Film Studies

Course summary

Film is the major art form of the last century and is of great cultural significance. This exciting course is designed to deepen your enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of film as an art form. As a Film student, you will study a wide range of films and experience a variety of innovative teaching and learning methods that are designed to ensure you enjoy achieving the highest possible grades and become a confident, independent learner. The course will help you develop academic skills in research, critical analysis, and reflective evaluation that you can transfer to other courses and careers. You will learn how to write formal essays, confidently apply theory, and conduct research which will benefit you in all your studies at College and beyond. An active and creative approach to filmmaking will be encouraged as you write, shoot, and edit your film sequences – learning technical, creative, and practical skills. No prior experience in filmmaking is necessary: the aim is that you will learn by creatively engaging with film techniques. In the coursework you will have the option of filmmaking or creative writing depending on your interests; many film students maintain their own YouTube channels and Screenwriting blogs to showcase their work. You will have opportunities to submit your film journalism and creative work for competitions and publication as your study of Film develops. All Film students will contribute to class activities and your responses to films will be highly valued. You will get the chance to experiment with filmmaking and screenwriting whilst closely examining a variety of films from past and present American, British, European, and Global cinema. In the first year of the course, you will be studying Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Ridley Scott’s Alien, Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, Alex Ross’ Captain Fantastic, and Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. By the end of this course, you will have detailed knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of film forms such as narrative cinema, documentaries, silent film, experimental film, and short film as well as sophisticated academic, practical, and creative skills that will equip you for lifelong learning. You will study works from such directors as; Alfred Hitchcock, Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle, Jafar Panahi, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, and Edgar Wright. You will also learn how to textually analyze film texts, answer complex questions about the film, and structure essays using sophisticated writing skills.