Film Studies

Course summary

Film Studies is designed to deepen your understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of film. You will study film as a medium, an art form, and as a social and cultural institution, and there will be a deep engagement with a wide range of film experiences. The course will develop a number of key skills such as critical analysis and application of this knowledge in making films and writing screenplays. Although there is a detailed textual approach being offered here, similar to English Literature, at the core of this course is a clear recognition of how films are made. There will be a clear focus on the aesthetic choices made by filmmakers and how this might impact you, in the production of your own practical work. You will have to engage with a large number of films and the most important thing is to be actively involved in analysing and discussing them in the classroom. The course is designed to build on your existing knowledge of film and further develop this by exploring a diverse and challenging set of film texts. The lessons will involve a great deal of group work, presentations, and close analysis. The films that you will encounter will be available on the college e-stream so that independent work can take place outside of lessons. We have excellent editing facilities and cameras for filmmaking which can be used for the non-examination assessment. We also have a designated computer room which can be utilised for screenplay writing and film research.