Professor Ian Christie will be delivering the following lectures within the M.A. in Film Studies offered through the Faculty of Arts with the support of the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Film Commission.
From glasshouses to the dream factory: a short history of set design
Tuesday 6 December, 17:00 to 19:00
Faculty of Arts Library, Old Humanities Building
From the earliest film sets up to the major stylised sets of the 20s and 30s, and the creation of fantastic worlds in the 40s.
Creating the Talkies: what synch sound made possible in the 30s and 40s
Wednesday, 7 December, 17:00 to 19:00
LC 119, Dun Mikiel Xerri Lecture Centre
When Warners introduced synchronised sound films in the late 20s, they had little idea what it would be used for, apart from musical numbers. But the 30s and 40s saw a profusion of new genres that combined sound and image in very different ways.
Sets and settings: representing London on screen
Friday, 9 December, 17:00 to 19:00
Faculty of Arts Library, Old Humanities Building
Filming in all large cities poses practical problems, so London-set films have tended to combine elements of location and built sets, creating a variety of 'cinematic Londons.'
Ian Christie is a film historian, curator, broadcaster and consultant, and has been Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History at Birbeck College, University of London, since 1999. He has written and edited books on early cinema, Russian cinema, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Martin Scorsese, and Terry Gilliam and has worked on exhibitions ranging from Twilight of the Tsars (Hayward, 1991) to Modernism: Designing a New World (V&A, 2006). He leads an annual workshop for the members of Europa Cinemas at the Bologna Cinema Ritrovato Festival, where the link between the 'old' experience of cinema with contemporary culture and especially e-media is discussed. He currently serves on the UK Screen Heritage Programme Board and is also an adviser to the London Film Museum.
Ian Christie’s current research interests include the history of production design, early and new optical media, the cultural impact of film in the digital era, and the potential of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience to help us further understand the viewer’s experience on screen.
Some of his recent publications include The Art of Film: John Box and Production Design which is a book based on interviews with John Box. Other publications include an essay on the role of ancient-world epics in developing cinema’s new centrality in early 20th century entertainment, for a collection edited by Maria Wyke and Pantelis Michelakis on The Ancient World in Silent Cinema.
The general public is cordially invited to Prof Christie’s lectures.