Module Information
Module Identifier
FM30120
Module Title
Analysing Film, Television and Media
Academic Year
2013/2014
Co-ordinator
Semester
Intended for use in future years
Pre-Requisite
Successful completion of Part 1
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 1 hour Lectures |
| Other | 10 x 3 hour Viewings |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word Essay | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word Essay | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word Essay (to a new title) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word Essay (to a new title) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an awareness of the theoretical and analytical contexts for the inter- and cross-disciplinary approaches to the study of film, television and media through critical engagement with key writers/ traditions/ frameworks.
2. Apply specific frames of reference to the analysis of film, television and media forms and content, which will provide an analytical foundation of Part 2 study as a whole.
3. Explore and critically evaluate instances of commonality, tension and contradiction within and across the different approaches to the study for film, television and media.
Aims
The rationale for this module is three-fold:
1. To bridge the gap between Part 1 and Part 2 study by providing students with a theoretical 'scaffold' that both hooks into the basic conceptd encountered in Year 1 and problematises those concepts through the introduction of more sophisticated.
2. To develop generic frames of reference or 'tools' that students can later apply to more specialised, scheme-specific modules (e.g. understandings of historical timelines, production and consumption practices, regulation and the complexities that arise from convergence).
3. To offer a balanced and integrated approach to the commonalities between studying a wide range of media (including film), whilst also identifying where the tensions and contradictions lie and signalling the unique markers of the three key subject fields of 'film', 'television' and 'media'.
1. To bridge the gap between Part 1 and Part 2 study by providing students with a theoretical 'scaffold' that both hooks into the basic conceptd encountered in Year 1 and problematises those concepts through the introduction of more sophisticated.
2. To develop generic frames of reference or 'tools' that students can later apply to more specialised, scheme-specific modules (e.g. understandings of historical timelines, production and consumption practices, regulation and the complexities that arise from convergence).
3. To offer a balanced and integrated approach to the commonalities between studying a wide range of media (including film), whilst also identifying where the tensions and contradictions lie and signalling the unique markers of the three key subject fields of 'film', 'television' and 'media'.
Brief description
This module will develop and problematise key issues in the study and critical analysis of film, television and media. Students will encounter and re-think questions of production, consumption and regulation, reflect upon the complex interrelationships that emerge from multiplatform convergence and understand how to locate contemporary debates within an historic context. Students will develop the key skills to recognize and critically reflect upon the inter-disciplinary commonalities between the fields of study, as well as be able to evaluate the underlying tensions and contradictions of cross-disciplinary critical approaches.
Content
There will be one lecture per week followed by one seminar per week. The module will be divided into five key themes, with two discrete lecture topics per strand:
Theme 1: Historical Approaches to the Media
Lecture 1: Historical approaches to film
Lecture 2: Historical approaches to TV and media
This theme will involve students encountering examples of different historical approaches to the problem of change, development and continuity in the cinema, broadcasting, print and the internet.
Theme 2: Production
Lecture 3: Theories of media production
Lecture 4: Digital production
This theme will involve students being introduced to critical theories that account for production in the media industries and also to critical debates about the changing context of production in a digital age.
Theme 3: Texts and their meanings
Lecture 5: Critical approaches to textual analysis
Lecture 6: Frameworks of analysis
This theme will involve students encountering critical strategies for engaging with texts, focusing on examples such as 'genre', 'race', 'gender', 'space', 'startdom' and 'news' to help frame their understandings.
Theme 4: Audiences and users
Lecture 7: Critical approaches to audience studies
Lecture 8: The changing nature of audiences
This theme will introduce students to critical debates about effects, how and why people use the media and how digitisation is impacting on these uses.
Theme 5: Critical dimensions of convergence
Lecture 9: Multiplatform authorship and spectatorship
Lecture 10: Contemporary debates in media policy
This final theme will involve critical engagement with literature on the future of media in the context of multiplatform authorship and spectatorship, both aesthetically and in terms of the policy environment.
Theme 1: Historical Approaches to the Media
Lecture 1: Historical approaches to film
Lecture 2: Historical approaches to TV and media
This theme will involve students encountering examples of different historical approaches to the problem of change, development and continuity in the cinema, broadcasting, print and the internet.
Theme 2: Production
Lecture 3: Theories of media production
Lecture 4: Digital production
This theme will involve students being introduced to critical theories that account for production in the media industries and also to critical debates about the changing context of production in a digital age.
Theme 3: Texts and their meanings
Lecture 5: Critical approaches to textual analysis
Lecture 6: Frameworks of analysis
This theme will involve students encountering critical strategies for engaging with texts, focusing on examples such as 'genre', 'race', 'gender', 'space', 'startdom' and 'news' to help frame their understandings.
Theme 4: Audiences and users
Lecture 7: Critical approaches to audience studies
Lecture 8: The changing nature of audiences
This theme will introduce students to critical debates about effects, how and why people use the media and how digitisation is impacting on these uses.
Theme 5: Critical dimensions of convergence
Lecture 9: Multiplatform authorship and spectatorship
Lecture 10: Contemporary debates in media policy
This final theme will involve critical engagement with literature on the future of media in the context of multiplatform authorship and spectatorship, both aesthetically and in terms of the policy environment.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | * Students will be given the opportunity to reflect upon basic statistical data (primarily presented in percentages), through encountering key research studies in the field. |
| Communication | * Students' written communication skills will be developed (e.g. appropriate language and style, accuracy, precision and ability to be concise) * Opportunities will be given, through seminar style discussion, for students to develop confidence in using their speakinh and listening skills when communicating their ideas * Students will develop oral presentation skills by articulating their ideas to the group and putting togather a systematic presentation. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | * Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retrieval * Students will be given opportunities to develop effective note-taking skills * Students will develop their critical thinking skills * Through group discussion students will be given opportunities to develop an awareness of the opinions of others and reconsider initial ideas if necessary. |
| Information Technology | * Students will be given the opportunity to develop their authorial and note-taking skills when planning and preparing for the written assignments and will be encouraged to develop their note-taking skills in lectures * Students will be given opportunities to develop their skills using electronic search and retrieval of sources both on the web and on the AU LIS * Students will develop their skills when referencing from the web and related sources and will focus on the selection of materials appropriate to task * E-mail and Blackboard will be the main forms of communication and information-sharing in this module, so students will be encouraged to actively engage in these processes. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | * Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate current knowledge and skills and set targets for self-improvement * Students will be encouraged to take increasing responsibility for managing their own learning * Students will be encouraged to build upon the knowledge gained from lectures through developing skills in self study (supported by the general smf specific reading lists and other resources distributed throughout the module). |
| Problem solving | * Students should be able to identify tensions and debates in the field and will be encouraged to critically reflect * Students should gain experience in applying different approaches and materials to understand data and other patterns in research. |
| Research skills | * Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retieval * Students will be encouraged to evaluate, interpret and reflect upon a variety of sources and to make links to accomodate new ideas. |
| Subject Specific Skills | * Engage critically with major thinkers, debates and intellectual paradigms within the field and put them to productive use * Understand forms of communication, media and culture as they have emerged historically and appreciate the processes through which they have come into being, with reference social, cultural and technological change * Examine such forms critically with appropriate reference to the social and cultural contexts and diversity of contemporary society and have an understanding of how different social groups variously make use of, and engage with, forms of communication, media and culture *Analyse closely, interpret and show the exercise of critical judgement in the understanding and, as appropriate, evaluation of these forms * Develop substantive and detailed knowledge and understanding in one or more designated areas of the field * Consider and evaluate their own work in a reflexive manner, with reference to academic and/or professional issues, debates and concentions |
| Team work |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6