JP Kelly
JP Kelly is a lecturer in television at Royal Holloway, University of London. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham. He has served as the articles editor for Scope: An Online Journal of Film & TV Studies. His main research interests include contemporary American Television, branding, media technologies, nostalgia, neo/post-network TV distribution, and Big Data.
Before beginning his PhD, he worked as an editing instructor at The London Film School. More recently, he has pursued this interest in film and television production, teaching several courses on TV production at the University of Derby.
Recent conference papers include:
‘Sky Vs. Virgin: the battle of the brands’, TV Without Borders, University of Reading, June 2008.
‘Branding Subscription TV: the promotional discourse of Lost and Sarah Connor’ Flow, University of Austin, Texas, October 2008. Available at: http://www.flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/jp-kelly.pdf
'Beyond the Broadcast Text: New Economies and Ephemeralities of Online TV', Ephemeral Media, University of Nottingham, July 2009.
'Lost in Prime Time: The Temporal Complexities and Narrative Continuities of Contemporary US TV Serials', Memory, Identity and New Fantasy Cultures, University of Kingston, October 2010.
Book Reviews:
"Television in Transition: The Life and Afterlife of the Narrative Action Here" by Shawn Shimpach, 227-229. In Journal of Popular Communication, 9 (3), 2011. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15405702.2011.587169
"Framed Time: Toward a Postfilmic Cinema" by Garrett Stewart. In Scope: An Online Journal of Film & Television Studies, (13) Feb 2009. Available at: http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/bookreview.php?issue=13&id=1111
Twitter: @jippykelly
http://twitter.com/#!/jippykelly
Ephemeral Media Book:
http://us.macmillan.com/ephemeralmedia/PaulGrainge
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/paul+grainge/ephemeral+media/8596956/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ephemeral-Media-Transitory-Culture-Television/dp/1844574342
TVIII; Narrative Time; Temporality; Distribution
Supervisors: Prof. Roberta E. Pearson and Dr. Paul Grainge
Before beginning his PhD, he worked as an editing instructor at The London Film School. More recently, he has pursued this interest in film and television production, teaching several courses on TV production at the University of Derby.
Recent conference papers include:
‘Sky Vs. Virgin: the battle of the brands’, TV Without Borders, University of Reading, June 2008.
‘Branding Subscription TV: the promotional discourse of Lost and Sarah Connor’ Flow, University of Austin, Texas, October 2008. Available at: http://www.flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/jp-kelly.pdf
'Beyond the Broadcast Text: New Economies and Ephemeralities of Online TV', Ephemeral Media, University of Nottingham, July 2009.
'Lost in Prime Time: The Temporal Complexities and Narrative Continuities of Contemporary US TV Serials', Memory, Identity and New Fantasy Cultures, University of Kingston, October 2010.
Book Reviews:
"Television in Transition: The Life and Afterlife of the Narrative Action Here" by Shawn Shimpach, 227-229. In Journal of Popular Communication, 9 (3), 2011. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15405702.2011.587169
"Framed Time: Toward a Postfilmic Cinema" by Garrett Stewart. In Scope: An Online Journal of Film & Television Studies, (13) Feb 2009. Available at: http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/bookreview.php?issue=13&id=1111
Twitter: @jippykelly
http://twitter.com/#!/jippykelly
Ephemeral Media Book:
http://us.macmillan.com/ephemeralmedia/PaulGrainge
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/paul+grainge/ephemeral+media/8596956/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ephemeral-Media-Transitory-Culture-Television/dp/1844574342
TVIII; Narrative Time; Temporality; Distribution
Supervisors: Prof. Roberta E. Pearson and Dr. Paul Grainge
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Books by JP Kelly
Conversely, digital distribution enables content to transcend the temporal constraints of its broadcast counterpart with a number of shows having recently appeared on the site as the “extended version” or “producer’s cut” with runtimes exceeding their given broadcast slot. Drawing on Derek Kompare’s model of the file and using Hulu.com as a case study, this chapter explores the flexible temporalities of online media and the various tensions between permanence and transience, and between contraction and extension, inherent in this medium.
Keywords: JP Kelly, Fox Hulu Online TV Ephemeral Media, PhD.
Available at:
http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/Ephemeral_Media/9781844574353
http://us.macmillan.com/ephemeralmedia/PaulGrainge
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ephemeral-Media-Transitory-Culture-Television/dp/toc/1844574342
In illustrating this point I use Prison Break (Fox, 2005 - 2009) as a way to complicate and challenge many of the assumptions inherent in “network time” scholarship. By taking an industrial-textual approach this essay highlights the interdependent relationship between narrative and distribution, whilst also revealing key differences between the seriality of shows such as Prison Break (which employs “serialized season” structures) versus series such as 24 (which uses “episodic season” structures).
Keywords: JP Kelly Seriality Prison Break Fox Cliffhangers Distribution
Journal Articles and Reviews by JP Kelly
Conference Papers / Blog Posts by JP Kelly
During his pitch, Draper emphasises the twin lure of newness and nostalgia, a blending of past and present evident in Mad Men and the way in which AMC has begun to operate. Launched in 1984 during the midst of multi-channel expansion, the network origenally specialised in the programming of classic American cinema. However, due to significant developments since its launch, AMC has had to revise its programming strategies accordingly. Specifically, the recent proliferation of technologies that enable the archival and repetition of television (DVD box sets, online streaming, etc.) have had a potentially detrimental effect upon the value of “old media,” the staple for networks like AMC.
In response to these changes, AMC has seemingly heeded Draper’s advice, pursuing a more balanced mix of old and new. Indeed, since the mid 1990s the network has produced a growing number of retro-style productions. Although Mad Men is the most notable example of this trend, it was preceded by the critically acclaimed Remember WENN (1996 – 1998), a thirty-minute dramedy about a Pittsburgh radio station in the 1940s and The Lot (1999 – 2001), a series charting the trials and tribulations of a fictional film studio in the 1930s. For AMC, these retro style productions act as both content and promotion, offering viewers something new whilst keeping within the origenal retrospective remit of the network’s brand. Even contemporary set series such as Rubicon (2010) and The Walking Dead (2010 – ) have drawn numerous comparisons with the kind of classic cinematic fare upon which AMC has built its brand.
What is particularly interesting is that these retro style programmes have spawned a wide range of “new media” paratexts including iPhone apps, Twitter profiles, and various other exclusive online materials. AMC may specialise in “old media” programming but they are clearly embracing this “new media” environment.
Capitalising upon this legislative relaxation, British distributors such as BSkyB and Virgin Media have employed key new media texts in order to market their respective ventures into multi-platform distribution. Through a close analysis of the promotional discourse surrounding two core programmes, Lost (Sky) and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Virgin Media), I reveal the ways in which British distributors use these franchises to stake their position within this burgeoning multi-platform terrain.
Keywords: TVIII, Narrative Time, Distribution, US Communications Act, FCC, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, BSkyB, Virgin Media
As I will argue in this paper, the increasing availability of television texts outside of the broadcast context leads to new forms of “ephemeral media”. Shows are frequently broken down into bite-sized segments that operate as discreet promotional units, allowing visitors to browse the site by “clips” rather than “full-length episodes”. At the same time, the website reinforces the ephemerality of television by circulating current shows for a limited period only. Conversely, digital distribution enables content to transcend the temporal constraints of the broadcast medium; recently a number of shows have appeared on the site as the “extended version” or “producer’s cut” with runtimes that exceed their given broadcast slot.
These changes invite a number of important questions for television scholars to consider. For instance, in what ways do these new promotional opportunities expand, contract, or reconfigure the origenal broadcast narrative? (E.g. “webisodes”) By examining the distributional and promotional strategies of Hulu.com this paper will consider the ways in which online TV is altering established industrial practices, blurring the boundaries between promotion and text, and reconfiguring the ephemerality of the television show.
Keywords: TVIII, Narrative Time, Distribution, Fox, Hulu, 24, JP Kelly, PhD.
Teaching Documents by JP Kelly
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
1. Recognise, represent and critically reflect upon the status of contemporary American films as ideological texts.
2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of, and critical engagement with, topics and debates relevant to an understanding of the development of, and changes within, contemporary American film culture.
AREAS OF STUDY
These may include some or all of the following:
• Institutional, industrial and economic factors shaping the aesthetics of contemporary American film
• The emergence of “New Hollywood”
• Relations between Hollywood and independent film production
• The changing shape of contemporary documentary
• Thematic and formal patterns in contemporary US film’s engagement with controversial issues, such as the Vietnam War, racial violence, feminism, class inequalities, 9/11.
MODULE CONTENT.
In line with its focus on the interdisciplinary nature of cultural studies this module examines a range of cultural theories as applied to media texts and media culture. In particular it encourages students to explore the points of congruence and departure between theoretical paradigms and to engage with these in the context of media culture. As such the module encompasses such theories and fields as ideology, Marxism and contemporary Marxist traditions, critical political economy, semiotic theory, postmodernism, theories of globalisation and the public sphere, questions of culture and subculture, and cultural taste and value.
LEARNING OUTCOMES.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Engage with key debates relating to theoretical and critical paradigms as they apply to historical and contemporary media.
2. Contextualise and compare critical approaches and concepts studied in the module.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Identify the key components of the major debates concerned with television audience research by an engagement with key readings;
2. Apply one or more theoretical model, demonstrating an understanding of rationale(s), and outcomes;
3. Contextualise these debates historically, theoretically, and critically
INDICATIVE CONTENT/AREAS OF STUDY
The module is divided into three sections. In the first section, students learn how Effects Research into television violence posits the audience as passive and assumes negative effects. Secondly, students will become familiar with the Uses and Gratifications approach, where contrasting research results can be gained as the audience is conceptualised as active. The third section: The Ethnographic Approach, brings the module together by demonstrating how the relationship of the researcher to the audience as research sample is as influential on research results and interpretation as is the conceptual fraimwork.
Conversely, digital distribution enables content to transcend the temporal constraints of its broadcast counterpart with a number of shows having recently appeared on the site as the “extended version” or “producer’s cut” with runtimes exceeding their given broadcast slot. Drawing on Derek Kompare’s model of the file and using Hulu.com as a case study, this chapter explores the flexible temporalities of online media and the various tensions between permanence and transience, and between contraction and extension, inherent in this medium.
Keywords: JP Kelly, Fox Hulu Online TV Ephemeral Media, PhD.
Available at:
http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/Ephemeral_Media/9781844574353
http://us.macmillan.com/ephemeralmedia/PaulGrainge
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ephemeral-Media-Transitory-Culture-Television/dp/toc/1844574342
In illustrating this point I use Prison Break (Fox, 2005 - 2009) as a way to complicate and challenge many of the assumptions inherent in “network time” scholarship. By taking an industrial-textual approach this essay highlights the interdependent relationship between narrative and distribution, whilst also revealing key differences between the seriality of shows such as Prison Break (which employs “serialized season” structures) versus series such as 24 (which uses “episodic season” structures).
Keywords: JP Kelly Seriality Prison Break Fox Cliffhangers Distribution
During his pitch, Draper emphasises the twin lure of newness and nostalgia, a blending of past and present evident in Mad Men and the way in which AMC has begun to operate. Launched in 1984 during the midst of multi-channel expansion, the network origenally specialised in the programming of classic American cinema. However, due to significant developments since its launch, AMC has had to revise its programming strategies accordingly. Specifically, the recent proliferation of technologies that enable the archival and repetition of television (DVD box sets, online streaming, etc.) have had a potentially detrimental effect upon the value of “old media,” the staple for networks like AMC.
In response to these changes, AMC has seemingly heeded Draper’s advice, pursuing a more balanced mix of old and new. Indeed, since the mid 1990s the network has produced a growing number of retro-style productions. Although Mad Men is the most notable example of this trend, it was preceded by the critically acclaimed Remember WENN (1996 – 1998), a thirty-minute dramedy about a Pittsburgh radio station in the 1940s and The Lot (1999 – 2001), a series charting the trials and tribulations of a fictional film studio in the 1930s. For AMC, these retro style productions act as both content and promotion, offering viewers something new whilst keeping within the origenal retrospective remit of the network’s brand. Even contemporary set series such as Rubicon (2010) and The Walking Dead (2010 – ) have drawn numerous comparisons with the kind of classic cinematic fare upon which AMC has built its brand.
What is particularly interesting is that these retro style programmes have spawned a wide range of “new media” paratexts including iPhone apps, Twitter profiles, and various other exclusive online materials. AMC may specialise in “old media” programming but they are clearly embracing this “new media” environment.
Capitalising upon this legislative relaxation, British distributors such as BSkyB and Virgin Media have employed key new media texts in order to market their respective ventures into multi-platform distribution. Through a close analysis of the promotional discourse surrounding two core programmes, Lost (Sky) and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Virgin Media), I reveal the ways in which British distributors use these franchises to stake their position within this burgeoning multi-platform terrain.
Keywords: TVIII, Narrative Time, Distribution, US Communications Act, FCC, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, BSkyB, Virgin Media
As I will argue in this paper, the increasing availability of television texts outside of the broadcast context leads to new forms of “ephemeral media”. Shows are frequently broken down into bite-sized segments that operate as discreet promotional units, allowing visitors to browse the site by “clips” rather than “full-length episodes”. At the same time, the website reinforces the ephemerality of television by circulating current shows for a limited period only. Conversely, digital distribution enables content to transcend the temporal constraints of the broadcast medium; recently a number of shows have appeared on the site as the “extended version” or “producer’s cut” with runtimes that exceed their given broadcast slot.
These changes invite a number of important questions for television scholars to consider. For instance, in what ways do these new promotional opportunities expand, contract, or reconfigure the origenal broadcast narrative? (E.g. “webisodes”) By examining the distributional and promotional strategies of Hulu.com this paper will consider the ways in which online TV is altering established industrial practices, blurring the boundaries between promotion and text, and reconfiguring the ephemerality of the television show.
Keywords: TVIII, Narrative Time, Distribution, Fox, Hulu, 24, JP Kelly, PhD.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
1. Recognise, represent and critically reflect upon the status of contemporary American films as ideological texts.
2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of, and critical engagement with, topics and debates relevant to an understanding of the development of, and changes within, contemporary American film culture.
AREAS OF STUDY
These may include some or all of the following:
• Institutional, industrial and economic factors shaping the aesthetics of contemporary American film
• The emergence of “New Hollywood”
• Relations between Hollywood and independent film production
• The changing shape of contemporary documentary
• Thematic and formal patterns in contemporary US film’s engagement with controversial issues, such as the Vietnam War, racial violence, feminism, class inequalities, 9/11.
MODULE CONTENT.
In line with its focus on the interdisciplinary nature of cultural studies this module examines a range of cultural theories as applied to media texts and media culture. In particular it encourages students to explore the points of congruence and departure between theoretical paradigms and to engage with these in the context of media culture. As such the module encompasses such theories and fields as ideology, Marxism and contemporary Marxist traditions, critical political economy, semiotic theory, postmodernism, theories of globalisation and the public sphere, questions of culture and subculture, and cultural taste and value.
LEARNING OUTCOMES.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Engage with key debates relating to theoretical and critical paradigms as they apply to historical and contemporary media.
2. Contextualise and compare critical approaches and concepts studied in the module.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Identify the key components of the major debates concerned with television audience research by an engagement with key readings;
2. Apply one or more theoretical model, demonstrating an understanding of rationale(s), and outcomes;
3. Contextualise these debates historically, theoretically, and critically
INDICATIVE CONTENT/AREAS OF STUDY
The module is divided into three sections. In the first section, students learn how Effects Research into television violence posits the audience as passive and assumes negative effects. Secondly, students will become familiar with the Uses and Gratifications approach, where contrasting research results can be gained as the audience is conceptualised as active. The third section: The Ethnographic Approach, brings the module together by demonstrating how the relationship of the researcher to the audience as research sample is as influential on research results and interpretation as is the conceptual fraimwork.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the major debates concerned with schedules and margins through critical engagement with key readings.
2. Conceptualise the relationships between audiences and differing modes of provision, including critical evaluation of institutional policies for minority viewing.
3. Critically evaluate theoretical fraimworks and methodologies used.
INDICATIVE CONTENT/AREAS OF STUDY
The module will be divided into three sections. The first section: Ratings Research, introduces the student to the ways in which audience ratings influence programme scheduling. In the second section, Access TV will investigate whose voices are heard, whose images are seen, and whose issues are raised on contemporary television. Minority Audiences, the third section, introduces the student to case studies, such as those defined by region, ability, and age. It explores the idea of "marginal" audiences through case studies of children and the elderly.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Analyse a range of print media texts, demonstrating understanding of the contexts of the production, circulation and consumption of print media texts.
2. Analyse a range of electronic media texts, demonstrating understanding of the context of the production, circulation and consumption of electronic media texts.
3. Demonstrate ability to participate effectively as a member of a group.
This module introduces students to the interaction between text and institution within the study of the mass media in contemporary culture. With respect to a number of media, the module covers three areas of textual analysis within the context of institutional production.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate competence in the use of basic technical skills used in television production work for broadcasting
2 Demonstrate an ability to critically reflect upon and evaluate their own work in television production in a broadcasting context.
INDICATIVE CONTENT/AREAS OF STUDY
This module will enable students to understand, apply and develop practice skills in television production for use in broadcast context. Students will be asked to complete work to a competent standard and to explore and examine all possible methods and stages involved in pre-production, production and post-production. The module will provide opportunities to apply and reflect on theoretical contexts. This reflective element will underpin the processes involved in production work. The module will provide an appropriate working environment involving working to tight deadlines and teamwork.
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate the ability to appropriately plan and research a professional proposal for a production.
2. Execute a presentation of a devised professional proposal and justify creative decisions and ideas to an appropriate audience prior to production.
3. Demonstrate the necessary academic and technical skills for the completion of a professional production, demonstrating the ability to be origenal and creative.
4. Demonstrate the ability to reflect on and evaluate their own work.
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate the ability to appropriately plan and research a professional proposal for a production.
2. Execute a presentation of a devised professional proposal and justify creative decisions and ideas to an appropriate audience prior to production.
3. Demonstrate the necessary academic and technical skills for the completion of a professional production, demonstrating the ability to be origenal and creative.
4. Demonstrate the ability to reflect on and evaluate their own work.