Please note: there may be some adjustments to the teaching arrangements published in the course catalogue for 2020-21. Given current circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic it is anticipated that some usual arrangements for teaching on campus will be modified to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff on campus; further adjustments may also be necessary, or beneficial, during the course of the academic year as national requirements relating to management of the pandemic are revised.

Amateur Cinema FTV4017

  • Academic Session: 2022-23
  • School: School of Culture and Creative Arts
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Available to Erasmus Students: Yes

Short Description

This course investigates the status of amateur cinema as an aspect of film culture across a broad historical period. It uses primary archival materials to trace the operation of particular amateur filmmaking groups, and introduces students to the key critical frameworks that have developed to analyse amateur film practices. 

Timetable

10 x 5 hour long weekly meetings for 10 weeks. Each meeting includes screening, lecture and seminar.

Requirements of Entry

Normal Honours entry requirements for Film and Television Studies

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

3,000 word essay (50%)

90 minute exam (50%)

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This couse aims to:

■ introduce students to the theory, history and practice of 'amateur' cinema

■ trace the critical relationship between 'professional' film culture and the amateur sector

■ to identify significant amateur film practitioners, movements, aesthetics and publications

■ to outline the scale and activity of the amateur film sector

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

■ show an understanding of the meaning and use of the term 'amateur' in a variety of relevant cultural discourses.

■ demonstrate a facility with modes of enquiry appropriate to the analysis of 'primary' moving image and print evidences of the amateur

■ recognise the specific contributions that a study of amateur cinema might make to understandings of particular notional, regional and local histories of cinema

■ demonstrate knowledge of selected amateur practitioners, organisations and critical literatures and have deep knowledge of particular examples.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

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