Film Studies

Assessment

Assessment involves both coursework (30%) and two written examinations of two and a half hours each (35% each). Students have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of both theory and practical skills. Students are expected to apply a range of critical approaches such as ideological critical studies, auteur critical approaches and filmmakers’ theories (for documentary). Core study areas for all films include an understanding of the key elements of film form (cinematography, lighting, mise-en-scene, editing and sound), issues of representation and film contexts, including institutional production. In recent years students have visited the London Cinema Museum; they have taken part in (and won!) a national film review-writing competition; they have interviewed survivors of female genital mutilation and made a documentary on this, later raising over £10,000 for an anti-FGM billboard campaign. Students have also visited Ealing Studios and have been invited onto the set of a recent Guy Ritchie film, allowing them to understand the different environments within which films are created. Some previous students have gone on to follow degree courses in Film Studies, Film Production and Technology, Media Studies, and Philosophy and Film at universities including Oxford Brookes, Birmingham City University, University of Sussex, Kingston University, Stafford University, London Met Film School, and Emerson College (US).