Film Theory, Media, Culture and Society

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the socio-historical and intellectual contexts in which those critics work
• the work of some key contemporary cultural critics relevant to Film Studies
• the specialised terminology used to articulate these ideas
• the conflicts between different positions
• the positions those critics represent and the concepts involved
• fundamental concepts concerning representation in film
• how you can usefully translate these concepts to a range of texts and contexts

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• recognise and use appropriate specialised terms and concepts
• use theoretical material to interpret the ways audiences engage with media productions
• apply fundamental theoretical notions from these theorists to practical examples drawn from film and television
• begin to produce a theoretically informed reading of a film text using appropriate terminology
• outline the key ideas of a selection of theoretical works
• engage critically with theoretical material

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• write critically, reflectively and accurately
• locate and use appropriate critical resources

This module will introduce you to some key thinkers, whose approaches have been used and developed in film criticism. We will begin with a survey of the ideas of critics such as Barthes, Althusser, and Lacan to locate each of these critics within his own socio-historical context, and position him within the field of cultural criticism. In particular, we will trace the development of their ideas from their origins in the work of Saussure, Marx, and Freud. We will apply these ideas to selected filmic texts in class and you will be strongly encouraged to develop your own readings of some film and/or television texts of your choice.

We will then progress to consider the work of contemporary cultural critics who are significant to film studies. Indicative critics might include Bordwell, Dyer, Gramsci, Hall, Fiske, Geraghty, and Mulvey.

Exploring these works will equip you with a range of analytical tools and vocabulary essential to the critical interrogation of film and television texts. In considering these critics, you will examine a number of themes, such as nostalgia, community, class, ethnicity, and gender, as well as the negotiation of hegemony in the cultural field. You will engage in producing your own readings of a variety of film and television texts, from high, popular and mass culture, experiencing the synthesis of theory and practice across a range of genres.

Teaching methods include

• lectures, used to introduce key issues
• seminars, involving a mixture of whole class and small group discussion
• guidance on presentation requirements, techniques and criteria
• weekly screenings of selected films
• opportunities for one-to-one discussion with a tutor in office hours

Learning activities include

• individual study/research
• close reading and careful analysis of theoretical writings
• engagement in seminar discussions as participator and listener
• analysis of selected films in seminars, using appropriate theoretical material
• preparation of written assignments, and oral presentation.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.