Dr Ben McCann

Biography/ Background

Ben McCann's main research area is French Cinema.  He is particularly interested in 1930s French 'poetic realist' cinema, the films of Marcel Carné, and developments in set design and décor practices in French cinema.

He is also interested in the development of the French horror film, the role of music and sound in Jacques Tati’s films, and the history of French animation.

Ben is a regular book reviewer for Screening the Past (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast) and is a member of the Exhibition Group at the Adelaide Cinémathèque.

Ben has recently completed the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at the University of Adelaide, and in 2008 was awarded the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Qualifications

PhD: University of Bristol
BA (Hons): Keble College, Oxford University

GCHE: University of Adelaide

TEFL: Liverpool John Moores University

Teaching Interests

Ben is Course Co-ordinator of Beginners French (French IA and IB) and Course Co-ordinator of Modern Imagination in Europe.  In 2009, he will be teaching:

French IA / IB (grammar, literature)

French ISA / IIA : La France Contemporaine

French IISB / IIIA: New Millennium French Cinema

French IIISB: Du texte à l’écran

Research Interests

French 1930s cinema, set design and decor, sound in Jacques Tati, European autuer cinema, the French New Wave, developments in French New Millennium Cinema, the 'horror' and 'comedy' film genre, animation, the life and work of Alexandre Trauner.

Publications

Books

Edited volumes

McCann, B. and Sorfa D. [eds.] (2009), Cinema Utopia: The Cinema of Michael Haneke (Wallflower: London)

Book chapters

McCann B. (2008) “‘Du verre, rien que du verre’: Negotiating utopia in Playtime”, Nowhere is Perfect: French and Francophone Utopias/Dystopias, ed. John West-Sooby (University of Delaware Press: Newark), pp. 193-210.

McCann, B. (2007) “Bliss in Blueness: Colour Strategies in the Films of Michael Mann”, Questions of Colour in Cinema: From Paintbrush to Pixel, ed. Wendy Everett (Peter Lang: Bern), pp. 141-160.  

McCann, B. (2005) ‘Les Enfants du Paradis’, The Cinema of France, ed. Phil Powrie, (London: Wallflower), pp.51-59.

McCann, B. (2003) “Enjoying the Scenery”: Landscape and the Fetishisation of Nature in ‘Badlands’ and ‘Days of Heaven’, in The Cinema of Terrence Malick, ed. by Hannah Patterson, (London: Wallflower), pp. 75-85.

McCann, B (2000) ‘Spaces and Places – Architecture as an Instrument in Rewriting the Political: The Exposition Coloniale de Paris’, Dialogues 3: Rewriting the Political, ed. by Daniel Hall and Ben McCann (London: Intellect) pp.75-81.

Articles

McCann, B. (2009) ‘What Trauner did next’: The Continuation of a French Design Aesthetic in an American Context, French Cultural Studies, vol. 20(1), pp. 65-81.

McCann, B. (2008) ‘Pierced Borders, Punctured Bodies: the Contemporary French Horror Film, Australian Journal of French Studies, vol. 45(3), pp. 225-237.

McCann, B., Brinkworth, R., Nordström, K., and Matthews, C. (2008) 'First Year Expectations and Experiences: Student and Teacher Perspectives', Higher Education. Published online: 6 December 2008: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j1683741v277j6n2/

McCann, B. (2008) ‘“If it’s not Disney, what is it?”: Traditional Animation Techniques in Les Triplettes de Belleville’, French Studies Bulletin, vol. 108, Autumn, pp. 59-62.

McCann, B. (2004) ‘“A discreet character?”  Action spaces and architectural specificity in French poetic realist cinema’, Screen, vol. 45/4, Winter, pp. 375-382.

 

Community Engagement

Ben McCann is the Chair of the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild (elected June 2008)

Files

• PhD abstract - Abstract.doc [21.5K] (application/msword)

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 26 May 2009