From Bradford With Love...
James Bond 007 film producer and screenwriter Michael Wilson was amongst leading figures from the worlds of arts, fundraising and film to receive Honorary Degrees from the University of Bradford recently.
The University also honoured Bill Huntley, Peter Layton and Blake Morrison.
Director of the British Film Institute Amanda Nevill, who gave Mr Wilson’s oration, said: “I am delighted that Michael Wilson has been recognised by the University of Bradford, both for his contribution to the British film industry through the iconic James Bond Films and also for his influential guidance and support to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.”
Michael Wilson completed his undergraduate work in Electrical Engineering at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, USA, and received a law degree from Stanford University in 1966.
He practised at a New York firm where he specialised in international taxation, before joining Eon Productions Limited where he became the assistant to the producer on a film about a fictional British spy called James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me.
Mr Wilson went on to executive produce Moonraker and the next two Bond movies. Alongside veteran screenwriter Dick Maibaum he co-wrote For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. He co-produced A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill with his stepfather, the late Albert “Cubby” Broccoli.
When Bond returned to the screen six years later, Mr Wilson joined his sister Barbara Broccoli to produce GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day, which coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Bond series.
Mr Wilson is also a leading expert on 19th-century photography, which he began collecting in the late 1970s. In 1998 he formed the Wilson Centre for Photography which hosts an archive to preserve early photographs and provides study and research facilities for students and researchers.
Mr Wilson is recognised for his contributions to the film industry through his development of the globally recognised and enjoyed Bond franchise. He is also recognised for his key role in the development of Bradford’s National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and its educational and curatorial agendas.
Professor Chris Taylor, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “We are pleased to be able to recognise the achievements of someone who has contributed so much to the film industry through the magnificent James Bond franchise. We are delighted to welcome Michael Wilson as an Honorary Graduate of the University.”
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Is It Hobbit Forming?
Major International Lord of the Rings research project launches today
It’s Christmas, precioussss… and it’s the season for Hobbits, Elves and Dark Lords. Amidst all the movie hype an international team of academics is on a quest to find out what on Middle Earth people actually get from viewing Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Academic researchers across 20 countries and five continents want audiences around the world to tell them about their experiences of the film.
Led by the UK team at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, today (December 17th) will see the launch of a multi-lingual (13 languages) web questionnaire expecting to attract over 100,000 responses world wide. (www.lordoftheringsresearch.net ).
Their research is part of a major international research project using the release of the third film to investigate, for the very first time, the ways in which film fantasy plays a part in people’s lives. Each research group is monitoring the media coverage and marketing strategies that accompany the film’s release, watching the build-up of expectations in each country. Later, in-depth interviews will be carried out, to give a rich picture of why the film matters to different people.
The project’s director is Professor Martin Barker. This is the latest in a series of studies by Professor Barker, many of which have focused on audiences responses to films. Amongst them are Judge Dredd (1995), Crash (1997) and the 1999 comedy Being John Malkovich. He is currently researching responses to A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs, two notorious films from 1971 that recently have been re-released.
Other principal researchers, Ernest Mathijs and Janet Jones, have just completed international research into audience response to the hit reality TV show Big Brother.
According to Professor Barker, central to the work will be questions about how the Lord of the Rings, which is essentially a fantasy, connects with people’s lives.
“The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers have been enormous international box office successes, yet they pose some interesting questions. The story’s background and mythology are undeniably English, yet the film is set in New Zealand with financial backing from Hollywood. It has unquestionably become a celebration of New Zealand’s rugged terrain.”
“We will be asking questions about how audiences respond the mixing of English modern myth, American cultural imperialism and New Zealand’s striking physical presence. Where in all this is Middle Earth, and what does it signify to people?
And as New Line Cinema, the film’s producers, said in their promotional programme on the film, “Now The Lord of the Rings trilogy belongs to the audience.”
The project ‘Launch and Reception of Lord of the Rings III, the functions of film fantasy’, is being funded by a £40,000 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.
Major International Lord of the Rings research project launches today
It’s Christmas, precioussss… and it’s the season for Hobbits, Elves and Dark Lords. Amidst all the movie hype an international team of academics is on a quest to find out what on Middle Earth people actually get from viewing Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Academic researchers across 20 countries and five continents want audiences around the world to tell them about their experiences of the film.
Led by the UK team at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, today (December 17th) will see the launch of a multi-lingual (13 languages) web questionnaire expecting to attract over 100,000 responses world wide. (www.lordoftheringsresearch.net ).
Their research is part of a major international research project using the release of the third film to investigate, for the very first time, the ways in which film fantasy plays a part in people’s lives. Each research group is monitoring the media coverage and marketing strategies that accompany the film’s release, watching the build-up of expectations in each country. Later, in-depth interviews will be carried out, to give a rich picture of why the film matters to different people.
The project’s director is Professor Martin Barker. This is the latest in a series of studies by Professor Barker, many of which have focused on audiences responses to films. Amongst them are Judge Dredd (1995), Crash (1997) and the 1999 comedy Being John Malkovich. He is currently researching responses to A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs, two notorious films from 1971 that recently have been re-released.
Other principal researchers, Ernest Mathijs and Janet Jones, have just completed international research into audience response to the hit reality TV show Big Brother.
According to Professor Barker, central to the work will be questions about how the Lord of the Rings, which is essentially a fantasy, connects with people’s lives.
“The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers have been enormous international box office successes, yet they pose some interesting questions. The story’s background and mythology are undeniably English, yet the film is set in New Zealand with financial backing from Hollywood. It has unquestionably become a celebration of New Zealand’s rugged terrain.”
“We will be asking questions about how audiences respond the mixing of English modern myth, American cultural imperialism and New Zealand’s striking physical presence. Where in all this is Middle Earth, and what does it signify to people?
And as New Line Cinema, the film’s producers, said in their promotional programme on the film, “Now The Lord of the Rings trilogy belongs to the audience.”
The project ‘Launch and Reception of Lord of the Rings III, the functions of film fantasy’, is being funded by a £40,000 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.
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