Film Studies and Media BA (Hons)

This module introduces you to film history, theory and analysis, as well as some of the technical and commercial aspects of film. You will explore these themes with a focus on key moments in the evolution of film, through the words of filmmakers past and present. We will also introduce you to some of the major approaches used to study and analyse film, such as:

• Auteur theory
• Genre
• Subject positioning
• Psychoanalysis
• The gaze
• Montage

This module will help you to build the skills you need to succeed in higher education, and specifically for researching and analysing media. This includes skills in:

• Researching
• Referencing
• Critical thinking
• Academic writing
• Presenting
• Group work. 

We will make sure you are ready to take on the challenges of degree level study.

On this module you will explore some of the theories and concepts relating to the analytical interpretation of the media. We will introduce you to major issues that relate media to social and cultural contexts. You will also have the opportunity to assess and evaluate approaches to critical and analytical investigation.

Drawing on relevant debates and scholarship, we will introduce you different films and their audiences, such as popular Hollywood film, independent film and world cinema. You will explore issues surrounding reception, taste and consumption, considering the social and cultural contexts in which film consumption takes place. You will also investigate different methods of studying audiences to consider how audiences engage with film.

This module is your introduction to the use of film as a source of historical evidence for cultural, social and political change. American Studies is always interdisciplinary in its approach, and film is 1 of the many mediums we use to explore American history, identity and culture. You will learn the skills of cinematic analysis which will allow you to make the best use of this important medium, as well as discussing the importance of cinema within American society.

On this module you will think critically about how media informs, intersects and engages with concepts of identity. You will engage with contemporary discussion and debate surrounding identity, which will include considerations of:

• Race
• Gender
• Nationality
• Age

You will use these varied perspectives to evaluate the theoretical, historical and socio-political influences and implications that contemporary mediated identities may communicate.

This module is your introduction to media ecology, an approach which understands media as anything through which meaning or communication takes place. Using this approach, you will explore the deep history of media and allied technologies (for example writing, printing and painting) to examine how media can determine the possibilities of communication, creative activity and understanding. You will examine how traditional, new and emergent technologies influence our relationship with information and culture, and consider how these factors can affect social organisation, aesthetic practice and political structures.

On this module you will explore the concept of ideology by analysing the viewing behaviour and beliefs of media audiences. You will study media communication models and their histories, engaging with research surrounding audiences. Through this you will explore the nature of contemporary mass communication and consider how ideology and meaning impact the communication process.

On this module you will explore the idea of cult cinema in the context of its history, the film industry and contemporary culture. You will consider how historic examples of legislation around films have affected the status of cultism and cult cinema. This includes investigating how screen and entertainment developments have played a part in enhancing certain filmic cult movements. You will also explore ideas about genre and authorship, subcultures and subversion.

This module is an opportunity to engage with the more vocational elements of working with media, and explore your entrepreneurial potential. You will work in groups to produce a creative portfolio and will eventually pitch your idea to a panel. This could be, for example, a magazine, a film festival, or an exhibition. You must take into account:

• Marketing and advertising
• Business cases
• Product development
• Effective communication of ideas

This module is an introduction to the theory and practice of convergence technology, transmedia activity and network theory. Our discussion will focus on the continuing development and evolution of communication technologies, and how they shape our everyday lives. Throughout the module you will consider these developments in relation to social, political and cultural factors, and speculate on how these may affect the production and consumption of meaning and content through media.

On this module you will develop your research skills in preparation for the more extensive independent research project you will complete in your final year. You will focus on selected science fiction primary texts as well as related theoretical, philosophical, inter-textual and historical secondary material. You will also develop important academic skills through research. Our focus on science fiction includes major discussions within the genre, including:

• Race
• The environment
• The relationship between human and machine
• What it is to be human

On this module you will explore how America has imagined itself through film, identifying historical patterns, trends and continuities. We examine how American myths and ideologies have dominated attempts to define the national imagination. This could include:

• The mythology of the frontier
• The myth of the open road in the countercultural 1960s
• Regional identities of the south, California, the midwest or New York

On this module you will engage in debates about the production, reception and contexts of media and cultural products that have caused controversy. This includes debates about taste and the reception of text in different traditional, new and emergent media. We will introduce you to the terminology of aesthetic discussion and dispute, defining and discussing terms such as:

• Propaganda
• Artistic licence
• Canonical status
• Acceptability
• Pornography
• Censorship

An understanding of globalisation is essential for engaging with the processes of cultural, political and social change in the modern world. On this module we will introduce you to the major theoretical debates and ideas surrounding the contested idea of globalisation. You will also examine the role media plays in reflecting and reacting to the processes of globalisation, and its influence on emergent, resistant and dominant cultures.

This module considers the various forms and uses of music within the fields of cultural production, focusing on the evolutions of these processes and movements as indicators of cultural change. You will explore the possibilities for social, political and cultural exploration offered by the study of music, considering its use within the context of counter-cultural production, innovation, reception, distribution, protest and socio-cultural moments. We will also discuss concepts and theories surrounding authorship, activism, mode of production, meaning and representation.

Through this module you will become familiar with important critical debates surrounding visual culture. You will come to appreciate the vital relationship between word and image, from traditional illustration all the way through to contemporary internet culture. This will allow you to investigate how visual strategies can be used to communicate complex ideas.

On this module you will discuss independent cinema from historical, social, national and international perspectives. We approach independent cinema as an anti establishment voice that stands in opposition to mainstream studio productions. You will explore the wider cultural context of independent cinema, for example:

• The festival circuit
• Film preservation
• Fandom
• Web communities
• Cult cinema

On this module we will consider the significance of various European cinemas, and explore the histories and evolutions of these national cinema traditions as indicators of wider cultural change. You will consider cinema’s potential for social, political and cultural critique, and contextualise film within counter cultural production, innovation, reception and distribution. This will include discussions about high culture vs low culture, and an investigation of the different audiences, institutions and practices that occur within different cultures.

On this module you will use different academic subject areas to approach to the Gothic such as film, art and literature. Topics covered will include:

• The origins and influence of the Gothic
• Dopplegangers
• Nightmares of science
• Normality and abnormality
• Metamorphosis
• Gender in horror and the overlap of romance and horror

This module is an introduction to the theory and practice of convergence technology, transmedia activity and network theory. You will discuss the continuing development and evolution of communication technologies and how they shape our everyday lives. You will also consider these developments in relation to social, political and cultural factors, and speculate on how these may affect the production and consumption of meaning and content through media.

This is your opportunity to demonstrate your abilities as an independent learner through an extended piece of research. You will produce an extended critical and analytical examination of your chosen topic, engaging with the existing literature surrounding it and offering your own original take on the subject. Through this you will apply many of the analytical and research skills you have developed over the course of your degree. A dedicated academic tutor will support you through throughout the research process.

On this module you will explore how new and emergent media, communications and technologies shape our way of living, acting and understanding the world and our place in it. Building on previous modules, you will learn about the development of various technologies and consider our changing relationship with them,  evaluating how they contribute to and challenge philosophy, ethics, morals and meaning. We will also think about how these developments might influence aesthetic trends in production, consumption and cultural value.

On this module we will explore and analyse different forms of animated film and video games. This will include analysis of the different visual styles and genres in animation. You will examine the production, distribution and consumption of animated films and video games in contemporary culture. Our discussions will include both large media companies like Disney and Studio Ghibli and smaller, independent studios, as we engage in debates about realism, hybridity and ideology in animation.

This module will deepen your understanding of the history, theory and practice of documentary film. You will learn about the production and consumption of documentary film through various cultural and historical contexts. Discussions will explore how ideas about reality, realism and representation can be expressed through documentary film, as well as considering the impact of new and emergent communications technologies.

On this module you will examine how transnational film can articulate themes of displacement, nomadism, cosmopolitanism, border-crossing, homelessness, diaspora, and hybridity. This includes exploring how transnational cinema, both as a cultural form and a mode of production. We will consider cinematic representations of marginalised groups such as immigrants, exiles and asylum seekers, as well as considering  a diverse range of film makers as case studies. This module will also include a field trip relevant to the study of transnational cinema.

On this module you will explore concepts and issues surrounding globalisation, localisation, regionalism and national identity, particularly in relation to city cultures. You will consider the representations, symbolic and social structures, development, uses and experiences of the modern city. This will involve the experiential exploration of contemporary cities, as well investigating technological advances and futuristic narratives of the city. You will also have the opportunity to take part in an international field trip as part of this module. previous locations have included Istanbul, Madrid and Amsterdam.

This module requires you to engage with a wide range of media representations of gender and sexualities. In doing so you will critically assess how certain forms, formats and practices of media transgress, reinforce or challenge assumptions and prejudices relating to gender and sexuality. This will build upon previous discussions about identity and representation from other modules, encouraging you to cultivate nuanced responses towards contemporary debates. We will also encourage you to reflect upon the evolution of critical perspectives on gender and sexualities.