Film Studies

The Film Studies course offers students an opportunity to engage with a familiar media in new, exciting and thought provoking ways. Students study a range of films from different time periods and cultural contexts; exploring issues surrounding identity, history and more abstract theories on the nature of truth. This is a subject that will certainly interest students who have an inquisitive mind and a desire to broaden their horizons.

As well as studying film form, students are expected to produce a piece of individual creative work over the two-year course. This will allow you to apply your growing knowledge of cinematic language in unique and imaginative ways, to tell a short story of your choice.

 

Benefits

AS and A2 Level Film Studies can help students develop the skills necessary when studying this subject or related subjects in higher education. This subject will complement many choices of degree because of the analytical nature of study, but some of the obvious choices are:
English, Digital Arts, Film or Media Applied degrees or Multimedia/Games Design.

 

At AS Level we will study:

Two examination components; American Cinema and European Cinema. The areas we will study are:

  • Hollywood 1930-1990 (Vertigo, Hitchcock 1958, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Forman 1975)
  • Contemporary Independent American Cinema (Winter’s Bone, Granik 2010)
  • British Film (Under the Skin, Glazer 2014, and Shaun of the Dead, Wright 2004)
  • Non-English Speaking Film (Mustang, Erguven 2015)

Alongside this, you will complete a short, creative coursework piece.

 

At A2 Level we will study:

Two examination components; Varieties of Film and Filmmaking and Global Filmmaking Perspectives. The areas we will study are:

  • Mainstream American Cinema (La La Land, Chazelle 2016)
  • Global Film Outside Europe (Wild Tales, Szifron 2014)
  • Documentary Film (Amy, Kapadia 2015)
  • Silent Cinema (Collection of Buster Keaton Shorts, Keaton 1920-22)
  • Experimental Film (Pulp Fiction, Tarantino 1994)

Alongside this, you will have to produce a complete creative narrative of your choice.