The impact of filmmaking research

ABSTRACT

Filmmaking research is developing within the academy and the Filmmaking Research Network (FRN) was set up to provide insight into the conditions and dimensions of filmmaking as research. The assessment of impact is of great interest to the FRN as film is a populist medium and it can be effectively used to disseminate research. For example, ‘Act of Killing’ [Oppenheimer, J. (Dir) 2013. ‘Act of Killing’, Final Cut for Real, UK, Denmark, Norway], which was nominated for an Oscar began its life as an AHRC-funded project. By examining filmmaking practice research success stories presented in 20% of the REF2014 case studies, this paper proposes four pathways to impact using ‘film’, ‘video’ and ‘filmmaking’. These terms were being used to describe a variety of research activities like outputs and new knowledge which warrants deeper attention as impact has become essential criteria for research assessment. Filmmaking research impact disseminates new knowledge and understandings about life and society and is evidenced through the medium, the technology and as a cultural and creative product that affects change firstly in audiences and secondly through organizations and government policies. The findings of this analysis identify ways to improve filmmaking research impact narratives for REF2021.

KEYWORDS:

• Filmmaking
• impact
• film
• practice as research
• video
• audiences

Disclosure statement

The FRN produced a case study ‘Film research in REF impact’ which was the basis for this research. Thanks to Insight for Impact for their contribution. Download the case study from: Filmmakingresearch.net.

Notes on contributors

Dr Susan Kerrigan is an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, specialises in screen production creative practice research methodologies. She is a coinvestigator on the Filmmaking Research Network grant, funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, and has held an Australian Research Council Grant investigating the creative industries. Susan’s research is closely aligned with her past employment at ABC Television in Sydney (1987–2003), where she worked across a variety of productions using multi-camera and single-camera approaches. Susan has professionally produced and directed Australian television programs, including Play School. Other highlights include ‘continuity’ on Australian television drama productions including Wildside, GP and Big Sky.

Dr Joanna Callaghan is an artist filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in Filmmaking at the University of Sussex. Her research utilises filmmaking as a means of exploring philosophical issues. Her film Love in the Post: From Plato to Derrida (2014, 80′) was funded by an AHRC research grant, won Best Practice Research project from the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies and is distributed by Kanopy. Since 2012 she has been Chair of the Practice network for the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA). In that role, she has championed the teaching and research of practice within the subject area, organising symposia and participating in consultations with HEFCE, UK Research Councils, the British Film Institute and Creative England. She is a member of the steering committee of the Practice Research Advisory Group and is Principal Investigator on an AHRC network project on filmmaking research.

ORCID

Susan Kerrigan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9937-8334

Notes

1 The funds came from Nordic film funds (£327,970), foundations and government departments (£357,265) and from European TV companies (£132,620) (University of Westminster, REF2014a, 2).

2 The film was commissioned and produced by Artangel and financed by Artangel and the UK Film Council, it’s budget was £567,000 and it was theatrically released, broadcast on UK television and distributed on DVD.

3 The film was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and in eight other countries and released world-wide through educational digital media and DVD markets.

4 The commercial sources included Creative Scotland, Danish Film Institute, Wellcome Trust, Channel 4, YLE Finland, DR Denmark, MND Association, UK Film Council and University of Edinburgh.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/P005713/1].