BA Film Studies and Music

This course will introduce students to the principles and major areas involved in the study of film. The course will familiarise students with essential theoretical concepts and technical terminology in order to enhance their powers of close analysis and understanding of film form.  The course will detail the audio-visual properties of film through a discussion of cinematography, montage, mise-en-scène, narrative, genre, music, the role of the director and star and the process of adaptation. 

A range of select films from different cinemas will be used and placed in their cultural and historical context, including British, German, Hollywood, Italian, Japanese and Soviet cinema. Key films include Sunrise, Citizen Kane,  Punishment Park,  Battle of Algiers, Wonder Woman.

• To develop students’ critical and technical vocabulary for the analysis and discussion of film
• To enhance students’ ability to evaluate films, both from aesthetic perspectives and as social documents
• To develop students’ understanding of how a film’s formal properties (e.g. Elements of audio-visual style and narrative structure) can have ideological and socio-political connotation
• To expand students’ awareness of both mainstream and non-mainstream film cultures including significant examples of non-Anglophone cinema
• To nurture an enthusiasm and appreciation for film as an art form

• Basic interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to analyse concepts, techniques, methods, materials (films, promotional documents such as posters and trailers etc.), - independently and with others
• Ability to draw on individual research/preparation to engage in discussions in learning environments
• Ability to present self effectively – through discussion and in writing (including adherence to academic conventions)

• Display an understanding of the craft of filmmaking
• Locate a film in its historical and social context
• Demonstrate an understanding of how films communicate ideas with a particular emphasis on a film’s audio-visual properties
• Display a broad understanding of major developments in film history
• Assess critically a film in terms of narrative, genre, authorship, photography, mise-en-scène, editing, music and performance

• Critically analyse and interrogate films and related sources (posters, trailers, reviews and industry documents)
• Learn how to historically contextualise films and practitioners, and to draw on contextualisation to develop understanding
• Critically evaluate a series of films, practitioners and theoretical debates in relation to key moments of socio-political change in relevant territories
• Synthesise theoretical and technical terms and concepts and apply these to analysis and argument 

• Research academic and non-academic materials, and evaluate the effectiveness of these materials as supporting evidence for individual essays and presentations
• Plan, undertake and evaluate independent critical work
• Use relevant software to collect, compile and present audio-visual material for presentations
• Communicate research material both verbally, audio-visually and in writing

Bazin, André. 2005. What is Cinema? Volume 1. Translated by Hugh Gray. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Bordwell, David, Thompson, Kristin and Smith, Jeff (eds). 2017. Film Art: An Introduction (Eleventh Edition).  New York: McGraw Hill.

Braudy, Leo and Cohen, Marshall (eds). 2009. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings (Seventh Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dix, Andrew. 2016. Beginning Film Studies (Second Edition). Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Geiger, Jeffrey and Rutsky, R.L. (eds). 2005. Film Analysis. New York and London: W.W. Norton.

Hayward, Susan. 2013. Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Fourth Edition). Abingdon and New York: Routledge.

Hooks, B. 1996. Reel to real¿: race, sex, and class at the movies . London: Routledge

Knight, J and Gledhill C  (eds.).2016. Doing Women’s Film History: reframing cinemas past and present.

Shohat, E. and Stam, R. 2014. Unthinking Eurocentrism¿: multiculturalism and the media. Second edition. Oxfordshire, England¿;: Routledge

Thompson-Jones, Katherine. 2008. Aesthetics and Film. London: Continuum.

Plus two weekly film screenings with short introductions.