Animating the Archive: Research and the Videographic Essay
Wednesday 18 March 2026
CIPPM / Bournemouth University (EB708 Lecture Theatre)

Bournemouth University’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM) will host a one-day research event exploring the growing role of videographic methods in activating archival materials across disciplines, publics, and legal contexts.

Videographic essays, research outputs that think through audiovisual form, have become an established method in film and media studies, but their potential reaches far beyond the discipline. This research day brings together scholars working with archives, found footage, heritage collections, and public-domain materials to consider how videographic approaches can generate new research questions, forms of public engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Programme overview

Part 1: Method and Literacy (10:00–11:30), in-person only

Professor John Gibbs (University of Reading) will introduce videographic essays as a research method, asking what they do differently from text-based scholarship. He will highlight a curated set of examples from film and media studies, and practice-based work. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A.

Part 2: Public Engagement and Intellectual Property (12:00–13:30), hybrid

The day’s public seminar will take the form of a curated conversation between CIPPM’s Claudy Op den Kamp and Professor John Gibbs (University of Reading). Topics will include archival reuse, videographic scholarship as public-facing research, and the legal and ethical constraints that shape creative practice. Short clips from different disciplinary contexts will illustrate the discussion, followed by a Q&A with both in-person and online audiences.

Part 3: Transferability and Collaboration (14:30–16:00), in-person only

The event’s final session explores the transferability of videographic methods across shared research problems. These include health, cognition, and memory; visual culture and material history; and law, policy, and public knowledge. Discussion will focus on how videographic approaches might travel across disciplines. What kinds of collaboration or funding could they support? Which research questions would benefit from future hands-on experimentation?

Practical information

In-person attendance
The event is free to attend, and will take place at Bournemouth University’s Executive Business Centre, in short walking distance from Bournemouth train station. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, but participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements to Bournemouth.

In-person attendance is limited to 30 participants.

Online attendance
Part 2 of the day will be accessible online via Zoom. Online registrants will receive the event’s Zoom link a few days before the event.

Registration
Please register your interest, and in-person/online attendance here:

Animating the Archive – Research and the Videographic Essay – Fill in form

For any questions before the event, please contact Claudy Op den Kamp (copdenkamp@bournemouth.ac.uk).