Overview

This module will provide students with an understanding of the link between film technologies, narratives, styles, genres, and subjects, and the societies in which film circulates. Lectures will introduce students to a range of important changes which have influenced the development of film as a medium. The module will help students to situate the selected films in their cultural, political, historic, and technological 20th-century contexts. Lecture topics include Early Silent Cinema, Soviet Montage, German Expressionism, Surrealism, Classical Hollywood Cinema, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, India’s Parallel Cinema, Third Cinema, the Blockbuster and the LA Rebellion.

Weekly screenings illustrate issues covered in lectures and associated readings, providing a case study for weekly seminars.

Screenings will likely include Le Voyage dans la Lune (Georges Méliès, 1902); The Consequences of Feminism (Alice Guy-Blaché, 1906); Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925); The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920); Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí, 1929); L'âge d'or (Luis Buñuel, 1930); Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1941); Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948); Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955); Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962); Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968); E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982); and Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991).

This module will provide students with an understanding of the link between film technologies, narratives, styles, genres, and subjects, and the societies in which film circulates. Lectures will introduce students to a range of important changes which have influenced the development of film as a medium. The module will help students to situate the selected films in their cultural, political, historic, and technological 20th-century contexts. Lecture topics include Early Silent Cinema, Soviet Montage, German Expressionism, Surrealism, Classical Hollywood Cinema, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, India’s Parallel Cinema, Third Cinema, the Blockbuster and the LA Rebellion.

Weekly screenings illustrate issues covered in lectures and associated readings, providing a case study for weekly seminars.

Screenings will likely include Le Voyage dans la Lune (Georges Méliès, 1902); The Consequences of Feminism (Alice Guy-Blaché, 1906); Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925); Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920); Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí, 1929); L'âge d'or (Luis Buñuel, 1930); Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1941); Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948); Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955); Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962); Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968); E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982); and Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991).

Assessment Strategy

Excellent To achieve Grade A the assessment must: Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and detailed understanding of the subject area; Demonstrate extensive background study; Be well structured and highly focused; Contain logically presented and defended arguments; Be free of factual/computational errors; Include significant elements of original interpretation; Demonstrate an ability to identify, develop and present new links between topics; Include new approaches to analysing and/or explaining a problem; and Be presented to very high standards with very accurate communication.

Good To achieve Grade B the assessment must: Demonstrate strong knowledge and understanding of most of the subject area; Demonstrate evidence of background study; Be well structured and focused; Contain coherently presented arguments; Be mostly free of factual/computational errors; Include some elements of original interpretation; Describe well known links between topics; Analyse and/or explain problems using existing methods/approaches; and Be presented to high standards with accurate communication.

To achieve Grade C the assessment must: Demonstrate knowledge of key areas/principles; Have some, if only limited, evidence of background study; Be focused on the question (assessment brief) with only some irrelevant material and weaknesses in structure; Attempt to present relevant and logical arguments; Not contain a large number of factual/computational errors; Describe major links between topics; Attempt to analyse and/or explain problems; and Be free of major weaknesses in presentation and accuracy.

Threshold To achieve Grade D the assessment must: Demonstrate knowledge of some key areas/principles; Have some, if only limited, evidence of background study; Attempt to present an answer on the question (assessment brief) with only some irrelevant material and weaknesses in structure; Attempt to present relevant and coherent arguments; Not contain a large number of factual/computational errors; Describe some links between topics; Provide some analysis and/or explanation of problems; and Demonstrate an attempt to avoid major weaknesses in presentation and accuracy.

Learning Outcomes

• Be able to identify the key movements and developments in the production and distribution of the moving image across a range of cultures, genres, and film producing nations.

• Be able to recognise, analyse, and understand the importance of situating a variety of film forms within a context.

• Be able to utilise a range of sources and materials to carry out independent research.

• Demonstrate an ability to research and write well constructed essays.

• Have a clear grasp of the technical vocabulary required for analysing the moving image when approached from a range of theoretical perspectives.

• Have a developed understanding of generic and narrative structure.

• Work successfully in groups and demonstrate developed presentation skills.