Dr Julian Konczak
Lecturer
Julian Konczak is a filmmaker and creative working across film, moving image, sound, and immersive installation. A multiple award-winning director, he has had his work screened internationally at events including the Sheffield International Documentary Festival and SIGGRAPH, and presented in solo exhibitions. His projects range from the multiple award-winning feature documentary Tracing Transcendental Tone to the interactive documentary A Polish Journey and immersive installations such as The Interactive Forest, combining natural imagery with spatial audio to create sensory, experiential environments. Originally trained as a video editor, he has shaped his practice by a strong sensitivity to rhythm, structure, and the emotional flow of images over time.
Following a career in post-production as a freelance practitioner, he has taught across film and television disciplines, including film production, digital imaging, and interactive media, as well as dissertation supervision. His experience spans higher and further education, where he has contributed to curriculum design, assessment development, and the delivery of practice-based learning. He has also led workshops in animation and film production for community and performance groups, working across diverse social and cultural contexts. His teaching approach emphasises creativity, critical thinking, and considered risk-taking, tailored to students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
His practice-based research, central to his recently completed PhD, explores methodologies for screen-based storytelling within transmedia contexts. He has extensive expertise in digital production, including immersive and interactive media, cinematography, and editing, and works with a range of industry-standard tools, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Avid Media Composer, and DaVinci Resolve. His projects often involve interdisciplinary collaboration and have been supported by organisations including Arts Council England. Ongoing research and professional activity continue to inform his teaching, strengthening the relationship between creative practice and academic inquiry.
External Links
Qualifications
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | PhD in Visual Communications | Nottingham Trent University |
| 1998 | MA Media | Nottingham Trent University |
| 1987 | BA(Hons) Psychology & Philosophy | University of Warwick |
Research Interests
Research interests and expertise
My approach to audiovisual media combines two strands, firstly an understanding of the possibilities and limitations of modelling the processes of perception within the discipline of psychology and secondly the understanding of the evolution of technical means of reproduction within the scope of media archaeology.
I have a particular interest in models of perception that attempt to decode the relationship between sensation and perception, broadly speaking the gestalt and phenomenological schools of thought. Alongside, the work that draws on archetypes, such as Jungian psychology provides useful tools for understanding how universality may be encoded or embedded within the individual audience member, listener or ‘user’. These understandings can be used to grapple with epiphenomena such as ‘immersion’ and ‘presence’.
Media archaeological approaches to technology provide a framework for understanding how layers of material shift can speak to audience experiences that go beyond the sensations generated by physical objects. An example of this would be the immersive nature of sound, an experience that can be understood somatically with the knowledge that we experience sound throughout the entire body. Further to this, application on the iterations of spatial technology has slipped across implementations stereo, binaural, ambisonic etc., all offering a promise of presence or immersion within the means of reproduction.
Current work examines, via practical investigation, the ancient history of sound with particular reference to the largely oral tradition of Sanskrit. This ancient language can be understood as an archetypal system of sounds and is of particular interest as the sounds are created with the human voice, thereby enabling a resonance between speakers and listeners that can be mediated through time and space.
Selected Exhibitions:
- A Polish Journey presented at Bremen 22nd International Bremen Film Conference 2017
- A Polish Journey AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Shortlisted for Innovation in Film Awards 2017
- A Polish Journey installed at Sheffield Documentary Festival Alternate Realities (2016) A Polish Journey presented at iDocs Bristol 2016
- The Interactive Forest installed and presented at DHRA (Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts) London 2014
- Telenesia presented at ISEA - International Symposium on Electronic Arts - Istanbul 2011
- J9 Interactive Video presented at ISEA International Symposium on Electronic Arts - Singapore 2008
- J9 Interactive Video installed and presented at FILE 2009 -Electronic Language International Fes*val -Sao Paulo Brazil – 2009
- J9 Interactive Video installed and presented at Japan Dislocate '07 - Tokyo – 2007
- 25 Birth and Decay installed and presented at Siggraph 2007 Global Eyes Art Gallery CA USA- August 2007
Teaching
Areas of teaching
- Film Production
- Dissertation
- Editing
- Experimental Film
Professional Engagement
Engagement with professional associations and societies
FHEA - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
