Miss Stephanie Janes

My research aims to explore the relationship between producers and players of commercial alternate reality games used to promote Hollywood films and the implications of this for contemporary notions of fandom.

Key research questions addressed by my thesis are:

• What function do ARGs play in wider marketing campaigns for Hollywood films?
• How are ARGs developed in relation to the film they are promoting and to what extent do the various parties involved influence the design and development of the game?
• How and why do online communities of ARGs players make use of and respond to promotional ARGs?
• How does this relate to the intentions of ARG producers?
• What can this tell us about consumer/producer relations?
• How might this problematise contemporary notions of fandom and how might we rework these understandings in light of this?

My background has been primarily in film studies, having completed an BA in Film and Literature and MA in Film and Television at the Univeristy of Warwick. My MA dissertation examined the increasing use of viral marketing to promote Hollywood film. It investigated the relationship between this marketing strategy and film aesthetics, and what it might indicate about the industry’s attitude towards its audience.

For further details of research interests and publications please see: https://royalholloway.academia.edu/StephanieJanes