Module Information

Module Identifier

FM10120

Module Title

Studying Film

Academic Year

2021/2022

Co-ordinator

Dr Kate Woodward

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	Written Essay 2,500 words	50%
Semester Assessment	Recorded Presentation (3 minute)	30%
Semester Assessment	10 Reflective Exercises 10 tasks carried out week by week and related to the weekly films and lectures.	20%
Supplementary Assessment	Written Essay 2500 Words	50%
Supplementary Assessment	Recorded Presentation 3 minutes	30%
Supplementary Assessment	10 Reflective Tasks 1000 Words	20%

Learning Outcomes

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

Explore the ways in which individual film form and content may be related to wider historical, cultural, political and social contexts.

Understand the purposes of the key theories and concepts that have dominated the academic study of film, and be able to apply these theories and concepts to film examples.

Effectively and purposefully analyse the formal construction of film texts.

Draw critically upon a range of reading from the field of film studies.

Aims

The aim of this module is to offer a comprehensive introduction to the academic study of film at Level 1. The central questions the module aims to address are: why have films and cinema been seen as worthy of study, and what key concepts, theories and methods have been centrally employed to explore film's artistic, social, cultural and historical significance. In order to address these questions, the module will introduce students to ten key topic areas that have dominated discussion and debate in film studies, to apply theories that have dominated these topic areas to relevant film examples, and to then offer the opportunity for students to develop their critical skills, by debating and critiquing these theories in seminar sessions.

The module aims to serve as a solid introduction to key topics, concepts, debates and issues (for those students who are new to film studies), and, for students who are planning to continue to take film studies modules during Part 2, to introduce concepts and connect them to debates and issues which will underpin the more complex exploration and development/problematisation offered in the film studies modules available in Part 2.

Brief description

This module will offer a comprehensive introduction to the academic study of film, by introducing students to some of the key questions and theoretical debates that characterize both the traditional and contemporary concerns within the field of film studies. The module will introduce students to ten key topic areas that have dominated discussion and debate in film studies, to apply key theories to relevant film examples.

Content

Course delivery:

10 x 3 hour weekly Viewings
10 x 1 hour weekly Lectures
10 x 1 hour weekly Seminars

Topics include:

1. Introduction and Why Study Film?
2. Film Form I: Cinematography and Mise en scene
3. Film Form II: Editing and Sound
4. Narrative
5. Genre
6. Authorship
7. Realism
8. Stars
9. National Cinema
10. Cult Cinema

Module Skills

Skills Type	Skills details
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 sessions, for students to develop confidence in using their speaking and listening skills when communicating their ideas.
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 assignment, and will be encouraged to develop their note-taking skills in lectures. * Students will be given opportunities to develop their skills in searching for relevant reading and other materials (such as film reviews), through the University's Library Catalogue, the University electronic journal resource, Joey, and through the newspaper database, Lexis-Nexis. * E-mail and Blackboard will remain 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 independent study (supported by the general and specifuc 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 on the process by which academics arrive at particular theoretical interpretations of particular films.
Research skills	* Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retrieval (in particular through the first assessment, where they are required to locate one academic piece of writing on their chosen film and then summarise its argument). * Students will be able to develop their textual analytic skills, and to learn to analyse texts in a focused and puropseful manner.
Team work	* All seminar sessions will involve group work where students will be able to collaborate through discussion, and then feed back their ideas to the seminar group as a whole.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4