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Case studyElla
Case study
"Film studies helped me develop so many skills. For me it helped confirm what I wanted to do in the future and helped give me the confidence to pursue a career in film. The lessons are fun, the trips are always useful and overall great opportunities."
Film studies helped me develop so many skills!
Film Studies (A Level)
Assessment- Year 1 and 2
70% Exam; 30% Coursework - Exam board
Eduqas
What Will You Learn?
You probably like watching films, but do you like digging beneath the surface of a film to really understand how and why it was made in that way? What does a camera angle lend to the interpretation of a scene, why might music be significant in understanding a character and how does the edit of a scene direct the audience’s comprehension of the action. You certainly don’t need to be a film buff but, here at college, we expect you to be open to a variety of contrasting film styles and genres. You will want to know what makes film significant within our culture today and how film theory, and film language assist us in analysing and evaluating the impact of film.
Modules
Component 1: Variety of Films and Filmmaking (35%)
Section A: You will compare films produced in Hollywood during the periods 1930-1960 and 1961- 1990. A particular focus of the study will be on how various social, production, and auteur contexts impact and shape films produced within them.
Section B: A study of American mainstream and independent filmmaking from 2005 onwards. Here you will consider the concept of spectatorship – how do texts communicate meaning and provoke a variety of responses in spectators?
Section C: Here you explore the concepts of narrative and ideology in relation to two British films.
Component 2: Global Filmmaking Perspectives (35%)
Section A: Here you further your knowledge of form in films from two very different contexts, focussing on their aesthetic and representational dimensions.
Section B: Here you will delve into the debates relating to documentary films and the truth.
Section C: We turn our attention to 1920 USSR to study the rise of Soviet Montage Cinema, as an alternative to American and European filmmaking.
Section D: You will analyse Quentin Tarantino’s postmodern classic ‘Pulp Fiction’ as an example of experimental cinema.
Component 3: Screenplay (30%)
This component provides an opportunity to produce high quality creative work. You will produce a screenplay for a short film that focuses on narrative construction from a list of prescribed narrative situations. The screenplay is accompanied by a digitally photographed storyboard sequence, which will indicate how the screenplay could be realised visually. Students will also provide an evaluative analysis of the work in relation to professionally produced screenplays.
Special Features
- We have visiting speakers (from Hollywood) and ex students coming to college to talk to you.
- You can attend trips and events, including a residential to London.
- Our student's practical coursework is exhibited in the end of year Arts Festival.
Where Will This Lead?
Typically students’ progress onto a Film or Media related degree courses and plan for a career in one of the many growing areas across the media industries. However, the skills and understanding gained in Film Studies also equip students to progress into a variety of career paths, many of which value and desire the new presentational , creative and analytical talents of Film students.
Destinations of recent Film students include:
- King's College London – Filmmaking
- Becket College Leeds – Filmmaking
- Oxford University - History
- Manchester Metropolitan University – Creative Writing Led Community Practices
- Edge Hill University – Media, Film and Television
- Liverpool John Moore’s – Film Studies
