Dr Ed Vollans

I joined the University of Leicester in 2018 having previously worked at a range of Higher Education providers within the UK. I have previously worked as a journalist and for the Economic and Social Research Council. Alongside my Teaching and Research, in addition to Programme administration I am the School of MCS Employability officer. I am a member of the Creative Industries Federation and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

My research interests explore the promotional culture of the entertainment industries, how they packaged, sold and positioned cultural products within the wider popular sphere. Specifically focusing on entertainment promotion, my work has explored the emergence of short-form promotional 'trailers' for Publishing, Games, Theatre and Film industries generally, and has extensively covered audience responses to promotional content. As such I welcome research students who which to explore promotional, or paratextual content, or ephemera including but not limited to: Trailers, Adverts, Merchandise, Press Archives and Promotional texts. 

Vollans, E (2021) "Paratextually Here" in Paratextualising Games (eds Beil, Freyermuth and  Schmid) Transcript Verlag. https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783839454213/html

Vollans, E. , Janes, S., et al (2017) 'It's [Not Just] in the Game' Special Issue of Kinephanos  Vol 7. Issue 1. https://www.kinephanos.ca/2017/its-not-just-in-the-game-the-promotional-context-of-video-games-le-contexte-promotionnel-des-jeux-video/

Vollans, E. (2016) "Think of It as a Trailer" for a Book" Publications Vol. 4, No. 4: 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications4040032

Johnston K.M, Vollans, E., & Green, F.L. 2016) "Watching the Trailer: Researching the film Trailer Audience"  Participations. Vol 13. No. 2. https://www.participations.org/Volume%2013/Issue%202/5.pdf

Vollans, E. (2015), "So just what is a trailer, anyway?", Arts and the Market, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 112-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAM-07-2014-0026 

Greene, F; Johnston, K. & E Vollans (2014)  "Would I lie to you? Researching audience attitudes to, and uses of, the promotional trailer format"  International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics Vol 10. Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.10.1.113

I welcome candidates in areas that clearly align with my research, I currently supervise work on Sexuality in Thai Cinema and have previously supervised student work on Flipped Classroom learning, Industry analysis of employment equalities and a range of Undergraduate Dissertation projects. 

I am the Programme Leader for the MA Media & Advertising and primarily teach  across a range of programmes within MCS.  I currently lead on Advertising and Promotion in a Digital Age, Creative Audiences, while contributing to various Audience, Industry, Production and Dissertation modules.

 

I am a passionate proponent of media practice and applied research as well as employability opportunities for all MCS students.

I obtained my PhD 'Cross Media Promotion the Entertainment Industry and the Trailer' from the University of East Anglia in 2015 having previously studied my MSc in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh and attaining a B.A (Hons) in Film & Television Studies at Aberystwyth University (formerly the University of Wales Aberystwyth).