Screen Production Research: (Queer) Short Filmmaking as a Mode of Enquiry

Developed through a practice-as-research methodology, and informed by queer film theory, this article, which is written by a doctoral supervisor and her PhD filmmaking candidate, examines strategies for filmmakers, especially LGBTQ+, to disrupt traditional academic outputs by creating research that takes place in, with and through short filmmaking. In the context of screen production research, the short film serves as a result of the research, therefore, it must perform the research findings. The article will centre on one of the author’s doctoral work, which the co-author is currently supervising, a new and critically acclaimed queer short film entitled Expulsion (2020). Through an examination of Gaffney’s short film, which centres on a fictional queer state, the authors will reveal a selection of short filmmaking techniques, such as the use of historical retellings; environmental thematic connections, as well as other textual methods, which can be used to challenge the current popular formula for LGBTQ+ characters and narratives, which unfortunately tend toward the neoliberal and homonormative.