In your first year you'll study with our partner, ARU College. This module will provide you with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in courses related to the humanities, social sciences, English, media and education. You will be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including thinking critically, researching, and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate numeracy and ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. In addition to these fundamental study skills, you'll be given an introduction to a broad range of disciplines whose skills and theories are widely applicable. You will study a variety of writing styles in order to recognise, deconstruct and replicate various forms of persuasive, analytical, and informative writing. You'll learn the basics of intercultural studies and how these theories can be applied to real-world problems. You will consider social perceptions held across Western cultures, and the difference between social and self-perception, participating in structured discussion and argument. You'll be introduced to the core principles of psychology and will explore various current applications of psychological theory. You will also be introduced to ethics and learn about some of the key theories and thinkers in the development of current ethical considerations in a range of scenarios. This module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Psychology; Composition and Style; Ethics; Social Perceptions.
This module will introduce you to visual film analysis and key concepts of interpretation. You will undertake visual film analysis, looking closely at how cinematography, sound, editing and mise-en-scène work together to produce the emotional and intellectual viewing experience. We will also explore key concepts in film theory, for example, auteurism, genre, star studies, reception studies, feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, queer theory, semiotics and critical race theory. This module will enhance your ability to meet professional and employment expectations, such as clear communication, and the ability to work independently and to meet deadlines. It will also address ethical values, encouraging you to address issues of diversity and inclusiveness and learn to read texts critically. Your assessment will consist of a portfolio of written work, including shot analyses and textual analyses (a total of 6,000 words).
View the full module definitionThis practice-based module introduces you to film and the moving image through a series of briefs and exercises that investigate a number of principles regarding the language, conventions and aesthetic possibilities of film and the moving image. The range of projects will encompass the investigation of various principles involving composition and lighting, shot/reverse shot sequences, matching on action, graphic matching, continuity editing, synch/non-synch sound, and the rhythmic editing of pictures and sound. All are central to many film and moving image practices. The purpose and outcome of each project brief are aimed at experimenting and gaining an understanding of how they work rather than perfecting conventions. In the later part of the module, you'll make a film in creative response to codes and conventions explored in the first part of the module. No prior technical experience in filmmaking is required. The module will incorporate inductions in camera operation, sound recording, editing and the potential of online platforms. Practical workshops will be complemented by screenings of a range of complementary film and moving image works spanning narrative fiction, documentary and experimental work. In the process of pre-production and planning, you'll be encouraged to develop and practise methods of visualising and notating ideas. There will be regular presentations of your work in critical forums, to gain the feedback of your peers and tutors.
View the full module definitionThe module is designed to equip you with the skill base to make an entry level submission to the industry, both in schemes for new writers and relevant competitions. You'll be expected to develop your own original idea for a short film, to this end it is vital that you acquire a real understanding of the form. The first half of the course will be spent analysing a range of short films and to understand how story ideas are generated and developed into a workable template. You'll then progress onto developing your own original idea in second half of the course.
View the full module definitionOn this module you will explore global cinema from 1895 to today. Traditionally, the history of cinema has privileged mainstream cinema from the US and Europe with a sprinkling of 'world cinema'. By contrast, this module will introduce you to a global and transnational approach in which Hollywood forms one part of the globalised commercial and artistic film landscape of the last 130 years. We will study a range of films from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, South and East Asia, and the Pacific region. We will trace the origins of today's industries, from film-makers as artisans to Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood, and art-house cinema. The focus throughout is on the distinctive filmic aspects of cinema (style and other formal aspects, technology, the industry) and how these have interacted with wider historical and geo-political developments. Specific topics for focused study may include indigenous cinemas, the representation of violence and war, the representation of gender and sexuality, the development of genres, and other current topics. You will encounter films made by women, films that are blockbusters, as well as films that may seem obscure or 'niche'. You will learn to think historically and critically, and reflect on your own position with regard to films from long ago and 'far away'. The module will enhance your ability to meet professional and employment expectations, such as clear communication, and the ability to work independently and to meet deadlines. It will also address ethical values, encouraging you to address issues of diversity and inclusiveness. Your assessment will consist of written essays and analyses (a total of 6,000 words).
View the full module definitionIn this module you'll be introduced to the aesthetics of working with film, what film is, how it is different from video, its relationship to photography, plus the theoretical and practical benefits of it as a medium are the foundation of this module. This module replicates industry methods of production, as the film is shot in the analogue domain and post-production is entirely digital (editing, addition of sound etc). You'll develop your visualisation as well as conceptual skills, especially in the development of an idea in its pre-production phase where you will work with the economy necessary in producing analogue films. You'll also do this in the production of a non-synch soundtrack, wherein you will undertake sound design, and/or working with music. You'll receive technical tuition in using Super-8mm film cameras, cameras which have many creative features, and you'll be required to evidence your understanding of the camera’s capabilities in your final project.
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.
You'll address issues of spectatorship and representation through a range of theoretical approaches including psychoanalytic theory. You'll also explore the intersection of pleasure and terror in our encounters with the image, considering the ways in which film taps into our unconscious, and the role of the body, the senses, and emotion in shaping our responses to moving image culture. You'll look at the future of film studies by addressing the changing conditions of spectatorship in the age of digital cinema.
View the full module definitionOn this module you will focus on the practices, products and institutional frameworks of the classical Hollywood period. You will explore the narrative conventions that continue to shape the majority of mainstream commercial cinema and study the formal and stylistic features of the 'realist' text, the ideologies that inform it and its ideals of normative identities and lifestyles. You will explore coupling and heterosexual romance as a motor of plot development and as an intensely ideological aspect of films made in this period. Similarly, you will consider the significance of the ‘happy ending’ in maintaining or challenging key ideological norms and values. Drawing from some of the theoretical approaches encountered on earlier compulsory modules (Theorizing Spectatorship), you will think about classical Hollywood cinema’s positioning of the spectator, and the implications for the construction of gender and racial identities. Finally, you will also consider the style conventions of different classical Hollywood film genres and debate their significance in helping to align spectators ideologically and emotionally in the narrative action.
View the full module definitionThe module introduces you to many of the critical discussions and debates surrounding the historical, technological, aesthetic and socio-political developments of the documentary approach to film and video-making. As well as paying full regard to the key trends and film-makers to have contributed to the history of this important genre, the module responds to the renewed public interest in documentary film and its crossover into the mainstream with the most up-to-date commercial and critical hits. You'll focus on the nature, specificity and evolution of the documentary form, and its relationship to cinematic realism. You'll address the historical and theoretical contexts of the study of documentary film, and engage with topical debates regarding the relationship between reality and representation, documentary ethics, and the role of cross-cultural documentary and ethnographic film. You'll discuss the different modes of address in documentary film-making, the role of the documentary film-maker, and the relationship between film-maker and subject(s). Current and future modes of distribution and exhibition for the documentary film are explored, including an address to specialist festivals devoted to documentaries. Throughout the module there are opportunities for critical analysis of key film texts.
View the full module definitionRuskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
In film studies we are most used to reading film theory and criticism by academics, cultural critics and historians. Filmmakers themselves (directors, producers, camerapersons, editors, or individual experimental filmmakers) have often written about film in illuminating, sometimes provocative, accounts of their craft that deal with aspirations spanning aesthetic, ethical, ideological, technological and theoretical concerns. The form of filmmakers’ writings has included manifestoes, journal articles, transcribed interviews, and monographs. In the course of this module, we will look at a range of filmmakers whose ideas have been manifest on the page (as well as the screen) to communicate their vision of cinema. In each instance we will also look at the broader historical and cultural context that filmmakers have operated in. Every week of the module will involve a screening, lecture and seminar devoted to an analysis and discussion of a particular filmmaker’s work, comprising one or more films and one or more accompanying texts. The range of filmmakers that you will explore on the module have a global outlook and span historical to contemporary figures as well as narrative cinema, non-fiction filmmaking and experimental cinema.
View the full module definitionYou’ll focus on the development, features and impact of independent cinema in the US and beyond. Alongside close examination of a number of key films, you'll consider areas such as the financing and promotion of independent film-making, and investigate how and why certain directors choose to work outside the protective infrastructures and high budgets provided by a studio system. You’ll also look at US-based film-makers starting out in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as John Sayles, Jim Jarmusch and Joel Coen, and how they influenced later international film-makers, such as Quentin Tarantino, Gregg Araki, Vincent Gallo and Lukas Moodysson. You’ll explore how Awards ceremonies and Film Festivals can showcase 'peripheral' cinema, and critically examine the role of independent distribution companies. Your assessment will take the form of a critical essay and an oral seminar presentation on the work of an independent film-maker of your choice.
View the full module definitionIn this module, you'll have the opportunity to work exclusively with film. What film is, how it is different from video, its relationship to photography and the theoretical and practical benefits of its intrinsic nature, are the foundation of this module. The project requires you to work in a group of two or three. Each group is given one roll of 16mm film (100ft/3.5 minutes). You'll be required to devise a piece no shorter than one minute for your final project. The module seeks to develop your skills in visualisation as well as conceptual skills. There is a strong emphasis on pre-production in this module. You'll be required to plan/script/design your film before any shooting begins. The success of this piece is based on how well you stick to what you set out to do. You'll receive a strong technical induction in using the Bolex 16mm camera. Attention is paid to the features of the camera, exposure, and film stock. The module is informed by photography as well as film. Specifically addressed is the relationship the two have with each other. The module begins with an address to the proto-cinematic motion studies of Muybridge and Marey and work by Cindy Sherman and Hiroshi Sugimoto is also examined. Films that are screened range from artist filmmakers Stan Brakhage and Guy Sherwin, to European art house, Godard, Bergman, Antonioni, as well as a more mainstream auteur, such as Hitchcock. Theoretically, the module is underpinned by texts by Doane, Barthes, and Hamlyn. All texts seek to further establish issues arising through practice.
View the full module definitionYou'll examine the nature and practice of documentary filmmaking, focusing on the aesthetics of documentary concerning expository, poetic, observational, performative, participatory, and reflexive modes of practice. You'll be encouraged to consider, reflect and implement appropriate responses to the range of issues that might arise in your work, including the ethical, creative, methodological, theoretical, and technical concerns that relate to documentary. Examples of contemporary, historical, independent, mainstream, television and film documentaries are examined in detail to rationalise the subject of non-fiction film and video in terms of forms and conventions of documentary language. A range of work will be screened and discussed during the module, which provides a context for the projects that you undertake in small groups. The module begins with you being asked to make a number of concise introductory pieces that explore concepts and aesthetics concerning documentary and 'non-fiction' filmmaking. You'll then pitch a more substantial project to the module tutors and seminar group, followed by feedback and further discussion of ethical, creative and practical issues raised by each proposal. Groups should then produce a shooting script and production schedule making sure to gain all permission from interviewees, copyright and location owners, prior to filming. The module tutors will supervise the production and editing processes and require students to attend group tutorials.
View the full module definitionThis module provides training and experience in writing film reviews within a professional context. You'll begin by exploring the nature and purpose of reviewing films, and consider the impact and influence of film reviewers on notions of taste and cultural and social value. You'll then work through the professional practices of the reviewing process. You'll gain experience in writing reviews for a variety of different readerships, across a range of print and digital formats. Seminars are designed to illustrate review philosophies; planning and structuring of reviews; tailoring the review according to a brief; keeping film diaries; and developing a personal writing style. You'll share and develop ideas in small peer groups and will benefit from regular formative feedback from the module tutor. You'll also have the opportunity to review films in a live context, through our links with the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse and Take One magazine. You'll also be encouraged to keep a film diary and to review for the student-led Ruskin Journal.
View the full module definitionThis module provides you with the opportunity to explore creative and technical processes involved in devising and developing a short narrative film, from script to screen. The module thus differs from other screenwriting modules in that you'll actualise your scripts in video. In particular, it draws attention to the importance of visualisation, communicating narrative through image, sound and action. Although films are created in a collaborative way, the distinct roles of producer, director, writer and editor are defined and discussed so as to encourage understanding of the interrelationships between each of them in ensuring the most effective realisation of the script ideas. You'll begin by viewing and discussing script and film work by new and established writers and directors and use these discussions to develop their original ideas into five-minute screenplays. A pitching session to peers and lecturers allows for the selection of some of those scripts to be produced into short films, with you working collaboratively in small groups to devise and realise those scripts to completion. You'll be expected to undertake script revisions and rewrites during the production process, as an integral part of interpreting and developing your ideas, and as the realities and practicalities of the production become evident. The module ends with a screening and critical discussion of all short films, with an opportunity to receive feedback from peers and lecturers.
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.
This module will give you the opportunity to study a topic that will be taught by a member of staff whose particular academic interests and/or research is reflected in that area. You will extend your knowledge and understanding of a specific subject area that you may have encountered earlier in your studies, and in which there is deemed to be scope for more reading, critical commentary, analysis and discussion. Alternatively, this module may be used to introduce you to a topic which is not found elsewhere in the existing degree provision. A topic may be the study of a single filmmaker (e.g., Charlie Chaplin; Claire Denis) or cognate group of filmmakers (e.g., the French New Wave; New Queer Cinema), a genre (e.g. Global Horror; the Teen Movie), or a topic that allows for in-depth discussion and consideration of a defined area in film theory (Cinema & Sexuality; Digital Aesthetics in Contemporary Cinema; Film-Philosophy). The designated topics vary from year to year, and topics will be communicated prior to module choice. There will be no formal lectures - the module will be taught in seminars in which you will take part in group discussions.
View the full module definitionThe Major Project module will allow you to engage in a substantial piece of individual research and creative/technological work, focused on a topic of your choice that is relevant to your degree course. Your topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. Your project can be a dissertation or an agreed combination of solo or group creative/technological practice and an individually authored piece of writing. In Trimester One you'll have a series of lectures to prepare you for this level of research, help you develop an appropriate methodology, and help you decide upon the shape of your project. Your supervisor will then meet with you to formalise your negotiated assessment outcomes, agreeing and documenting any % split between writing and creative practice. In Trimester Two regular meetings with your supervisor will take place, so that the project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. The project developed in this module is the most self-directed piece of work that you will produce during your undergraduate studies. The successful completion of this module will enhance your employability, evidencing your ability, appropriate skillset and specialist interests.
View the full module definitionThis module builds on the skills you have acquired in Screenwriting: The Short Film at Level 4 and Script to Screen at Level 5. Through small group work and discussion with the seminar leader, you'll develop an original screenplay idea. The module will cover basic narrative conventions, including the role of conflict, the line of action and plot reversals, character building, and atmosphere. You'll be encouraged to experiment with the representation of place, space and time, and build in subplots when appropriate. You'll be expected to consider your target audience, and will be given the opportunity to explore the role of genre as a means of making narrative choices.
View the full module definitionThis module is built around several workshops that encourage you to explore a range of experimental approaches to filmmaking and the moving image. An indicative list of workshops includes: multi-screen filmmaking; the moving image in-situ, live performance with film; single-frame filmmaking; working with found footage and experiments in soundtrack recording. Each workshop will involve a concise brief, advanced technical inductions, an introduction to a range of associated film and video works, a short period of time to undertake the project and a discussion of the work that is produced. In the latter part of the module, you'll propose, develop and produce a project following the premises and lines of enquiry suggested by one of the earlier workshops. You'll be required to show and discuss the development of your project in the context of individual tutorials and wider work-in-progress sessions. You can work individually or in small groups.
View the full module definitionThis module will develop your skills producing short dramatic works adapted for video. The videos produced may form part of your showreel after completing your degree. You will explore the preparation of video material for a variety of new media and accordingly develop basic video production skills. Regular video playback will allow for critical reflection on the work produced and highlight where improvements may be made in performances or choice of shots.
View the full module definitionStarting with an exploration of the various modes within which film journalism functions, you'll explore the world of professional film journalism, enabling you to create original features for a variety of readerships in a range of media. Seminars are structured around an exercise designed to illustrate - with the aid of examples from the professional context - how to work with editors; planning and structuring interviews; developing, drafting and revising reviews and features; tailoring output according to a professional brief and/or a specific audience type; and developing a personal style. You will understand the practicalities of professional journalism in print and other media, with examples drawn from mainstream and specialist sources, at national, regional and local level.
View the full module definitionIn this module, you'll get to build on what you learned in Experiments in Film and Moving Image, developing a particular method of working, or honing a specific approach to practice - whether that's in the context of narrative drama, documentary, animation, or experimental mode. You'll also be encouraged to consider the wider context of their work. The first few weeks of the module will comprise conceptual workshop projects that encourage you to think critically, through practice, and re-examine concepts associated with the fundamental aesthetics of film and video. These projects will also encourage you to develop your project proposals by way of showing and discussing specific images, sounds and their combination. The content of the module will be led by the discussion of issues and concepts that arise in relation to your projects. Your progress on these projects is addressed in detail throughout the trimester in the context of seminars and individual or group tutorials with staff from across the school. A guest lecture by a visiting filmmaker will also be a key element. You'll also be encouraged to assist in organising the end-of-year screening. This usually takes place at the Arts Picture House. Staff will oversee the project, but you'll be centrally involved in writing copy, designing posters and compiling the work. By the end of the module, you should also have made your work ready for distribution to film and video festivals.
View the full module definitionThis module explores the appeal of contemporary popular cinema and builds on the critical ideas and theories you have already studied in previous years of the film studies program. By examining current debates in the field of film studies, you'll be encouraged to engage deeply with film theory and get a better understanding of the impact and meaning of popular cinema. We'll define and critically discuss the nature of popular cinema and how multiplex culture has grown in places like North America and the UK. Key topics will include: the pros and cons of the multiplex; analysis of dominant genres and conventions; consideration of the recyclable nature of popular film narratives; the depiction of gender, sexuality, 'race' and class on screen; audience and spectatorship; representations of violence; the rise of the blockbuster and star studies. The module considers the force of popular cinema as an important site for working through societal fears and fantasies by closely examining a variety of films, from, for example, Jaws (Spielberg, US, 1975) to Titanic (Cameron, US, 1998).
View the full module definitionOn this module you will explore the way stories are told in films from around the world. You will study key aspects of cinematic narrative structure, including order, duration, cause-and-effect patterns, and the distinction between fabula (story) and syuzhet (plot). You will also examine how character and voice are handled in film, the function of 'point of view', focalisation, and internal vs external characterisation. You will address theoretical aspects such as narrator and narratee, reception theory, suspense vs surprise, the key 'seven' narrative functions, narrative and genre, and the ideology of 'show vs tell'. You will analyse non-narrative (and anti-narrative) aspects of narratives, such as description, iconic shots, music, and other disruptive elements. You will also be thinking about the different roles of words (dialogue, text, sub-titles) and imagery. You will study all of these narrative topics with regard to global cinemas. You will compare and contrast mainstream commercial Hollywood movies with non-American examples, ask to what extent continuity narrative has become the dominant pattern across the globe, examine narrative structures that do not fit the mainstream model, and analyse the intersection of global narratives with diverse identity formations. You will view films and clips from various European countries and non-Western regions, in addition to co-productions and transnational examples. Your assessment will comprise a narrative analysis (1000 words) and a critical (2000 words).
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.