Film Studies

Course summary

Essay writing is a crucial part of the course and is integral to students’ study of film and filming techniques. Universities value this subject for the communication and critical debate skills that it encourages. Studying a diverse range of films from a variety of contexts gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and understanding of how films are constructed to their own film-making and screenwriting. This is intended to enable students to create high quality films or screenplays, as well as provide an informed film-maker’s perspective on their own study of film. The study of film includes gaining a knowledge and understanding of the cultural, historical and political context in which the films were made. Component 1: American and British film, including classic Hollywood and contemporary independent film. Films studied may include: Paris Labyrinth., Vertigo, and La La Land. Component 2: History of film-making, including the study of world cinema (e.g., Taxi Tehran), Buster Keaton’s silent films, documentary film, experimental film and a variety of short films. Component 3: Production (coursework component) Students have a choice of either a short film or a screenplay for a short film and a digitally photographed storyboard of a key section from the screenplay plus an evaluative analysis.