Film Studies

The course will follow the WJEC Board’s specification and will involve the analysis of texts and production of written aspects of film such as screenplays and plot outlines.

• Unit 1: FM 1 - An introduction to film analysis looking at ‘micro’ features of film and the role of the spectator and the producer. Assessment will take the form of a 1,500 word essay on an extract chosen by the candidate and a ‘Creative Project’ with an extended step outline.
• Unit 2: FM 2 - This involves looking at both British and American cinema. Section A focuses on the relationship between producers and audiences, narrative and genre conventions and personal responses to texts for both countries. Section B looks at British film and genre – e.g. covering horror and comedy. Section C incorporates the US element and involves comparison between two similar texts from different eras e.g. ‘White Heat’ and ‘The Untouchables’, ‘The Good, The Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘Unforgiven’. Assessment is an essay question on each section in a 2 ½ hour examination.

• Unit 3: FM 3 - This takes the form of a small-scale research project and a creative project. The former involves research into one focus film and two related films following a framework for analysis. It is assessed by an annotated catalogue and presentation script. The creative project takes the form of a screenplay with evidence of research and planning and evaluative reflection.
• Unit 4: FM 4 - For the first section (World Cinema) the students will study foreign cinema e.g. Japanese Cinema 1950-1970 looking at two principal films and their national context as well as two other subsidiary texts or German and or/Soviet Cinema of the 1920s - enabling students to appreciate the formative years of cinema with such films as Battleship Potemkin and Metropolis as the two focus films. Section B, ‘Popular Film and Emotional Response’, allows the students to study theories of audience reception set against accessible material. Section C’s Single Film – Critical Study involves bringing together all of the critical perspectives learned into analysis of a single set text. Assessment is three essays in 2 ½ hours. One on each section.