Projects per year
Personal profile
Areas of Expertise
British cinema; Colour film; Film technology; Film trailers; Amateur cinema; 3D film; Film marketing; Science Fiction film and TV; Film history (mainly British and American)
Biography
Professor Keith M. Johnston is an expert in film and media history, with research and teaching specialisms in British cinema, film trailers (and other movie marketing), amateur cinema, women filmmakers, and science fiction.
Professor Johnston earned his BA in Film & Media Studies at the University of Stirling / University of California, Santa Barbara; his MA and PhD at the University of Kent; and his MA in Higher Education Practice at the UEA. He worked as a writer/producer in the British media industry for eight years, working on trailer advertising for film, television and radio. He started teaching in 2003, and moved to UEA in 2008.
His current teaching and research focuses on British Cinema, Film History, Science Fiction, Film trailers and marketing, media technologies, film and television aesthetics, and genre.
His research and teaching interest in British Cinema has been published in two books: Colour Films in Britain: The Eastmancolor Revolution (2021) and Ealing Revisited (2012); as well a series of articles in the Journal of British Cinema, Screen, and the Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television. His focus on British film technology includes the history of colour and stereoscopic 3D technologies. He teaches on the UG module 'British Film Since the 1960s' and the MA module 'British Cinema: Realism and Spectacle'.
His research and teaching in Science Fiction includes the introductory textbook Science Fiction: A Critical Introduction (2011), and the 3rd year module 'Science Fiction Film & Television'.
His research and teaching in film trailers and other marketing materials has been published in Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology (2009), and in Convergence, Media History, and the Journal of Popular Film and Television. He teaches aspects of film marketing across a number of UG and PG modules.
His research on amateur cinema, particularly British women amateur filmmakers, has been published in Invisible Innovators (2021), Women's History Review, and Screen. The research has had an impact on film archive practice, including metadata and cataloguing.
Professor Johnston makes regular contributions to different media programmes and publications. His work on film trailers has been featured in the documentary Movie Trailers: A Love Story (2020), on the BBC's Newsnight programme, and in articles in Wired, The Conversation and The Atlantic; his British Cinema research was featured on Blu-Ray releases for Dead of Night, The Ladykillers, The Go-Between and Don't Look Now; while his Science Fiction expertise has been featured in articles in The Guardian and BBC News, and on BBC Radio Norfolk.
Teaching Interests
Undergraduate Teaching
Analysing Film & Television
British Cinema since the 1960s
Film History
Film, Television and New Media
Science Fiction
Selling the Screen
MA Teaching
British Cinema: Realism and Spectacle
Key Research Interests
- British cinema history - with a particular focus on technology. Previous research has expored Eastmancolor's introduction to British cinema; British 3-D cinema in the 1950s, and Ealing Studios
- Amateur cinema history - with a particular focus on British women amateur filmmakers. Current research has uncovered hundreds of overlooked women filmmakers and made recommendations for changes in film archive practice
- Film trailers / film marketing - looking at both historical and modern examples of film promotion
- Science Fiction - including issues around special effects, but also key historical case studies
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Kent
Award Date: 1 Jan 2008
Master of Arts, University of Kent
Award Date: 1 Jan 2004
Bachelor of Arts, University of Stirling
Award Date: 1 Jan 1995
Keywords
- British Cinema & Television
- Film Studies
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AHRC Impact Acceleration Account
Jowitt, C., Johnston, K. M., Kassim, H. & Vincent, N.
Arts and Humanities Research Council
1/04/22 → 31/03/25
Project: Other
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The Invisible Women – Developing a Feminist Approach to Film Archive Metadata and Cataloguing
Johnston, K. M., Graham, A., Kelly, S., Richardson, L., Richardson, L., Williams, M. & Frith, P.
Arts and Humanities Research Council
1/08/21 → 31/03/24
Project: Research
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International Amateur Cinema Between the Wars (1919-1939): Amateur Movie Database Partnership Project
Johnston, K. M., Alvey, J. & Alvey, J.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
1/09/20 → 30/06/23
Project: Research
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The Eastmancolor Revolution and British Cinema, 1955-85
Johnston, K. M. & Street, S.
Arts and Humanities Research Council
10/10/16 → 9/10/19
Project: Research
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Back into focus: Women filmmakers, the amateur trade press and 1960s British amateur cinema
Johnston, K. M., 20 May 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Gender and History.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Beyond “The Exhibition Straight-Jacket”: How British amateur film clubs created an alternative distribution and exhibition network, 1923-1933
Johnston, K. M. & Frith, P., 11 Feb 2023, In: Film History. 34, 3, p. 46-70 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Colour Films in Britain: The Eastmancolor Revolution
Johnston, K. M., Frith, P., Street, S. & Rickards, C., 16 Dec 2021, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. 384 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Beyond place: Rethinking British amateur films through gender and technology-based perspectives
Frith, P. & Johnston, K., Apr 2020, In: Screen. 61, 1, p. 129–137 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile25 Downloads (Pure) -
Invisible Innovators: Making Women Filmmakers Visible Across the UK Film Archives
Clayton, S., Johnston, K. M. & Williams, M., 2020, 31 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open Access
Activities
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Norwich Film Festival (External organisation)
Keith M Johnston (Chair)
Jul 2023 → …Activity: Membership › Social or cultural organisation
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‘The Little Apparatus’: 100 Years of 9.5mm film
Keith M Johnston (Speaker)
18 Oct 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Le Giornate de Cinema Muto
Keith M Johnston (Speaker)
5 Oct 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Festival/Exhibition/Performance
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'A Movie World Tour: How 1930s Amateur Filmmaking Conquered the World'
Keith M Johnston (Speaker) & Paul Frith (Participant)
17 Mar 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Festival/Exhibition/Performance
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HippFest 2022
Keith M Johnston (Participant) & Paul Frith (Participant)
17 Mar 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Festival/Exhibition/Performance
Press/Media
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L'art de la bande-annonce au temps des réseaux sociaux
20/05/22
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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The art of the trailer in the age of social networks (May 2022)
15/05/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
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BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire - Prof Keith Johnston (AMA) mentioned (Apr 2022)
1/03/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
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"Sitting in a tin can: why sci-fi films are finally telling astronaut life like it is"
14/04/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Special features of a DVD and Blu-Ray release of 1964 horror film The Masque of the Red Death include an interview with Prof Keith M Johnston (AMA). (Feb 2021)
3/02/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media