to those debates about realism and reflexivity that, until relatively recently, loomed so large in discussions of film and politics. Nevertheless, each work also explicitly engages with questions of film form, representational power, and the politics of aesthetics. Indeed, the range of political issues addressed in this issue is more than matched by the diversit...
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Books by Charlotte Crofts
You can read an excerpt of the book here:http://books.google.com/books?id=RsMnIC72qC0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=anagrams&ie=ISO-8859-1&cd=9&source=gbs_gdata#v=onepage&q&f=false
Cited in Jack Zipes (2010), The Enchanted Screen, The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films; Susanne Gruss (2009), The pleasure of the feminist text, reading Michèle Roberts and Angela Carter and Laura Di Michele (2005) Shakespeare, una "Tempesta" dopo l'altra
Papers by Charlotte Crofts
You can read an excerpt of the book here:http://books.google.com/books?id=RsMnIC72qC0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=anagrams&ie=ISO-8859-1&cd=9&source=gbs_gdata#v=onepage&q&f=false
Cited in Jack Zipes (2010), The Enchanted Screen, The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films; Susanne Gruss (2009), The pleasure of the feminist text, reading Michèle Roberts and Angela Carter and Laura Di Michele (2005) Shakespeare, una "Tempesta" dopo l'altra
The presentation included a screening of a three-minute short film on the impact of digital technologies on feature film production which includes interviews with Jeff Allen at Panavision, Lionel Runckle at Technicolor, Clive Ogden at Kodak and Maurice Thornton at the Curzon Community Cinema in Clevedon, UK. The talk went on to focus on digital cinema projection, distribution and preservation (to be published as 'Cinema Distribution in the Age of Digital Projection' in Postscript - forthcoming). For full video documentation of the talk, including the screening, go to:
http://www.dshed.net/content/look-exhibition-and-display
This one-day symposium explored and attempted to demystify, the movement of film and video footage through the digital production process from camera to exhibition. The ‘look’ of a film used to be the domain of the cinematographer. As a result of the various new forms of image manipulation that have appeared in the last decade and a half, new types of collaboration have resulted – for example, between cinematographers, post-production supervisors, visual effects artists, and colourists. Given the multiplicity of ways in which the aesthetics of a film can change after shooting is complete, a key question presented itself: who controls what aspects of a film’s look?
This symposium traced how the ‘look’ of a shot changes at each stage of this process, explained some of the technologies that effect these changes, and discussed the decision-making behind these changes. It also explored the reorganisation of production roles and responsibilities that has resulted from the digitisation of film-making workflows.
The symposium drew from a range of specialisms, bridging theory and practice: invited speakers included Ben Smithard (That Damned United, Cranford, Spooks), Geoff Boyle, Director of Photography FBKS (Wallander, Mutant Chronicles), Jonathan Smiles, Digital Production Supervisor (District 9, Green Zone), Luke Rainey, Colourist (Band of Brothers, Man on Wire), Professor Duncan Petrie, Professor Sean Cubitt, Dr Richard Misek, Dr Charlotte Crofts. The day consisted of four sessions: image capture, data management, colour grading, and display.
Each of the four sessions comprised a presentation by a film industry professional, a presentation by a film academic to open up wider questions, and a dialogue between the two. The intention was to introduce the practice of each to the other and of both to the general public, facilitating an open conversation about the aesthetic issues, pressures, technologies, and production roles involved in contemporary film production.
The full programme is online at http://postdigi.wordpress.com, and you can see a short video documenting the event on vimeo at: http://vimeo.com/32813502.
The symposium was organised by Charlotte Crofts and hosted by the Digital Cultures Research Centre, University of the West of England, Bristol on behalf of the Journal of Media Practice (Intellect Books Ltd.). http://www.jmpscreenworks.com