Opening Pandora's (black) box: towards a methodology of production studies

This piece is an attempt to draw some conclusions from - and to rise to some of the challenges thrown down - in the articles contained in WIDESCREEN Vol 2, No 2 (2010) - Special Issue: Production Studies. My overall aim is to answer a question raised by Dorota Ostrowska i.e. “Why should we bother?” My answer is, because there is a problem – linked to Ostrowska’s question: “Are the reasons mostly practical and associated with the fact that film studies scholars are not familiar with methodologies necessary to carry out research into film-making process?” There are problems and issues with more ‘traditional’ film studies which I believe ‘production studies’ – and a particular methodology utilising production itself - can address. In essence I am joining Cindy Chan’s call to “theorize from within” (for me this requires taking a position from within production culture as well as cultural practice).