Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
TFM4520
Module Title
Case Studies in Film History
Academic Year
2020/2021
Co-ordinator
Dr Stephanie Jones
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Essay  (3000 words)  50%
Semester Assessment Seminar Presentation  (30 mins)  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  (3000 words, different topic)  50%
Supplementary Assessment Seminar Presentation  (30 mins, different topic)  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Evaluate, synthesize and deploy critical debates on film history to an advanced standard.

2. Critically compare and evaluate case studies from literature on film history, New Film History, and New Cinema History.

3. Master analysis of film form using film theory and an advanced consideration of film history.

4. Evaluate the affordances and limitations of case studies within film history methodologies.

Brief description

This module will enable students to undertake historical analysis of film texts: in particular, understanding a text in relation to contexts of production, exhibition or reception. The course will facilitate this through teaching a series of film history case studies. These case studies will enable students to understand the challenges and possibilities of undertaking historical research through the case study method. In particular, the module will encourage students to think about ways in which films can be considered from a historical perspective. The course will explore continuities and disruptions across both Hollywood, European and World cinemas, including popular and ‘alternative’ cinemas. It will not only enable students to identify diachronic shifts, but also the ways in which synchronic differences may occur through the different institutional contexts within which aesthetic/technological devices are deployed. It will promote the use of both primary and secondary sources in research through the assessed work linked with the course.

Content

National identity and the coming of sound
The Classical Hollywood ‘masterpiece’
Classical Hollywood Genres
Film Propaganda
World Cinema
British Film, American Reception Cross
Cultural marketing and reception
Australian National identity
Film activism
Seminar presentations and feedback

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Students will be excepted to evaluate some simple statistical information from secondary historical sources.
Communication Students will be expected to contribute to in-class discussions and relate their own research progress orally in seminar groups. One seminar session will include an assessed oral presentation.
Improving own Learning and Performance Throughout the module, students will be asked to critically reflect on their own readings/viewings, as well as how their own research is progressing.
Information Technology Students will be expected to use the web and the numerous e-learning resources within the library throughout the module.
Personal Development and Career planning Students will be encouraged to develop research skills, presentation skills, engage in group work, and develop their writing skills. These attributes will feed into their development as individual researchers, which will be particularly suited for an academic career or a career within the field of media arts.
Problem solving This element is developed through students' questioning film histories: e.g. how have they been constructed, what methods do they employ and what assumptions underpin them. Students will be encouraged to think of history as an active process that is subject to argumentation, and to participate in historical arguments.
Research skills This element is developed through students' own investigations into existing materials.
Subject Specific Skills n/a
Team work Although there is no group work independently assessed, it is hoped that in seminars students will work together as a group in order to make the best possible use of these sessions. To aid group activity, the module co-ordinator also encourages students to utilise the blackboard environment, specifically the message board, to discuss issues beyond the lectures or seminars.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7