Students hoping to pursue a career in this field can choose from a variety of Film Studies and related courses at universities across the UK including Warwick, King’s College and Queen Mary, Edinburgh, UCL, Oxford, East Anglia, Plymouth and Gloucestershire. Getting into the film industry is highly competitive but there are plenty of options and directions you can select. With your creative eye, sharp critical skills and technical expertise you could take centre stage and direct your own blockbuster or art house movie, write screenplays or music scores, review the latest movies, become the visual, sound or music editor, art direct, create props, come up with great ideas for programmes, make video games, promote, market and advertise, or become a YouTube phenomenon, for example. Students will examine and analyse a wide range of films using three core frameworks: Film form, Meaning and response, and Context. They will apply their knowledge to carry out in-depth studies focusing on chosen specialist areas, e.g. narrative, spectatorship, ideology and filmmakers’ theories. They will also use their technical skills to create their short film and evaluations. Film form Handheld camera shots, lighting, crafting narrative to the shot, setting the scene, choreographing the action and conveying meaning through the synergy of sound and movement are just some of the techniques filmmakers use. Students will explore a wide range of methods that help develop meaningful narratives and provoke differing responses from their audience, including cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance. Meaning and response How films are interpreted, how they encapsulate a cultural mood and what response they evoke from their audiences is critical to filmmaking production and analysis. Students will look at how characters and concepts are (mis) represented and the impact this can have on the spectators and wider society. Context Filmmakers and their films are shaped by and reflect the underlying contexts from which they are created. Students will consider how and to what extent context – social, cultural, political, historical, financial, institutional and technological – has an impact. How audiences react to films is also a critical factor that students will explore. Specialist areas Students will study specified films about selected specialist areas: Spectatorship; Narrative; Ideology; Auteur; Critical debates; and Filmmakers’ theories. Production Finally, students get to reveal what they have discovered about the film, demonstrate their technical skills and show off their creative flair. Based on a given brief students produce a high-quality short film and screenplay with their evaluation. The course is split into three components: Varieties of film and filmmaking; Global filmmaking perspectives; and Production. Students receive a brief to create a short film (4-5 minutes) or a screenplay for a short film (1600-1800 words). This is accompanied by a digitally photographed storyboard of a key section from the screenplay and an evaluative analysis (1600 – 1800 words). Varieties Students examine six feature-length films drawing on their understanding of key concepts and critical analysis. These include two Hollywood films (1930-1960 and 1961-1990), two American films made since 2005 (one mainstream, one independent) and two British films made since 1995. Hollywood films Students study one film from each group: Classical Hollywood (1930-1960) Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942), U The Lady from Shanghai (Welles, 1947), PG Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954), PG Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958), PG Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959), 12 New Hollywood (1961-1990) Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967), 15 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975), 15 Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979), 15 Blade Runner (Scott, 1982), 15* Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989), 15. *Learners study Blade Runner in the Director’s Cut version, released in 1992. American film since 2005 This is a two-film study. Students study one film from each group: Mainstream film No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007), 15 Inception (Nolan, 2010), 12A Selma (Duvernay, 2014), 12A Carol (Haynes, 2015), 15 La La Land (Chazelle, 2016), 12A Contemporary independent film (produced after 2010) Winter’s Bone (Granik, 2010), 15 Frances Ha! (Baumbach, 2012), 15 Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012), 12A Boyhood (Linklater, 2015), 15 Captain Fantastic (Ross, 2015), 15. British film since 1995 This is a two-film study; two films selected from the list below: Secrets and Lies (Leigh, 1996), 15 Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996), 18 Sweet Sixteen (Loach, 2002), 18 Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004), 15 This is England (Meadows, 2006), 18 Moon (Jones, 2009), 15 Fish Tank (Arnold, 2009), 15 We Need to Talk about Kevin (Ramsay, 2011), 15 Sightseers (Wheatley, 2012), 15 Under the Skin (Glazer, 2013), 15. Global perspectives Students examine five feature-length films including two global films (one European, one non-European), a documentary film, one silent film and one experimental film (1960-2000). Global film This is a two-film study. Students study one film from each group: European film Life is Beautiful (Benigni, Italy, 1997), PG Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro, Spain, 2006), 15 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, France, 2007), 12 Ida (Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013), 12A Mustang (Ergűven, France/Turkey, 2015), 15 Victoria (Schipper, Germany, 2015), 15 Outside Europe Dil Se (Ratnam, India, 1998), 12 City of God (Mereilles, Brazil, 2002), House of Flying Daggers (Zhang, China, 2004), 15 Timbuktu (Sissako, Mauritania, 2014), 12A Wild Tales (Szifrón, Argentina, 2014), 15 Taxi Tehran (Panahi, Iran, 2015), 12. Documentary Students study one film from the list below: Sisters in Law (Ayisi and Longinotto, Cameroon/UK, 2005), 12A The Arbor (Barnard, UK, 2010), 15 Stories We Tell (Polley, Canada, 2012), 12A 20,000 Days on Earth (Forsyth and Pollard, UK, 2014), 15 Amy (Kapadia, UK, 2015), 15. Silent cinema Students study one film from the list below: One Week (1920), U and The Scarecrow (1920), U and The ‘High Sign’ (1921), U and Cops (1922), U, (Keaton, US) Strike (Eisenstein, USSR, 1924), 15 Sunrise (Murnau, US, 1927), U Spies (Lang, Germany, 1928), PG Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, USSR, 1928), U and A Propos de Nice (Vigo, France, 1930), U. Experimental film (1960-2000) Students study one film from the list below: Vivre sa vie (Godard, France, 1962), 15 Daisies (Chytilova, Czechoslovakia, 1965), 15 and Saute ma ville (Akerman, Belgium, 1968), 15 Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, US, 1994), 18 Fallen Angels (Wong, Hong Kong, 1995), 15 Timecode (Figgis, US, 2000), 15.
Students who continue to Year 12 at Ashbourne are expected to be able to gain a minimum of 6 grades 6s (or equivalent) for their GCSE results and must have a determination to work towards their academic potential.
About Education Provider
| Region | London |
| Local Authority | Kensington and Chelsea |
| Ofsted Rating | Outstanding |
| Gender Type | Co-Educational |
| ISI Report | View Report |
| Boarding Fee | Unknown |
| Sixth Form Fee | £32,250 - £34,500 |
| Address | 17 Old Court Place, Kensington, London, W8 4PL |
Students hoping to pursue a career in this field can choose from a variety of Film Studies and related courses at universities across the UK including Warwick, King’s College and Queen Mary, Edinburgh, UCL, Oxford, East Anglia, Plymouth and Gloucestershire. Getting into the film industry is highly competitive but there are plenty of options and directions you can select. With your creative eye, sharp critical skills and technical expertise you could take centre stage and direct your own blockbuster or art house movie, write screenplays or music scores, review the latest movies, become the visual, sound or music editor, art direct, create props, come up with great ideas for programmes, make video games, promote, market and advertise, or become a YouTube phenomenon, for example. Students will examine and analyse a wide range of films using three core frameworks: Film form, Meaning and response, and Context. They will apply their knowledge to carry out in-depth studies focusing on chosen specialist areas, e.g. narrative, spectatorship, ideology and filmmakers’ theories. They will also use their technical skills to create their short film and evaluations. Film form Handheld camera shots, lighting, crafting narrative to the shot, setting the scene, choreographing the action and conveying meaning through the synergy of sound and movement are just some of the techniques filmmakers use. Students will explore a wide range of methods that help develop meaningful narratives and provoke differing responses from their audience, including cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance. Meaning and response How films are interpreted, how they encapsulate a cultural mood and what response they evoke from their audiences is critical to filmmaking production and analysis. Students will look at how characters and concepts are (mis) represented and the impact this can have on the spectators and wider society. Context Filmmakers and their films are shaped by and reflect the underlying contexts from which they are created. Students will consider how and to what extent context – social, cultural, political, historical, financial, institutional and technological – has an impact. How audiences react to films is also a critical factor that students will explore. Specialist areas Students will study specified films about selected specialist areas: Spectatorship; Narrative; Ideology; Auteur; Critical debates; and Filmmakers’ theories. Production Finally, students get to reveal what they have discovered about the film, demonstrate their technical skills and show off their creative flair. Based on a given brief students produce a high-quality short film and screenplay with their evaluation. The course is split into three components: Varieties of film and filmmaking; Global filmmaking perspectives; and Production. Students receive a brief to create a short film (4-5 minutes) or a screenplay for a short film (1600-1800 words). This is accompanied by a digitally photographed storyboard of a key section from the screenplay and an evaluative analysis (1600 – 1800 words). Varieties Students examine six feature-length films drawing on their understanding of key concepts and critical analysis. These include two Hollywood films (1930-1960 and 1961-1990), two American films made since 2005 (one mainstream, one independent) and two British films made since 1995. Hollywood films Students study one film from each group: Classical Hollywood (1930-1960) Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942), U The Lady from Shanghai (Welles, 1947), PG Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954), PG Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958), PG Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959), 12 New Hollywood (1961-1990) Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967), 15 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975), 15 Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979), 15 Blade Runner (Scott, 1982), 15* Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989), 15. *Learners study Blade Runner in the Director’s Cut version, released in 1992. American film since 2005 This is a two-film study. Students study one film from each group: Mainstream film No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007), 15 Inception (Nolan, 2010), 12A Selma (Duvernay, 2014), 12A Carol (Haynes, 2015), 15 La La Land (Chazelle, 2016), 12A Contemporary independent film (produced after 2010) Winter’s Bone (Granik, 2010), 15 Frances Ha! (Baumbach, 2012), 15 Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012), 12A Boyhood (Linklater, 2015), 15 Captain Fantastic (Ross, 2015), 15. British film since 1995 This is a two-film study; two films selected from the list below: Secrets and Lies (Leigh, 1996), 15 Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996), 18 Sweet Sixteen (Loach, 2002), 18 Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004), 15 This is England (Meadows, 2006), 18 Moon (Jones, 2009), 15 Fish Tank (Arnold, 2009), 15 We Need to Talk about Kevin (Ramsay, 2011), 15 Sightseers (Wheatley, 2012), 15 Under the Skin (Glazer, 2013), 15. Global perspectives Students examine five feature-length films including two global films (one European, one non-European), a documentary film, one silent film and one experimental film (1960-2000). Global film This is a two-film study. Students study one film from each group: European film Life is Beautiful (Benigni, Italy, 1997), PG Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro, Spain, 2006), 15 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, France, 2007), 12 Ida (Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013), 12A Mustang (Ergűven, France/Turkey, 2015), 15 Victoria (Schipper, Germany, 2015), 15 Outside Europe Dil Se (Ratnam, India, 1998), 12 City of God (Mereilles, Brazil, 2002), House of Flying Daggers (Zhang, China, 2004), 15 Timbuktu (Sissako, Mauritania, 2014), 12A Wild Tales (Szifrón, Argentina, 2014), 15 Taxi Tehran (Panahi, Iran, 2015), 12. Documentary Students study one film from the list below: Sisters in Law (Ayisi and Longinotto, Cameroon/UK, 2005), 12A The Arbor (Barnard, UK, 2010), 15 Stories We Tell (Polley, Canada, 2012), 12A 20,000 Days on Earth (Forsyth and Pollard, UK, 2014), 15 Amy (Kapadia, UK, 2015), 15. Silent cinema Students study one film from the list below: One Week (1920), U and The Scarecrow (1920), U and The ‘High Sign’ (1921), U and Cops (1922), U, (Keaton, US) Strike (Eisenstein, USSR, 1924), 15 Sunrise (Murnau, US, 1927), U Spies (Lang, Germany, 1928), PG Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, USSR, 1928), U and A Propos de Nice (Vigo, France, 1930), U. Experimental film (1960-2000) Students study one film from the list below: Vivre sa vie (Godard, France, 1962), 15 Daisies (Chytilova, Czechoslovakia, 1965), 15 and Saute ma ville (Akerman, Belgium, 1968), 15 Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, US, 1994), 18 Fallen Angels (Wong, Hong Kong, 1995), 15 Timecode (Figgis, US, 2000), 15.
Students who continue to Year 12 at Ashbourne are expected to be able to gain a minimum of 6 grades 6s (or equivalent) for their GCSE results and must have a determination to work towards their academic potential.