Dr Matt Denny
Teaching Fellow in Film & Television Studies
Email: m dot denny at warwick dot ac dot ukPronouns: he/him
Phone: +44 24 76 5 73646
Room FAB 1.25, Faculty of Arts Building
University of Warwick
Coventry, CV4 7HS
Warwick FTV students can book meetings here. Students on other degree courses, please email to arrange a meeting
About
I hold a First Class BA in Film and Literature, an MA For Research in Film and Television Studies, and earned my PhD in Film and Television Studies in 2016 - all from The Department of Film and Television Studies at Warwick. My doctoral thesisLink opens in a new window is concerned with theories of film authorship and postmodern cinema.
In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I am also the department's Widening Participation and Outreach OfficerLink opens in a new window.
I am the official point of contact for SMLC Joint Honours with Film Students and students from other departments taking options in Film and Television Studies.
Current Teaching
For the 2024 - 2025 academic year I will be convening core and optional modules at a number of levels. In the Autumn Term I will be co-convening the First Year Film Studies core module Visual Cultures with Jake Edwards. In the Spring I'll be convening the second year Optional module Transnational Action Cinema, and contributing to the new optional MA module Screening Bodies alongside Julie Lobalzo Wright, Jake Edwards, and Polina Zelmanova.
In the Autumn, I'll also be convening Film Analysis and MethodsLink opens in a new window, a core module for SMLC students on Film Studies Joint Honours courses and open to students on other degrees as an Outside Option.
I have been a regular contributor to the IATLLink opens in a new window module Genetics: Science and SocietyLink opens in a new window
Research Interests
- Film Theory; particularly theories of film authorship, genre, and issues of representation (especially as this relates to genre cinema)
- Contemporary Hollywood Cinema; specialising in action cinema and post-classical style
- Horror Cinema; with particular interest in British Horror cinema, definitions of the gothic, folk horror, and the relationship between horror and science-fiction
- Film-philosophy; including R.G. Collingwood's philosophy of art, Nietzsche (particularly depictions of eternal recurrence), postmodern aesthetics, post-structuralism, and representations of the posthuman and non-human (particularly in relation to Artificial Intelligence, the demonic, and the spectral)
Research
For research conducted between 2016 and 2023, please see my independent research Link opens in a new windowpage. The publications and conference papers listed bellow only include those where I have had institutional support..
Publications
- '"Knowing Me Alan Partridge, Knowing You Steve Coogan": Character-Brand Franchising and Metafictional Stardom' (co-author) [forthcoming]
- 'Not Actual Play: Examples of Play and Expectations of Experience in TRPGs' (co-author) [forthcoming]
Conference Papers
- 'Tony Scott's Déjà Vu (2006): Looking Again at Spectacle, Style, and Substance'
Film-Philosophy Conference, 20th – 22nd June 2015, Oxford University - '“These Woods Are No Place for Children!”: Reconsidering Children’s Folk Horror'
Fear 2000 Horror Uncaged, 21st - 22nd July and 27th - 29th July 2023, Sheffield Hallam University - '“That goes in the butt bank”: Tina Belcher and The Horny Teen in a Queer Time and Place'
Sex in Contemporary Media: An Interdisciplinary Conference 4th - 6th October 2023, University of Warwick and Online - 'Not actual play: examples of play and expectations of experience in TTRPGs'
Video Game Cultures The Other Conference, 12-14 September 2024 at Birmingham City University, UK (co-author)
Memberships and Associations
The Fear Network (Warwick Institute of Advanced Studies NetworkLink opens in a new window)
British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSSLink opens in a new window)
International Gothic Association (IGA)Link opens in a new window
I am a Warwick LGBTUA+ supporterLink opens in a new window
Public Engagement
- I was a guest on Eavesdropping at the MoviesLink opens in a new window, discussing Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018) with José ArroyoLink opens in a new window and Michael Glass
- I appeared on Showcase for TRT World to discuss Martin Scorsese and The Age of MarvelLink opens in a new window
- I appear as one of the contributors to the Gender and AI Podcast, a project devised and organised by Dr Nike JungLink opens in a new window (University of Groningen) Both sessions of the podcast are available below