Books by Jonathan Hodgers
In May 1967, during a discussion about his yet-to-be-released film Eat the Document, Bob Dylan cr... more In May 1967, during a discussion about his yet-to-be-released film Eat the Document, Bob Dylan cryptically remarked, ‘The film is finished. It’s different.’ It would not be the last time he could make this claim. Beyond his musical prowess, Dylan’s career encompasses a lesser-explored facet – that of a filmmaker creating works that defy convention. This book delves into these cinematic forays, unravelling the intriguing interplay of Dylan’s presence both behind and in front of the camera.
Dylan’s cinematic experiments, ranging from the ground-breaking Dont Look Back (1967) to the enigmatic Masked and Anonymous (2003), stand as unique and thought-provoking additions to his artistic legacy. Unveiling an experimental and inquisitive sensibility, these films draw inspiration not only from cinematic predecessors but also from Dylan’s songcraft. Often residing in the periphery of Dylan studies, a closer examination of his cinematic oeuvre reveals an underrated auteur who fearlessly transcends the boundaries of the page, stage, and screen.
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Papers by Jonathan Hodgers
Dylan Review, Vol. 1.1, Summer 2019, 2–13, 2019
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This thesis examines the appropriation of Bob Dylan in a cinematic context. In comparing filmmake... more This thesis examines the appropriation of Bob Dylan in a cinematic context. In comparing filmmakers’ use of the performer to Dylan’s own theatrically-released ventures, the thesis postulates a highly coded representational role for Dylan in cinema that often contrasts with the artist’s personal involvement in visual narrative.
Through a preliminary analysis of Dylan’s engagement with cinematic form and content, this thesis proceeds to investigate the performer’s films, and illustrates their structural and thematic relation to his musical work. From this, cinematic uses of the artist’s music by mainstream filmmakers are investigated.
The analysis takes a structuralist and narratological approach, and attempts to discern commonalities in the methodology employed by the artist across disciplines. Attempts are made to link Dylan’s filmmaking and latter-day song composition to theories of Russian montage editing. The resultant investigation suggests the primacy of juxtaposition and contrast to multiple strands of Dylan’s work.
What can be discerned is a methodological consistency on Dylan’s behalf across media. This methodology, and Dylan’s conception of himself in a filmic context, contrasts with that of other filmmakers. Evidence suggests that mainstream filmmaking has imbued representations of the performer with certain political ideologies, societal associations, and attitudinal assumptions. The thesis ultimately infers the existence of a ‘prime’ or ‘original’ meaning for the performer in a cinematic context, against which all other depictions are measured.
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The Soundtrack, 2014
This article argues that Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’, which accompanies a key scene i... more This article argues that Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’, which accompanies a key scene in Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, has had its relevance to the narrative enhanced by the song’s widespread propagation. The analysis provides a context for Dylan’s score in Peckinpah’s oeuvre as well as within more general late 1960s and early 1970s scoring trends in the film western. Pertinent is the number of versions afforded Pat Garrett (a theatrical cut, a director’s preview and a hybrid ‘special edition’), resulting in either the inclusion or omission of Dylan’s vocals and lyrics. The presence, or lack thereof, of this important element affects the semantics of the scene and film. In tracing aspects of the history of the song’s presence in cinema after Pat Garrett, the article shows how the drama of the original ‘Heaven’s Door’ scene is often reiterated. This dovetails with Peckinpah’s and Dylan’s shared concerns with memory and cyclicality. Finally, the article illustrates that the use of popular ‘standards’ with judiciously omitted lyrics can suggest an interior monologue and a novelistic insight into a character’s thoughts.
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Crafting Media Personas, 2016
This chapter explores the treatment of political enemies in the Indiana Jones series (1981–2008) ... more This chapter explores the treatment of political enemies in the Indiana Jones series (1981–2008) through a study of their characterisation by the filmmakers and their diegetic relationships with the films’ heroes. By examining character dynamics alongside broader issues of filmic narrative, I focus on how the fourth film in the series portrays America and its enemies in the geo political climate of the Bush presidency (2001–2009). Analysis moves from the depiction of Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Last Crusade (1989) to their Russian successors in the series’ latest film The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). This is paralleled by an investigation of the American government’s portrayal in each film. Analysis takes two lines of inquiry: firstly, the implications of the films’ overall narrative and mise-en-scène, and second, comparisons with director Steven Spielberg’s analogous treatments of historical antagonists throughout his filmography. This article challenges the argument that the series’ villains are interchangeable caricatures by positing their portrayal as modulated by complex cultural, economic and ideological factors. In contrast to the generally-held view of the Indiana Jones series’ tacit support of Reaganism, Crystal Skull’s depiction of its antagonists—as well as its allies—offers an ambivalent, complex response to George W. Bush-era surveillance culture, inviting analogies with 1950s Cold War politics while returning to a more jaundiced, post-Watergate mood found in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Crystal Skull is ultimately shown to treat ideological conflict with an unexpected level of irony and satire, connecting it with Spielberg’s explicitly political and war-themed films while suggesting a thematic continuity that traverses the boundaries of genre in the director’s canon.
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Book Reviews by Jonathan Hodgers
The Dylan Review, 2023
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Policy by Jonathan Hodgers
DkIT Academic Council No.177, Approved Educational Institute Policy, 2021
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Reports by Jonathan Hodgers
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022
Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (Ireland), as part of t... more Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (Ireland), as part of their Strategic Alignment for Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2019, and led by the DkIT Careers and Employability Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology, the Embedding Employability initiative has offered staff, students, graduates and employers an opportunity to exchange employability best practice Institute-wide and to voice-together their vision of the DkIT graduate.
The Embedding Employability Survey was conducted by the Careers and Employability Centre,
Dundalk Institute of Technology May to June 2021. Engaging relevant stakeholders, namely; students, graduates, DkIT staff and employers, the survey aimed to uncover attitudes, experiences, insights, and future-oriented thinking about employability for graduates of the institute.
The results informed the development of a national award-winning graduate attribute programme, and proposes the PCs Graduate Attributes and Mindsets Framework (AHECS 2022, Guidance Counsellors for HEIs in Ireland, Winner).
Participants answered a wide range of questions addressing four key themes: (i) our graduate
attributes, (ii) employability factors affecting our graduates’ perceived employability, (iii) the utility and effectiveness of Careers & Employability Services, and (iv) forward-looking employability plans for DkIT. All completed online by email call-to-action due to the ongoing Covid-19 context. Building on our focus group consultations earlier this year, the survey set about: testing consensus regarding a headline for our graduate attribute framework, highlighting key employability best practices, reaching consensus on Career and Employability Services, and pointing to future directions for employability at DkIT.
This report presents the main findings, draws out key points of guidance and demonstrates how to conduct a multi-stakeholder survey to inform a higher education institute (HEI) Employability Plan.
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SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
Graduate Attributes are the core abilities and values a higher education institute community agre... more Graduate Attributes are the core abilities and values a higher education institute community agrees all its graduates should develop. They are the abilities employers deem necessary for today’s knowledge workers and graduate success (HEA UK, 2013). The National Framework for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education identifies ‘Student Success’ as: ‘Student success optimises the learning and development opportunities for each student to recognise and fulfil their potential to contribute to, and flourish in, society. To be achieved, this requires a culture in Irish higher education that values inclusivity, equity and meaningful engagement between students, staff, their institutions, and the wider community…’ (Farrell & McEvoy, 2019) The Graduate Attribute agenda is key to fulfilling this promise to its students by Dundalk Institute of Technology, and this report outlines the results of our research with the goal of establishing our own graduate attribute framework....
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Books by Jonathan Hodgers
Dylan’s cinematic experiments, ranging from the ground-breaking Dont Look Back (1967) to the enigmatic Masked and Anonymous (2003), stand as unique and thought-provoking additions to his artistic legacy. Unveiling an experimental and inquisitive sensibility, these films draw inspiration not only from cinematic predecessors but also from Dylan’s songcraft. Often residing in the periphery of Dylan studies, a closer examination of his cinematic oeuvre reveals an underrated auteur who fearlessly transcends the boundaries of the page, stage, and screen.
Papers by Jonathan Hodgers
Through a preliminary analysis of Dylan’s engagement with cinematic form and content, this thesis proceeds to investigate the performer’s films, and illustrates their structural and thematic relation to his musical work. From this, cinematic uses of the artist’s music by mainstream filmmakers are investigated.
The analysis takes a structuralist and narratological approach, and attempts to discern commonalities in the methodology employed by the artist across disciplines. Attempts are made to link Dylan’s filmmaking and latter-day song composition to theories of Russian montage editing. The resultant investigation suggests the primacy of juxtaposition and contrast to multiple strands of Dylan’s work.
What can be discerned is a methodological consistency on Dylan’s behalf across media. This methodology, and Dylan’s conception of himself in a filmic context, contrasts with that of other filmmakers. Evidence suggests that mainstream filmmaking has imbued representations of the performer with certain political ideologies, societal associations, and attitudinal assumptions. The thesis ultimately infers the existence of a ‘prime’ or ‘original’ meaning for the performer in a cinematic context, against which all other depictions are measured.
Book Reviews by Jonathan Hodgers
Policy by Jonathan Hodgers
Reports by Jonathan Hodgers
The Embedding Employability Survey was conducted by the Careers and Employability Centre,
Dundalk Institute of Technology May to June 2021. Engaging relevant stakeholders, namely; students, graduates, DkIT staff and employers, the survey aimed to uncover attitudes, experiences, insights, and future-oriented thinking about employability for graduates of the institute.
The results informed the development of a national award-winning graduate attribute programme, and proposes the PCs Graduate Attributes and Mindsets Framework (AHECS 2022, Guidance Counsellors for HEIs in Ireland, Winner).
Participants answered a wide range of questions addressing four key themes: (i) our graduate
attributes, (ii) employability factors affecting our graduates’ perceived employability, (iii) the utility and effectiveness of Careers & Employability Services, and (iv) forward-looking employability plans for DkIT. All completed online by email call-to-action due to the ongoing Covid-19 context. Building on our focus group consultations earlier this year, the survey set about: testing consensus regarding a headline for our graduate attribute framework, highlighting key employability best practices, reaching consensus on Career and Employability Services, and pointing to future directions for employability at DkIT.
This report presents the main findings, draws out key points of guidance and demonstrates how to conduct a multi-stakeholder survey to inform a higher education institute (HEI) Employability Plan.
Dylan’s cinematic experiments, ranging from the ground-breaking Dont Look Back (1967) to the enigmatic Masked and Anonymous (2003), stand as unique and thought-provoking additions to his artistic legacy. Unveiling an experimental and inquisitive sensibility, these films draw inspiration not only from cinematic predecessors but also from Dylan’s songcraft. Often residing in the periphery of Dylan studies, a closer examination of his cinematic oeuvre reveals an underrated auteur who fearlessly transcends the boundaries of the page, stage, and screen.
Through a preliminary analysis of Dylan’s engagement with cinematic form and content, this thesis proceeds to investigate the performer’s films, and illustrates their structural and thematic relation to his musical work. From this, cinematic uses of the artist’s music by mainstream filmmakers are investigated.
The analysis takes a structuralist and narratological approach, and attempts to discern commonalities in the methodology employed by the artist across disciplines. Attempts are made to link Dylan’s filmmaking and latter-day song composition to theories of Russian montage editing. The resultant investigation suggests the primacy of juxtaposition and contrast to multiple strands of Dylan’s work.
What can be discerned is a methodological consistency on Dylan’s behalf across media. This methodology, and Dylan’s conception of himself in a filmic context, contrasts with that of other filmmakers. Evidence suggests that mainstream filmmaking has imbued representations of the performer with certain political ideologies, societal associations, and attitudinal assumptions. The thesis ultimately infers the existence of a ‘prime’ or ‘original’ meaning for the performer in a cinematic context, against which all other depictions are measured.
The Embedding Employability Survey was conducted by the Careers and Employability Centre,
Dundalk Institute of Technology May to June 2021. Engaging relevant stakeholders, namely; students, graduates, DkIT staff and employers, the survey aimed to uncover attitudes, experiences, insights, and future-oriented thinking about employability for graduates of the institute.
The results informed the development of a national award-winning graduate attribute programme, and proposes the PCs Graduate Attributes and Mindsets Framework (AHECS 2022, Guidance Counsellors for HEIs in Ireland, Winner).
Participants answered a wide range of questions addressing four key themes: (i) our graduate
attributes, (ii) employability factors affecting our graduates’ perceived employability, (iii) the utility and effectiveness of Careers & Employability Services, and (iv) forward-looking employability plans for DkIT. All completed online by email call-to-action due to the ongoing Covid-19 context. Building on our focus group consultations earlier this year, the survey set about: testing consensus regarding a headline for our graduate attribute framework, highlighting key employability best practices, reaching consensus on Career and Employability Services, and pointing to future directions for employability at DkIT.
This report presents the main findings, draws out key points of guidance and demonstrates how to conduct a multi-stakeholder survey to inform a higher education institute (HEI) Employability Plan.