Film, audiences and censorship
Alongside his fiction, MJ Graysmith has published research on horror cinema, film audiences, censorship and the history of film reception. His work combines audience research, qualitative methods and film history to explore how people experience, remember and respond to cinema.
Listed with the newest work first. Where a paper is available here, use the PDF link to read it. The doctoral thesis links to the university repository.
Edited collection · Edinburgh University Press
Researching Historical Screen Audiences
Co-edited with Kate Egan and Jamie Terrill, this collection brings together twelve essays exploring how researchers can recover the experiences of past cinema and screen audiences. Drawing on sources such as photographs, diaries, fan letters, cinema records and oral testimony, it examines historical filmgoing across different cultures and contexts, including cinema management, marketing, and the reception of television and home video.
Egan, Kate, Martin Ian Smith and Jamie Terrill (eds.) (2021). Researching Historical Screen Audiences. Edinburgh University Press.
2019 · Doctoral thesis · Northumbria University
Remembering “The Scariest Movie of All Time”: A Grounded Audience Study of The Exorcist
A doctoral study of how audiences have experienced and remembered The Exorcist across decades. Using grounded theory and audience research, it explores the film’s place in people’s memories, identities and everyday lives.
Smith, Martin Ian (2019). Remembering “the scariest movie of all time”: A grounded audience study of The Exorcist. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.
2019 · Journal of British Cinema and Television · 16(2)
Shock Value: Audiences of A Serbian Film on Censorship
Uses survey responses to examine how audiences talk about censorship and screen violence. It identifies competing ways of discussing the film and explores how claims about “public opinion” can be used to justify censorship decisions.
Smith, Martin Ian (2019). “Shock Value: Audiences of A Serbian Film on Censorship.” Journal of British Cinema and Television, 16(2). Final accepted manuscript.
May 2019 · Participations · 16(1) · Co-authored introduction
Introduction to Themed Section: Researching Past Cinema Audiences
Introduces research into how people watched films in the past. It describes the range of sources historians use—including archives, cinema records, newspapers, interviews and audience memories—to understand cinemagoing as a social and cultural experience.
Egan, Kate, Martin Ian Smith and Jamie Terrill (2019). “Introduction to Themed Section: Researching Past Cinema Audiences.” Participations, 16(1), May 2019.
May 2019 · Participations · 16(1)
Researching Memories of The Exorcist: An Introduction to Grounded Audience Studies
Explains how grounded theory and interviews, surveys and focus groups were used to study people’s experiences of The Exorcist. Drawing on recollections from around 800 people, it offers a practical approach to researching how films are remembered and experienced in everyday life.
Smith, Martin Ian (2019). “Researching Memories of The Exorcist: An Introduction to Grounded Audience Studies.” Participations, 16(1), May 2019.
2018 · Participations · 15(2), pp. 115–134
Serb Your Enthusiasm: Anti-fandom and A Serbian Film
Explores the experiences of viewers who strongly disliked A Serbian Film. The article looks at anti-fandom, the expectations people bring to disturbing films, and the ways audiences distance themselves from films they find objectionable.
Smith, Martin Ian (2018). “Serb Your Enthusiasm: Anti-fandom and A Serbian Film.” Participations, 15(2), 115–134.
2017 · Film International · 15(3), pp. 13–22
Mortality Salience: Terror of Death and The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes
A close reading of Stan Brakhage’s experimental film, which depicts autopsies. Drawing on ideas about fear of death, the article challenges the view that the film is simply an objective record and considers it as a personal meditation on mortality and a celebration of being alive.
Smith, Martin I. (2017). “Mortality Salience.” Film International, 15(3), 13–22. DOI: 10.1386/fiin.15.3.13_1.
2015 · Film International
Revulsion and Derision: Antichrist, The Human Centipede II and the British Press
Looks at how the British press shaped debates around controversial films, focusing on Antichrist and The Human Centipede II. It explores the press's role in censorship debates and how extreme cinema was presented to the public.
Martin Smith. Film International, online feature, 13 January 2015.