Patel, Shreepali and Flavin, Susan (2025) Brewing Knowledge: Filmmaking as Research in Experimental Archaeology. Media Practice and Education. ISSN 2574-1144
| Type of Research: | Article | ||||
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| Creators: | Patel, Shreepali and Flavin, Susan | ||||
| Description: | Drunk? Adventures in sixteenth Century Brewing is a research-based film produced within the ERC-funded FoodCult project (2019–2025). Developed in collaboration with historians, archaeologists, craftspeople, scientists, and filmmakers, the film follows the reconstruction of a sixteenth-century beer through experimental archaeology. The film was conceived, from the outset of the project, as a mode of inquiry, with filmmaking shaping how the reconstruction was interpreted and communicated. This article examines the film as creative practice research, focusing on three dimensions: radical interdisciplinarity, where cinematic and editorial decisions brought different forms of expertise into dialogue; materiality, where framing and sound design highlighted tools, ingredients, and environments as co-actors in the reconstruction; and embodiment, where the camera conveyed tacit skills, sensory awareness, and affective responses. Audience reception, gathered through questionnaires, Q&A discussions, and teaching contexts (cited as pers. comm.), is considered alongside close analysis of the filmmaking to evaluate the project’s dialogical and pedagogical value. We show that filmmaking can operate as a research method in its own right, generating historical insights, facilitating interdisciplinary exchange, and extending the reach of historical inquiry to wider publics. |
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| Official Website: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25741136.2025.2599450 | ||||
| Publisher/Broadcaster/Company: | Taylor & Francis | ||||
| Your affiliations with UAL: | Colleges > London College of Communication Research Groups > Sonic Screen Lab |
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| Date: | 1 December 2025 | ||||
| Funders: | European Research Council | ||||
| Digital Object Identifier: | 10.1080/25741136.2025.2599450 | ||||
| Related Websites: | https://foodcult.eu/ | ||||
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| Date Deposited: | 13 Jan 2026 16:07 | ||||
| Last Modified: | 13 Jan 2026 16:07 | ||||
| Item ID: | 25449 | ||||
| URI: | https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/25449 | ||||
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