Why study Film Studies?

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The AS and A Level in Film Studies is designed to deepen students’ understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of film, the major art form of the 20th century and a cultural form of great significance. Students will engage in a vast range of film texts, developing skills of observation, critical analysis and personal reflection.

What will I study?

AS Units

Module 1
Making Meaning
Candidates will be introduced to film form and how meaning is created. It is assessed by 2 written analyses of film sequences. The candidate then develops their own film idea, using storyboards or script, followed by a reflective evaluation of the project. [Coursework - 40%].

Module 2
Producers and Audiences: Hollywood and British Cinema.
The focus is on the film industry and the social practice of cinema going and film consumption. It will study film finance, production and distribution, and compare British and American contexts of production and reception. The exam will be two stimulus response questions to unseen materials. [Modular Exam - 30%].

Module 3
Messages and Values - British and Irish Cinema.
The unit focuses on messages and values suggested by films, concentrating on British and Irish Cinema. . The exams cover a comparative analysis of a select period (e.g. ‘The Swinging Sixties’), and a close study of one prescribed film. [Modular Exam - 30%].

A2 UNITS

Module 4
Making Meaning 2
Candidates will undertake two practical activities. The research is on an ‘auteur’, an influential director, and involves a 1000 word research package and a 1000 word presentation script, to be delivered to the student’s peers. The creative work can either be film journalism, or screenwriting, or film making. [Coursework - 40%].

Module 5
Studies in World Cinema.
It will cover a style of a specific film style of movement, followed by a close analysis of a selected film from contemporary world cinema.

Module 6
Critical Studies
Synoptic unit, designed as an overview and synthesis of the course. There is a longer two hour exam on the following: Film Text and Spectators, Specialist Studies; Producers and Audiences: Issues and Debates; Meanings and Values: Critical Approaches. [Modular Exam - 30%].

What do I need to start the course?

Course entry recommendation is Grade B in GCSE English Literature and in GCSE English.