Course Catalogue

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This course provides the tools for textual analysis and provides a foundation for future work in the Film and TV programme. The course is based on an open-minded approach to medium specificity introducing the study of film and television as audio-visual languages with their own common, and specific, codes and conventions.

20 x 1 hour lectures on Monday 11am and Wednesday 11am over 10 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus.

10 x 1 hour weekly seminars (choice of times) as scheduled in MyCampus.

10 x 2 hour screenings on Tuesday 4pm over 10 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus

Normally open only to students in Arts who have been specifically admitted to this course through UCAS.

None

None

Time-limited assignment completed over 5 working days (1,500 words) - 40%

Essay (2,000 words) - 50%

Seminar contribution - 10%

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ study the organisation of film and television as audio-visual languages with their own common, and specific, codes and conventions;

■ introduce terms for the analysis of cinema and television texts as a foundation for subsequent study;

■ develop a sense of the diversity of cinema and television practices, and to recognise the significant differences between particular instances of work within and across media;

■ encourage critical analysis of textual examples both in essays and in seminar discussion

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ recognise the audio-visual codes and conventions which cinema and television have in common and identify differences based on medium specificity;

■ use terms of analysis in the critical reading of film and television texts;

■ identify the diversity of forms which cinema and television may take, and recognise the ideological and political implications of different modes of expression and representation;

■ apply skills of close analysis to offer critical readings

■ write about film and television clearly, offering coherent arguments in well-presented essays, using recognised and consistent forms of footnoting and reference.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.