Dr Claire Perkins
PhD (Monash University), BA, Hons (Monash University)
Claire Perkins curriculum vitae [
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Biography
I have a background in cultural studies and cinema studies, and hold a BA (Hons) and PhD from Monash University. My PhD research on American commercial-independent filmmaking is to be published as the book American Smart Cinema (Edinburgh UP, 2011) and my interest in film serialization and reception is reflected in my co-editor roles on the forthcoming collections Film Trilogies: New Critical Approaches (Palgrave Macmillan) and B for Bad Cinema: Aesthetics, Politics, and Cultural Value (Wayne State UP). My research has also appeared in the international journals The Velvet Light Trap, Cinemascope and Rhizomes.
Research interests
American commercial-independent cinema
I am interested in the industrial, aesthetic and ideological construction of US commercial-independent or “smart” cinema as a self-aware form located at the intersection of mainstream, art and independent filmmaking.
Film serialisation
My work on film serialization focuses on film sequels, trilogies and series as forms that articulate and associate a series of themes, styles, and political issues. It takes a particular interest in these forms as titles retrospectively imposed by critics and audiences as an interpretive filter.
Cult cinema
My interest in cult cinema focuses on how public, corporate and fan cultures engage in and exploit cult activity and spectatorship in the 21st century in connection with both ‘small’ underground films and ‘big’ commercial productions.
Selected Publications
- Perkins, C. (2011) American Smart Cinema. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.
- Perkins, C. (2010) ‘Sequelizing Hollywood: The American ‘Smart’ Film as Cultural Refrain’, in Verevis, C. and Jess-Cook, C. edited Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel. New York, State University of New York.
- Perkins, C. (2009) ‘Lost in Decryption: Female Subjectivity in the Films of Olivier Assayas’. Cinemascope, Vol 12.
- Perkins, C. (2008) ‘Remaking and the Film Trilogy: Whit Stillman’s Authorial Triptych’. The Velvet Light Trap, Vol 61.
- Perkins, C. (2008) ‘Becoming-democratic: Donnie Darko and Other Recent Suburban Utopias’. Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge, Vol 16.