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

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.