Amateur cinema: history, theory and genre (1930-80)

Shand , Ryan John (2007) Amateur cinema: history, theory and genre (1930-80). PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis, Amateur Cinema: History, Theory, and Genre (1930-1980), draws largely on
primary material from the Scottish Screen Archive and related museum sources. The project
establishes a critical dialogue between university-based Film Studies and the archive sector, via
a series of case studies of influential groups, individuals, and movements. Prefaced by a
chapter entitled 'Theorising Amateur Film: Limitations and Possibilities' detailing the
domination of amateur cinema studies by discussion of the 'home mode', I suggest that work
to date has obscured an understanding of films made by cine-clubs within the highly organised
film culture of the British amateur cine movement. The main body of the thesis consists of four
chapters exploring the most popular generic practices of 'institutionalised' amateur
filmmakers, focusing on: art cinema, the 'film play', community filmmaking, and the amateur
heritage picture. I argue that these production strands were formed by discourses circulating
within amateur film journals, 'how to do it' manuals and amateur film festivals. Amateur
cinema was viewed throughout as a parallel cine movement existing alongside professional
practices, enjoying an ambivalent relationship to inherited professional standards. The final
chapter, 'Amateur Film Re-Located', proposed a fresh theorisation of 'local' amateur
production within a national film culture, marked by distinctly cosmopolitan connections.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Goode, Dr. Ian and Craven, Dr. Ian
• Date of Award: 2007
• Depositing User: Mrs Marie Cairney
• Unique ID: glathesis:2007-4923
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 05 Feb 2014 14:39
• Last Modified: 05 Feb 2014 14:41
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/4923