Geoff King

Geoff King has published books on Hollywood and American independent cinema, film comedy and cultural constructions of reality. His main research interests are focused on the interrelations between industrial, formal and socio-cultural dimensions of recent and contemporary American cinema from the Hollywood blockbuster to the independent sector. The main focus of his current work is the indie sector, starting with American Independent Cinema (2005), a pioneering work in the study of independent film, followed by Indiewood, USA (2009), the first academic analysis of the ‘Indiewood’ zone in which Hollywood and the independent sector overlap. He has also written books on the indie features Donnie Darko (2007) and Lost in Translation (2010). He is currently working on a book-length study of recent lower-budget indie cinema, Indie 2.0: American Independent Cinema Since 2000, due for publication in 2012, including analysis of the role of the internet as a new channel of distribution.

His earlier work focused more closely on Hollywood, both generally and particularly in relation to the contemporary blockbuster format, and film comedy. His book Spectacular Narratives: Hollywood in the Age of the Blockbuster (2000) remains a key intervention in debates about the relationship between narrative and spectacle in the contemporary blockbuster format. He has also published collaborative books with Tanya Krzywinska on science fiction cinema and videogames (for details of these and other publications, see below). In another life, he worked as a journalist, combining this part-time with undergraduate and postgraduate study before becoming a lecturer at Brunel in 1998.

Teaching Activity

The two main modules I lead and teach are FM2003: New Hollywood Cinema and FM3015: American Independent Cinema. These are both closely related to my own research interests. Each is built around a close analysis of three dimensions of the particular kind of film involved: its industrial context, formal qualities and socio-cultural implications. These dimensions are studied separately: the industrial/business dimension of each type of cinema; its characteristic formal qualities (how the films are structured, shot, edited, etc); and what kinds of meanings are generated as a result, how the films might contributed to broader understandings of society and what their political implications might be. But a key part of these modules is also to analyse the interrelations between these different dimensions: for example, how particular industrial conditions might shape formal qualities or socio-cultural dimensions. This approach is closely structured into the assessments used in these modules, all of which are coursework based.

Similar dimensions are also considered in the other module I lead, FM3011: Comedy, which is team-taught by myself, Leon Hunt and Xavier Mendik. This module examines a range of approaches to and ways of defining comedy.

Books

Indie 2.0: Continuity and Change in Contemporary American Indie Film, forthcoming, I.B.Tauris & Co, 2012

Lost in Translation, American Indies series, Edinburgh University Press, 2010

Indiewood, USA: Where Hollywood Meets Independent Cinema, London: I.B. Tauris, 2009

Donnie Darko, ‘Cultographies’ series, London: Wallflower Press, 2007

American Independent Cinema, London: I.B. Tauris & Co/Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005, pp 294. Also translated into Italian, Einaudi, 2006.

New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction, London: I.B. Tauris & Co./New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, pp 296, reprinted 2005. Also translated into Italian, Einaudi, 2004.

Film Comedy, London: Wallflower Press,  2002

Spectacular Narratives: Hollywood in the Age of the Blockbuster, London: I.B. Tauris & Co./New York: St Martin’s Press,  2000

Mapping Reality: An Exploration of Cultural Cartographies, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press/New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996

Co-authored:

Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders: Videogame Forms and Contexts, co-authored with Tanya Krzywinska, London: I.B. Tauris, 2005

Science Fiction Cinema: From Outerspace to Cyberspace, co-authored with Tanya Krzywinska, London: Wallflower Press,  2000

Editor of collection:

The Spectacle of the Real: From Hollywood to Reality TV and Beyond, editor, contributor of introduction and chapter, Bristol: Intellect Press, 2005

ScreenPlay: Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces, co-editor with Tanya Krzywinska, co-author of introduction, author of chapter, London: Wallflower Press, 2002

Recent Journal articles

‘‘Striking a balance between culture and fun: ‘quality’ meets hitman genre in In Bruges‘, New Review of Film and Television Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, April 2011

‘Following in the Footsteps: Gus Van Sant’s Gerry and Elephant in the American independent field of cultural production’, New Review of Film and Television Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, August 2006

‘Weighing Up the Qualities of Independence: 21 Grams in Focus’, Film Studies: An international Review, 5, November 2004

 

 

 

 

Publications

Journal Papers

(2011) King, G., Striking a balance between culture and fun: 'Quality' meets hitman genre in 'In Bruges', New Review of Film and Television Studies 9 (2) : 132-

(2006) King, G., Following in the footsteps: Gus Van Sant's Gerry and Elephant in the American independent field of cultural production, New Review of Film and Television Studies 4 (2) : 75- 92 Download publication

(2004) King, G., Weighing up the qualities of independence: 21 grams in focus, Film Studies: An international Review (5) : 80- 91 Download publication

(1999) King, G., Spectacular narratives: Twister, independence day, and frontier mythology, Journal of American Culture 22 (1) : 25- 40 Download publication

Book Chapters

(2011) King, G., Consciousness, temporality and the crime-revenge genre in 'The Limey'. In: Barton Palmer, R. and Sanders, SM. eds. The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh. USA : University Press of Kentucky 91- 105

(2005) King, GR., Just like a Movie?": 9-11 and Hollywood Spectacle. In: The Spectacle of the Real: From Hollywood to Reality TV and Beyond. Bristo : Intellect Press

Books

(2012) King, G., Indie 2.O: Continuity and Change in Contemporary American Independent Film. I.B. Tauris

(2010) King, G., Lost in translation. Edinburgh University Press

(2009) King, G., Indiewood, USA: Where Hollywood meets independent cinema. I B Tauris & Co Ltd

(2007) King, G., Donnie Darko. Columbia University Press

(2005) King, G. and Krzywinska, T., Tomb raiders and space invaders: Videogame forms and contexts. I B Tauris

(2005) King, G., American independent cinema. I B Tauris

(2005) King, G., The spectacle of the real: From Hollywood to reality TV and beyond. Intellect Press

(2002) King, G. and Krzywinska, T., ScreenPlay: Cinema/videogames/interfaces. Wallflower Press

(2002) King, G., Film comedy. Columbia University Press

(2002) King, G., New Hollywood cinema: an introducion. I B Tauris

(2001) King, G. and Krzywinska, T., Science fiction cinema: From outer space to cyberspace. Columbia University Press

(2000) King, G., Spectacular narratives: Hollywood in the age of the blockbuster. I B Tauris & Co

(1996) King, G., Mapping reality: an exploration of cultural cartographies. Palgrave Macmillan