BA Film and Television Studies (W610)

Course Code UNU1W610301
Duration 3 Years
Attendance Full Time
Award Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Overview
Why Choose Us
Requirements
Course Profile
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Overview

The 2012 Complete University Guide ranks UEA second in the country for Media and Communications Studies. Read More…

Image of two children watching an old fashioned TV set showing the words,
This degree programme allows you to study the history, theory and politics of two of the key media - film and television - in contemporary culture.

In your first year, you will be introduced to key critical and theoretical approaches to the study of these two media. You will also look at the history of film and television, including a case study on silent cinema, and modules that situate these media in the broader context of 19th and 20th century cultural history.

In your second and third years you continue the work on film history and, in the third year, take an advanced unit on Media and Cultural Theory and research and write a dissertation of your own devising, with supervision from a member of staff. You will also select from a great many specialist modules on various aspects of British and American cinema and television.

Some of these modules focus on particular filmmakers, others on key film or television genres. Some will deal with a particular period, others with more wide-ranging critical issues such as gender or national identity. Some are organised around in-depth critical analysis of particular films or television programmes, others will be more concerned with broader contextual issues.

In any year, there are at least eight specialist modules to choose from, many of them drawing directly on the research interests and expertise of the eight Film and Television Studies staff. In addition, modules on aspects of European cinema are available. We also offer a range of optional production modules, involving practical work on 16mm film, video, photography and television studio production.

Given the range of modules on offer, you can elect to focus on American cinema, for instance, or British cinema, or television; or you might prefer to concentrate on a particular theme, such as gender and film.

Some students will have the opportunity within their course to make ‘free choice options’ across the range of modules offered by the University. This choice is made in conjunction with your Academic Adviser. Some restrictions may apply to modules offered by other Faculties.

Assessment

Key skills, issues and ideas are introduced in lectures given by all members of faculty. More specialist study is undertaken in small group seminars. These are chosen from a range offered within the School and across the University. You will also spend time studying and researching in the library or carrying out practical work or projects. In most subject areas, you are assessed at the end of each year on the basis of coursework and, in some cases, project and examination results. In your final year, you will write a dissertation on a topic of your choice and with the advice of tutors. There is no final examination. Your final degree result is determined by the marks you receive in years two and three.

All students joining degrees in the School of Film and Television Studies would find it helpful to read Timothy Corrigan's A Short Guide to Writing about Film, (2010, 7th Edition, New York: Longman) over the summer prior to joining the University of East Anglia.

Course Organiser

Dr Rayna Denison

Course Brochure

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Related Courses

Why Choose Us?

UEA was one of the first British universities to develop the study of cinema and television.

The Student Experience Survey ranks UEA third in the country - two places higher than last year's result and overtaking both Oxford and Cambridge... Read More >

We have 12 dedicated members of academic staff, with several more colleagues contributing on a part-time basis. More than 40 graduates of the MA and PhD programmes hold teaching posts at universities in the UK and elsewhere. In the most recent quality assessments by the High Education Funding Council, teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level was adjudged excellent (with a score of 23 out of a possible 24) and our research was placed in the top three of UK institutions.

Each year, some 60 undergraduates are registered for one of the Film and Television Studies degrees (BA Media Studies, BA Film and English Studies, BA Film and American Studies and BA Film and Television Studies). Teaching deals mainly with the history and current shape of British and American cinema and television and with film theory and criticism. We also run modules on other world cinemas and on television, video and film production. The BA degrees in Film and English Studies and Film and American Studies are interdisciplinary, with Film or Television Studies taking up between a half and two thirds of the course. The BA in Film and American Studies is a four year course with the third year spent studying at a university in the USA or Australia.

We have hosted a number of very successful events in recent years, including major conferences on British cinema (1988), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002), Post-Feminism and popular culture (2004), Going Cheap: Female Celebrity in the Tabloid, Reality and Scandal Genres (2008), and the Anglia TV and the History of ITV conference (2008).

To find out more about why we think you should choose our degree programmes, please follow the links below:

Why Study in the School

What Our Students Say

Entry Requirements

A Level AAB-ABB
International Baccalaureate 33-32
Scottish Advanced Highers AAB-ABB
Irish Leaving Certificate AAAABB-AABBBB
Access Course Please contact us for further information
HND Please contact us for further information
European Baccalaureate 80-75%

Students for whom English is a foreign language

If English is not your first language you must have a recognised English Language qualification: Minimum IELTS 6.5 with a 6 in each sub-section and 6.5 in writing, or TOEFL 585 (238 CBT / 93 IBT).

Minimum Grade C in UCLES Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)

If you do not meet the academic and or English requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO University of East Anglia offers guaranteed progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree:

International Foundation in Humanities and Law

Interviews

The majority of candidates will not be called for an interview. However, for some students an interview will be requested. These are normally quite informal and generally cover topics such as your current studies, reasons for choosing the course and your personal interests and extra-curricular activities.

Students will have the opportunity to meet with an academic individually on a Visit Day in order to gain a deeper insight into the course(s) you have applied for.

Gap Year

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year.

Deferred Entry - We welcome applications for deferred entry, believing that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry and may wish to contact the appropriate Admissions Office directly to discuss this further.

Special Entry Requirements

We normally expect applicant to have at least two Arts and Humanities subjects at A Level.

We do not include General Studies in our offers.

Intakes

The School's annual intake is in September of each year.

Alternative Qualifications

If you have alternative qualifications that have not been mentioned above, then please contact the university directly for further information.

GCSE Offer

Students are required have Mathematics and English at Grade C or above at GCSE Level.

Assessment

For the majority of candidates the most important factors in assessing the application will be past and future achievement in examinations, academic interest in the subject being applied for, personal interest and extra-curricular activities and the confidential reference.

We consider applicants as individuals and accept students from a very wide range of educational backgrounds and spend time considering your application in order to reach an informed decision relating to your application. Typical offers are indicated above. Please note, there may be additional subject entry requirements specific to individual degree courses.

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3

Year 1

Compulsory Study (120 credits)

Students will select 120 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Analysing Film and Television The module is designed to provide students with core study skills and techniques and methods of textual analysis. The module will cover the analysis of a range of formal features and frameworks such as narrative, mise-en-scene, camera work, editing and sound used in the analysis of film and television. The study skills covered will include use of the library and internet for research, as well as note taking, essay planning and the conventions of academic writing. In the process the module will cover issues such as referencing and plagiarism. It will be taught by lecture, seminar and screening. more...	FTVF1F09	20	Semester 1
Film, Television and New Media It is often claimed today that contemporary media are undergoing a process of convergence, in which the specificity of film and television is increasingly becoming blurred. This module will examine the contemporary situation of the media by examining the ways in which the emergence of new media has repeatedly given rise to various species of futurological thinking. The module will also examine the various ways in which the integration of film and television with a range of new media (video, DVD, the internet etc.) is both changing and not changing their modes of production, their textual character and the conditions within which they are consumed. The module is taught by lecture and seminar. more...	FTVF1F16	20	Semester 2
Interrogating Culture This module provides an introduction to the key debates over media and cultural theory. In the process, it focuses on the key movements and theorists and covers key debates over the concept of mass culture and the mass media, structuralism and poststructuralism, postmodernism and postmodernity. more...	FTVF1F12	20	Semester 2
Studies in Film History This module provides an introduction to the narrative history of film from the mid 20th century to the present, as it is commonly understood within Film Studies. The purpose here is not to convince students of the rightness of this history but rather to familiarise them with the key points of reference in the field. The module is also designed to familiarise students with a range of objects and methods within the practice of film history and to use these to encourage students to start asking questions about the construction of the established and accepted narrative of film history. more...	FTVF1F06	20	Semester 2
Television History This module aims to offer an introduction to television history, moving from the establishment of broadcasting up until the present day. Focusing on the British context, it explores how television has developed, while it also explores the very idea of `television history' itself ' how television can be studied historically, and the debates and issues involved in the construction of television history. The module is split into three sections: institution (e.g. the establishment of public service broadcasting and the BBC, the advent of Channel 4), texts (e.g studying particular programmes in their contexts), and audience (e.g. memory and childhood TV, TV fandom and the internet). The module is taught by a combined lecture/screening and seminar. more...	FTVF1F15	20	Semester 1
What Is Film History? This module provides an introduction to the narrative history of film in the late 19th century and early 20th century, as it is commonly understood within Film Studies. The purpose here is not to convince students of the rightness of this history but rather to familiarise them with the key points of reference in the field. The module is also designed to familiarise students with a range of objects and methods within the practice of film history and to use these to encourage students to start asking questions about the construction of the established and accepted narrative of film history. more...	FTVF1F11	20	Semester 1

Year 2

Compulsory Study (40 credits)

Students will select 40 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Film Theory This module explores aspects of film theory as it has developed over the last hundred years or so. It encompasses topics including responses to cinema by filmmaker theorists such as Sergei Eisenstein; influential formulations of and debates about realism and film aesthetics associated with writers and critics such as Andr?? Bazin, Siegfried Kracauer, Rudolf Arnheim and Bela B??l??zs; the impact of structuralism, theories of genre, narrative and models of film language; theories of authorship; feminist film theory and its emphasis on psychoanalysis; intertextuality; theories of race and representation; reception models. The module is taught by lecture, screening and seminar. Students will work with primary texts - both films and theoretical writings - and have the opportunity to explore in their written work the ways in which film theories can be applied to film texts. more...	FTVF2F43	20	Semester 1
Research Training The module is designed to provide students with the key concepts and methods necessary to devise and execute an independent research project whether using traditional academic methods or practice based research. As a result, it will cover the key processes involved in devising and focusing a research project, reflexively undertaking the research itself and writing up one's results. In the process, students will be shown how to position their work in relation to an intellectual context; devise the research questions that are practical and realistic; and developing research methods through which to address these questions. The module will be taught by lecture and seminar. more...	FTVF2F34	20	Semester 2

Option A Study (40 credits)

Students will select 40 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Animation Animation is one of the most popular and least scrutinised areas of popular media culture. This module seeks to introduce students to animation as a mode of production through examinations of different aesthetics and types of animation from stop motion through to cel and CGI-based examples. It then goes on to discuss some of the debates around animation in relation to case study texts. Example debates include: who animation is for (children?), the limits of the term 'animation' in relation to CGI, the industrial frameworks for animation production (art vs commerce) and character vs star debates around animation icons. A range of approaches and methods will therefore be adopted within the module, including political economics, cultural industries, star studies and animation studies itself. The module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF2F33	20	Semester 1
British Cinema and the Past Literary adaptations, historical epics, war films, spoofs, bio-pics and romantic comedies: British films feature a range of filmmaking styles that deal with and represent 'the past'. This module examines the prominent position that period films have occupied within British film culture of the last century. Their enduring popularity among both filmmakers and audiences raises a range of aesthetic, ideological and practical issues. What techniques and conventions do they use to depict the past? What visions of the British past do they offer? What pleasures do they provide for their audiences? How important are foreign audiences and investment? Do films about the past provide escapist entertainment, or do they enable filmmakers (and audiences) to address contemporary concerns? Investigating films such as 'Zulu', 'A Room with a View', 'Elizabeth', the 'Carry On' series and 'The Queen', the module examines the depiction of the past in British cinema from the 1930s to the present. The module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF2F18	20	Semester 2
British Cinema Since 1990 The period since 1990 has been one of rapid change in the British film industry and this module explores this changing landscape. It will explore key areas including institution (the role of screen agencies, the BFI and key film making institutions such as Aardman, Working Title and Warp films) and policy as well as looking at areas such as genres, stars and directors. We will consider the interplay between the British film industry and the wider global film industry and will draw on a range of both familiar and less well known texts in order to analyse some of the key developments in British cinema during this time and to consider how recent developments such as the closure of the Film Council might impact upon British cinema culture. more...	FTVF2F51	20	Semester 1
Film and Authorship This module will introduce students to the theory and analysis of authorship within film. In the process, it will introduce students to the key theoretical debates over film authorship before moving on to examine a range of case studies. The module is taught by seminar and is supported by a separate programme of screenings. more...	FTVF2F36	20	Semester 2
Film Genres Film Genres introduces students to the range of theories and methods used to account for the prevalence of genres within filmmaking. The module investigates historical changes in how film genres have been approached in order to consider how genres have been made use of by industry, critics and film audiences. Genre theories are explored through a range of case studies drawn from one or more of a range of popular American film genres that may include the Western, melodrama, romantic comedy, the road movie, the buddy movie, film noir, the gangster film, the war film and action/adventure film. In exploring concepts and case studies relating to film genres the module aims to demonstrate the impact of genres within contemporary culture. more...	FTVF2F71	20	Semester 1
Introduction to Video Production This module will enable students to acquire the essential skills to undertake video production and create coherent video programmes. Practical instruction and familiarisation is supported by workshop sessions focusing upon elements of the relationship between technique and the inscription of mise-en-scene within film. Whilst specific craft skills are recognised there is greater emphasis upon the overall requirements of the production process, including elements of production management, and an understanding of how these components integrate to maximise the communication potential of a production. Learning is structured around the production of an individual portfolio of practical tasks supported by associated research tasks investigating the application of technique to the interpretation and reception of audio-visual texts, and a project executed within small production groups. An individual evaluation of learning during the module is also required. more...	FTVF2P81	20	Semester 1
Introduction to Video Production This module will enable students to acquire the essential skills to undertake video production and create coherent video programmes. Practical instruction and familiarisation is supported by workshop sessions focusing upon elements of the relationship between technique and the inscription of mise-en-scene within film. Whilst specific craft skills are recognised there is greater emphasis upon the overall requirements of the production process, including elements of production management, and an understanding of how these components integrate to maximise the communication potential of a production. Learning is structured around the production of an individual portfolio of practical tasks supported by associated research tasks investigating the application of technique to the interpretation and reception of audio-visual texts, and a project executed within small production groups. An individual evaluation of learning during the module is also required. more...	FTVF2P82	20	Semester 2
Media Internship AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1W610301 and U1P300302. This module is intended to provide students with an opportunity to experience working within a media organisation. The organisation will provide a clear sense of their structure and activities and students will work to a precise job description. The internship will therefore offer students the opportunity to work as individuals within a team and develop skills and experience vital to future career in the media. more...	FTVF2F41	20	Semester 1
Media Internship AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1W610301 and U1P300302. This module is intended to provide students with an opportunity to experience working within a media organisation. The organisation will provide a clear sense of their structure and activities and students will work to a precise job description. The internship will therefore offer students the opportunity to work as individuals within a team and develop skills and experience vital to future career in the media. more...	FTVF2F42	20	Semester 2
Popular Music This module encourages students to explore the ways in which popular music has been understood by scholars in the field of media and cultural studies. The module will examine the debates over popular music industries, texts and audiences, and incorporate an exploration of a range of popular musical forms, including folk music, rock, pop, rap and/or hip-hop, and dance music cultures. It will also examine the relations of popular music to other media, such as television and the internet. more...	FTVF2F52	20	Semester 2
Reception and Audience Studies in Film and Television This module seeks to understand the ways in which audiences engage with film and television. It will introduce students to some of the key research on, and theoretical debates about, audiences and the processes of reception, from work on encoding and decoding, through studies of the social activities of television consumption, to research on marketing, critical reception and exhibition. It will also introduce some of the methodological issues involved in the actual practice of doing audience studies. In this way, the module will not only encourage students to learn about the study of film and television audiences, but also equip them with the tools necessary to undertake their own studies. The module is taught by seminar. more...	FTVF2F29	20	Semester 1
Script Analysis and Story Structure This module investigates the theory and practice of script analysis for film and television. Students will have an opportunity to learn professional approaches to reading and evaluating scripts and source material for production. The module will explore basic dramaturgy and learn a variety of paradigms to describe story structure and character development. Students will learn several approaches to evaluating material, and will have the opportunity to create industry standard story reports. Each week, students will read and analyze scripts and/or books, and then screen films based on the material. Seminars will introduce key concepts and explore the narrative elements in the scripts and final films. In addition, the unit will look at story development as a facet of media practice. The module will draw on a variety of texts. Original scripts will form the backbone of the module, but the reading will also include novels and other forms of source material. This will also include a brief survey of dramaturgy, from the `Poetics' to modern manuals for script analysis. Other readings will examine the area as media practice. Formative work will play an important role in the module. Students will produce written reports virtually every week, which they will peer-correct in small support groups. This provides an opportunity to work in a variety of formats or with different types of material. In addition, it provides much-needed practice, as it takes many repetitions to learn the proper style and produce effective, professional-style work. The instructor will monitor formative work submitted through the Portal/Blackboard. more...	FTVF2F64	20	Semester 2
Television Genre Work on television genre continues to draw on theories developed in relation to film, despite the fact that these theories have been heavily criticised. Not only can this ignore the differences between film and television genres, it can also work to privilege film over television, so that television is often seen as an inferior copy of genres developed elsewhere. The module will therefore explore the theory of genre in relation to television, the historical development of television genres, and the operation of genre in the production, mediation and consumption of television and its programmes. The module will also examine these debates in relation to concrete case studies. The module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF2F54	20	Semester 2
Television Studio Production AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1G450302, U1QW36301, U1TW76301, U1TW76401, U1W610301, U1WV63301, U1P300302. This module introduces students to television studio production, using the resources of the campus television studio. Once students have learned the basic skills of both live and recorded studio production (including directing, vision and sound mixing, camera-work, lighting, floor management and editing), they work towards the production of a short television programme. They are also required to write a report analysing and evaluating the production process and the finished product. more...	FTVF2P32	20	Semester 2
Television Studio Production AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1G450302, U1QW36301, U1TW76301, U1TW76401, U1W610301, U1WV63301, U1P300302. This module introduces students to television studio production, using the resources of the campus television studio. Once students have learned the basic skills of both live and recorded studio production (including directing, vision and sound mixing, camera-work, lighting, floor management and editing), they work towards the production of a short television programme. They are also required to write a report analysing and evaluating the production process and the finished product. more...	FTVF2P33	20	Semester 1
The Business of Film and Television The module provides an intensive introduction to the business of film and television; including the development, financing, production, distribution and exploitation of films and television programmes. It is based around a detailed understanding of the film and television value chain, showing how different businesses and creative people work together to create and exploit programmes. It will also cover the process by which scripts or TV programme ideas are written and developed. Emphasis will be placed on UK, European and American Independent film models, as well as the US studio model. It includes a wide range of recent case studies and real-life examples, with companies from Pixar to Working Title, and film-makers from Ken Loach to Terry Gilliam. Issues raised will include the impact of new technologies; changing business models; the conflict between commerce and art; entrepreneurship and managing creative people; and the complex and difficult relationships between writers, directors, producers, executives, financiers, and distributors. It is a practical forward-looking course about current and future business practise, which will be a valuable foundation for anyone interested in working in the media, film or television sectors. It will also be valuable to anyone studying film and television programmes and culture, so that they can fully understand the financial and business context in which programmes are created. By the end of the module you will know how films and TV programmes get dreamt up, how they get developed, and how they get financed and distributed. You will learn how the industry actually works. more...	FTVF2F35	20	Semester 1
The Practice of Screenwriting: Issues in Adaptation This module is a practical screenwriting class. Students will explore basic issues in screenwriting and will focus on the problems of creating new screenplays adapted from novels, short stories, articles and other sources. Classroom sessions will compare film adaptations to the original material, introduce concepts of screenwriting and screenplay form, and apply key tools of script analysis. The final project will offer the opportunity to write a short screenplay or the first act of a feature-length script. The module offers essential skills for anyone contemplating a screenwriting career. The module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF2P20	20	Semester 2
The Practice of Screenwriting: Issues in Adaptation This module is a practical screenwriting class. Students will explore basic issues in screenwriting and will focus on the problems of creating new screenplays adapted from novels, short stories, articles and other sources. Classroom sessions will compare film adaptations to the original material, introduce concepts of screenwriting and screenplay form, and apply key tools of script analysis. The final project will offer the opportunity to write a short screenplay or the first act of a feature-length script. The module offers essential skills for anyone contemplating a screenwriting career. The module is taught by seminar and screening more...	FTVF2P23	20	Semester 1

Free Choice Study (40 credits)

Students can select modules worth 40 credits from the course catalogue with the approval of their School.

Year 3

Compulsory Study (30 credits)

Students will select 30 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Film and Television Studies Dissertation (Spring) AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1QW36301, U1TW76301, TW76401, U1W610301, U1WV63301 AND U1P300302. This module provides the opportunity to work on an independently researched dissertation on some aspect of Film and/or Television Studies. You are able to choose whether you do the dissertation module in the Autumn or the Spring Semester of your final year, whichever fits in better with your schedule of modules. (See also FTVF3F75 - note that you cannot take both modules.) Topics are individually negotiated. They need not relate directly to material taught in previous modules, although it is expected that dissertations will draw on and reflect upon perspectives and methodologies introduced earlier in the degree course. more...	FTVF3F76	30	Semester 2
Film and Television Studies: Dissertation (Aut) AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS ON COURSE(S): U1QW36301, U1TW76301, U1TW76401, U1W610301, U1WV63301, U1P300302 This module provides the opportunity to work on an independently researched dissertation on some aspect of Film and/or Television studies. You are able to choose whether you do the dissertation module in the Autumn or the Spring Semester of your final year, whichever fits in better with your schedule of modules. (See also FTVF3F76 - note that you cannot take both modules.) Topics are individually negotiated. They need not relate directly to material taught in previous modules, although it is expected that dissertations will draw on and reflect upon perspectives and methodologies introduced earlier in the degree course. more...	FTVF3F75	30	Semester 1
Practice-Based Dissertation (Aut) You must have taken one of more of the following modules in order to progress onto the Practice-Based Dissertation: FTVF2P20, FTVF2F23,FTVF2P32, FTVF2P33, FTVF2P81, FTVF2P82, FTVF3P80, FTVF3P81, FTVF3P82. In taking this module, you cannot take any of the other FTV Dissertation modules. This module provides the opportunity to work on a practice-based dissertation investigating some aspect of Media, Film and/or Television studies. Students are expected to use audio-visual means to explore an academic question, engaging with a critical concept in both the practical and written elements of the Dissertation. Topics and amounts of practical work are individually negotiated. Students are also expected to build upon an area of practice previously learned through experience on practice-based modules in the areas of either audio-visual work or screenwriting, dependent on which type of practice module was previously studied. Students are also expected to produce practical dissertation work that refers to, and makes use of, relevant theoretical debates and issues. All practice-based dissertations will contain practical work, a developmental portfolio and an element of critical evaluation. Team-centred projects will be considered, but each team member must be able to demonstrate the validity of their individual dissertation project. ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH FTV. more...	FTVF3P83	30	Semester 1
Practice-Based Dissertation (Spr) You must have taken one of more of the following modules in order to progress onto the Practice-Based Dissertation: FTVF2P20, FTVF2F23,FTVF2P32, FTVF2P33, FTVF2P81, FTVF2P82, FTVF3P80, FTVF3P81, FTVF3P82. In taking this module, you cannot take any of the other FTV Dissertation modules. This module provides the opportunity to work on a practice-based dissertation investigating some aspect of Media, Film and/or Television studies. Students are expected to use audio-visual means to explore an academic question, engaging with a critical concept in both the practical and written elements of the Dissertation. Topics and amounts of practical work are individually negotiated. Students are also expected to build upon an area of practice previously learned through experience on practice-based modules in the areas of either audio-visual work or screenwriting, dependent on which type of practice module was previously studied. Students are also expected to produce practical dissertation work that refers to, and makes use of, relevant theoretical debates and issues. All practice-based dissertations will contain practical work, a developmental portfolio and an element of critical evaluation. Team-centred projects will be considered, but each team member must be able to demonstrate the validity of their individual dissertation project. ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH FTV. more...	FTVF3P84	30	Semester 2

Option A Study (60 credits)

Students will select 60 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Asian Cinema 'Asian Cinema' is a category of films increasingly in evidence in diverse places ranging from cinemas to high street shops. Recent years have seen a variety of Asian cinema incursions into global film culture, from Bollywood in UK multiplexes to Hong Kong action styles used in the Hollywood blockbuster. Inherent within the label are debates of resistance, industry, art, technology and aesthetics that have held sway since the dawn of cinema worldwide. In this module we break down these discourses and address the significant cultural, economic and political influences that Asian cinemas have had, and indeed still have, within world culture. more...	FTVF3F68	30	Semester 2
Celebrity The module will explore the phenomenon of celebrity and fame from its origins to the present day, moving across a range of different media, including film, television, print media and the internet. In the process, it will examine key approaches to the study of celebrity, paying particular attention to the cultural formation of celebrity and how it is bound up with structures of power (e.g gender, class, ethnicity). It will feature a range of case studies that will include Classical Hollywood cinema, the coming of television, the supposed 'tabloidization' of print media, the birth of Reality TV, the growth of the celebrity scandal and the relationship between celebrity and the internet. more...	FTVF3F64	30	Semester 2
Creative Work in the Media Industries This module offers students the opportunity to gain an understanding of the industries that many of them may well wish to work in. The media industries are those that produce culture, and so they naturally include television, film, music, publishing (books, newspapers and magazines) and so on. People often want to work in the media since this kind of work offers opportunities to be `creative', to think independently and engage in activities which interest them already. But what does `creativity' mean in different kinds of media work and what kind of conditions do those working in the media typically face? To explore such questions, we reflect on changes in the nature of work itself in modern societies. That is, when so much modern work is either temporary and precarious, with many in advanced industrial countries working longer hours than ever before, is there a danger that work is detracting from the quality of our lives rather than enhancing it? The module explores the potential to find pleasure, fulfilment (and a steady income), as well as pressure, frustration and precariousness in media work. It also looks at the extent to which it is feasible to do `good work' in the media industries, as they become seemingly ever more commercial and competitive. How possible is it to produce challenging, innovative, groundbreaking, thoughtful or just genuinely entertaining media products? This means engaging with academic research and other writing, both historical and contemporary in nature. The above issues cannot be addressed through simple description. They raise important theoretical and historical issues about the place of artistic and professional creativity in modern societies. more...	FTVF3F57	30	Semester 1
Crime Television This module explores crime and investigation in recent US television, encompassing formal developments such as the use of group formats, specialist teams and genre hybrids. It considers theoretical/critical issues that may include the value and limits of approaching television via genre, representations of urban US life, the (lack of) engagement with questions of race, gender and the female investigator, gender and sex crimes, the statement and transgression of social/cultural taboos to do with sex, violence and identity and the increasing significance - post 9/11 - of paranoid narration, the investigation of terrorism as crime and the policing of US civil society. This module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF3F92	30	Semester 2
Gender and Genre in Contemporary Cinema This module offers an overview of critical and theoretical approaches to gender and genre in contemporary cinema, focusing particularly on North American cinema. Topics explored may include: new women and new men - the articulation of gender in popular and 'independent' American cinema since 2000; feminism and authorship; the response of mainstream and independent cinema to the political and cultural contexts of postfeminism; race and the limits of feminist representation; masculinity, homosociality and Hollywood genre. The module is taught by seminar, tutorial and screening. more...	FTVF3F10	30	Semester 2
Science Fiction Cinema Science Fiction is currently a key genre in popular cinema, providing a significant focus for addressing social, cultural and political issues. This module follows the historical development of the genre and looks at changes in the way both mainstream and alternative films have addressed such issues. Films we look at range from silent classics such as 'Le Voyage dans la Lune' and 'Metropolis' to the more recent 'Independence Day', 'The Fifth Element', and 'The Matrix'. Other screenings might include 'Things to Come', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', 'Demon Seed', 'Alien', 'The Brother from Another Planet', 'Robocop' and 'Akira'. Separate screenings. more...	FTVF3F07	30	Semester 1
Selling Spectacle Spectacle is the cornerstone of the modern film industry, in Hollywood and in other national cinemas around the world. Blockbusters and other films are produced, marketed and exhibited using epic language, hyperbolic visuals and overblown promotional materials. Yet despite these excessive claims, the world of selling spectacle and epic marketing techniques are often overlooked in academic or critical discussions. This module will explore the history of spectacle within the global film industries, the cinematic technologies that have been created to enhance that spectacle, and the advertising and promotional techniques that were utilised to emphasise and display it. Following the work of theorists such as Tom Gunning, Geoff King, Janet Staiger and Barbara Klinger, the module will demonstrate the historical development of spectacle and selling that lies behind the modern system of film production, distribution and exhibition. Understanding the theory and methodologically distinct approaches needed to analyse posters, press books, trailers, websites, interviews, and critical reviews will be an essential component to this module. Students will be expected to engage with both theories of film advertising and analysis of marketing materials and other related epiphenomena. While the module will consider some films that may be described as belonging to the `epic' genre ('The Ten Commandments', 1956; or 'Gladiator', 2000) this module is not concerned with generic traits so much as spectacular production practices throughout film history, and the industrial practices that were invented to educate audiences in such new, spectacular, images and concepts. Using specific case studies, the module will trace the historical development of spectacle within filmmaking, and its role in redefining the function of film advertising and promotion. more...	FTVF3F45	30	Semester 1
Stanley Kubrick: Films in Context Stanley Kubrick is regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, with '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) and 'Dr Strangelove' (1964) being listed in critics' polls as two of the best films ever made. Kubrick also was one of the most commercially successful directors of the 1960s and 1970s. This module concentrates on the 11 full-length films he made from 1956 to 1999, but also considers his early career as a photo-journalist and maker of documentary shorts and short features. The module examines the production, themes, style and reception of Kubrick's films, and situates them in the context of broader developments in American cinema, culture and politics. more...	FTVF3F52	30	Semester 2
Teenage Kicks: Media, Youth and Subculture This module will address the historical development of the commercial youth market and introduce key debates relating to young people and their uses of mainstream and underground media. It will examine a range of theoretical approaches to youth culture, subculture and post-subculture, employing case studies of popular and alternative music, club culture, film, television, subcultural style and new digital technologies. It will address questions of ideology, identity and representation, most significantly issues of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and encourage students to discuss how cultural interests and practices are used to construct individual and group identities. It will focus primarily on the British post-war context ' highlighting the influence of American popular culture, Black Diaspora and technological transformation on British youth ' but will also examine young people's media use and subcultures in other national and transnational contexts. The emphasis will be on analysing the extent to which cultural power is negotiated and resisted through shared media consumption and subculture formation more...	FTVF3F61	30	Semester 1
Women, Islam and Media BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE EITHER FTVF1F09 OR TAKE PSI-1A05 OR TAKE PSI-1A06 This module intends to explore the relationship between women and Islam in contemporary media; particularly in film and television. The module is interdisciplinary in scope with readings and theoretical underpinnings from film and television studies as well as media, cultural and gender studies. The module is arranged thematically and focuses on different aspects of the relationship between women and Islam. Some of the themes and topics that will be studied in the module are: the political and religious resonance of the veil; Orientalism and Occidentalism's significance to media studies; representations of consequences of arranged marriage in television; honour killings; trauma, terror and Islam and the representation of women as terrorists in films; the representation of silence, women and Islam in television adverts; international women's film festivals. more...	FTVF3F83	30	Semester 1

Option B Study (30 credits)

Students will select 30 credits from the following module(s).

Name	Code	Credits	Period
Analysing Media Discourses The module will explore some of the main approaches to the analysis of media texts including structuralism, psychoanalysis and discourse analysis. These approaches will be discussed in relation to films like James Bond, advertising campaigns like the ones by the United Colors of Benetton, and newspaper articles on current affairs. The aim of the module is to bring together theory and hands-on analysis and research in media products. more...	PSI-3A41	30	Semester 1
Asian Cinema 'Asian Cinema' is a category of films increasingly in evidence in diverse places ranging from cinemas to high street shops. Recent years have seen a variety of Asian cinema incursions into global film culture, from Bollywood in UK multiplexes to Hong Kong action styles used in the Hollywood blockbuster. Inherent within the label are debates of resistance, industry, art, technology and aesthetics that have held sway since the dawn of cinema worldwide. In this module we break down these discourses and address the significant cultural, economic and political influences that Asian cinemas have had, and indeed still have, within world culture. more...	FTVF3F68	30	Semester 2
Broadcast Journalism Broadcast Journalism provides students with an overview of the practice of modern TV journalism, and related TV production processes. The module enables students to contextualise academic study and criticism of news gathering and presentation processes as well as gain first-hand experience of producing video news items using modern technology. There is a high level of practical class activity: students will take part in workshop exercises, develop an understanding of the use and importance of pictures, preparing and presenting well-written broadcast scripts and interviews. Students will collaborate in producing short, broadcast-style video news reports, which will be compiled into a magazine format TV programme. There will be an introduction to the 'art' of journalism, the techniques and practices that are used to shape news reports. Students will also be introduced to technical production skills including cameras, sound and editing. Students will be taught by experienced production and news journalists and use broadcast quality equipment. The practical teaching will be reinforced by instruction on the packaging and presentation of news and factual material for broadcasting purposes. more...	PSI-3A51	30	Semester 1
Celebrity The module will explore the phenomenon of celebrity and fame from its origins to the present day, moving across a range of different media, including film, television, print media and the internet. In the process, it will examine key approaches to the study of celebrity, paying particular attention to the cultural formation of celebrity and how it is bound up with structures of power (e.g gender, class, ethnicity). It will feature a range of case studies that will include Classical Hollywood cinema, the coming of television, the supposed 'tabloidization' of print media, the birth of Reality TV, the growth of the celebrity scandal and the relationship between celebrity and the internet. more...	FTVF3F64	30	Semester 2
Contemporary Drama and Film The module will examine emergent voices and trends in recent theatre, film and television (mainly British but with some American or European contributions). Issues covered include the (questioned) demise of explicitly political drama and the appearance of previously silenced voices (e.g. gay and lesbian themes, feminist playwrights and writing ethnicity, physical theatre practitioners). more...	LDCD3X34	30	Semester 2
Creative Work in the Media Industries This module offers students the opportunity to gain an understanding of the industries that many of them may well wish to work in. The media industries are those that produce culture, and so they naturally include television, film, music, publishing (books, newspapers and magazines) and so on. People often want to work in the media since this kind of work offers opportunities to be `creative', to think independently and engage in activities which interest them already. But what does `creativity' mean in different kinds of media work and what kind of conditions do those working in the media typically face? To explore such questions, we reflect on changes in the nature of work itself in modern societies. That is, when so much modern work is either temporary and precarious, with many in advanced industrial countries working longer hours than ever before, is there a danger that work is detracting from the quality of our lives rather than enhancing it? The module explores the potential to find pleasure, fulfilment (and a steady income), as well as pressure, frustration and precariousness in media work. It also looks at the extent to which it is feasible to do `good work' in the media industries, as they become seemingly ever more commercial and competitive. How possible is it to produce challenging, innovative, groundbreaking, thoughtful or just genuinely entertaining media products? This means engaging with academic research and other writing, both historical and contemporary in nature. The above issues cannot be addressed through simple description. They raise important theoretical and historical issues about the place of artistic and professional creativity in modern societies. more...	FTVF3F57	30	Semester 1
Crime Television This module explores crime and investigation in recent US television, encompassing formal developments such as the use of group formats, specialist teams and genre hybrids. It considers theoretical/critical issues that may include the value and limits of approaching television via genre, representations of urban US life, the (lack of) engagement with questions of race, gender and the female investigator, gender and sex crimes, the statement and transgression of social/cultural taboos to do with sex, violence and identity and the increasing significance - post 9/11 - of paranoid narration, the investigation of terrorism as crime and the policing of US civil society. This module is taught by seminar and screening. more...	FTVF3F92	30	Semester 2
Gender and Genre in Contemporary Cinema This module offers an overview of critical and theoretical approaches to gender and genre in contemporary cinema, focusing particularly on North American cinema. Topics explored may include: new women and new men - the articulation of gender in popular and 'independent' American cinema since 2000; feminism and authorship; the response of mainstream and independent cinema to the political and cultural contexts of postfeminism; race and the limits of feminist representation; masculinity, homosociality and Hollywood genre. The module is taught by seminar, tutorial and screening. more...	FTVF3F10	30	Semester 2
Native American Writing and Film This module considers Native American writing and film as sites of cultural and political resistance, analysing the ways in which a diverse range of Native authors, screenwriters and directors within the United States respond to contemporary tribal socio-economic and political conditions. Taking popular ideas of 'the Indian', this module considers the ways in which stereotypes and audience expectations are subverted and challenged. Topics include race and racism, indigeneity, identity, culture, gender, genre, land and notions of 'home', community, dialogue, postcolonial theory in its application to those who remain colonised, and political issues such as human rights and environmental racism. more...	AMSA3S02	30	Semester 2
Political Communication This module looks behind the headlines about politics and analyses the processes by which those headlines are created. It encourages students to think about the way in which we engage with politics. Are we being persuaded about our politics or are we being subject to propaganda? Is war only what we see on our TV screens or read about in the newspaper? Do politicians have to be telegenic to be elected? Does it matter if our only source of news is via the internet? Can new media really been seen as the cause of revolution? These are just some of the questions which we might discuss. This module also links together processes of politics and communication to ask some of the `big' political questions of the day: what is being communicated politically to us, by whom, and why? What methods do elites use to communicate to us? And how do we as citizens communicate politically to elites? And what impact does that communication have on our politics? Centred around issues of ideology and power, and combining theory and empirics, this module asks questions about the nature of politics and communication through a range of topics which may include: election campaigns; spin; war and foreign policy; the political economy of news production; common sense; politics beyond the nation state; and revolution. more...	PSI-3A10	30	Semester 2
Politics and Popular Culture The module explores three issues: the role of popular culture in political thought and action, the political organisation of, and response to, popular culture, and the political meanings and interpretations placed upon popular culture. more...	PSI-3A37	30	Semester 1
Professional Video Production This module gives students the opportunity to produce digital video projects to specifications set down by the university and a range of external bodies. The briefs might include events such as conferences, study days and exhibitions or might involve students working with community groups to produce video based material. Students will benefit from a holistic experience, working in groups to take projects from brief to realisation and will gain a professional experience in producing viable yet creative production solutions to the specifications of their `clients'. This module will provide experience of working in a `real life' style production scenario and as such will be a valuable addition to the CV of any student wishing to pursue a career within the demanding and competitive production company environment. more...	FTVF3P81	30	Semester 1
Professional Video Production This module gives students the opportunity to produce digital video projects to specifications set down by the university and a range of external bodies. The briefs might include events such as conferences, study days and exhibitions or might involve students working with community groups to produce video based material. Students will benefit from a holistic experience, working in groups to take projects from brief to realisation and will gain a professional experience in producing viable yet creative production solutions to the specifications of their `clients'. This module will provide experience of working in a `real life' style production scenario and as such will be a valuable addition to the CV of any student wishing to pursue a career within the demanding and competitive production company environment. more...	FTVF3P82	30	Semester 2
Revenge Tragedy: Ancient and Modern This seminar explores the different ways in which the concept of revenge has been conceived and represented in a range of dramatic texts. The module covers three distinct groups of primary materials: classical tragedy (in translation) including Aeschylus's Oresteia; early modern revenge tragedy including works by Shakespeare, Tourneur and Kyd; and modern cinematic explorations of the revenge formula including Get Carter, Old Boy and Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. Topics discussed include the relationship between classical and Christian attitudes to revenge, contemporary strictures upon private vengeance, the representation of justice through the ages, the limitations of the revenge tragedy formula. more...	LDCE3Y86	30	Semester 2
Science Fiction Cinema Science Fiction is currently a key genre in popular cinema, providing a significant focus for addressing social, cultural and political issues. This module follows the historical development of the genre and looks at changes in the way both mainstream and alternative films have addressed such issues. Films we look at range from silent classics such as 'Le Voyage dans la Lune' and 'Metropolis' to the more recent 'Independence Day', 'The Fifth Element', and 'The Matrix'. Other screenings might include 'Things to Come', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', 'Demon Seed', 'Alien', 'The Brother from Another Planet', 'Robocop' and 'Akira'. Separate screenings. more...	FTVF3F07	30	Semester 1
Selling Spectacle Spectacle is the cornerstone of the modern film industry, in Hollywood and in other national cinemas around the world. Blockbusters and other films are produced, marketed and exhibited using epic language, hyperbolic visuals and overblown promotional materials. Yet despite these excessive claims, the world of selling spectacle and epic marketing techniques are often overlooked in academic or critical discussions. This module will explore the history of spectacle within the global film industries, the cinematic technologies that have been created to enhance that spectacle, and the advertising and promotional techniques that were utilised to emphasise and display it. Following the work of theorists such as Tom Gunning, Geoff King, Janet Staiger and Barbara Klinger, the module will demonstrate the historical development of spectacle and selling that lies behind the modern system of film production, distribution and exhibition. Understanding the theory and methodologically distinct approaches needed to analyse posters, press books, trailers, websites, interviews, and critical reviews will be an essential component to this module. Students will be expected to engage with both theories of film advertising and analysis of marketing materials and other related epiphenomena. While the module will consider some films that may be described as belonging to the `epic' genre ('The Ten Commandments', 1956; or 'Gladiator', 2000) this module is not concerned with generic traits so much as spectacular production practices throughout film history, and the industrial practices that were invented to educate audiences in such new, spectacular, images and concepts. Using specific case studies, the module will trace the historical development of spectacle within filmmaking, and its role in redefining the function of film advertising and promotion. more...	FTVF3F45	30	Semester 1
Stanley Kubrick: Films in Context Stanley Kubrick is regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, with '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) and 'Dr Strangelove' (1964) being listed in critics' polls as two of the best films ever made. Kubrick also was one of the most commercially successful directors of the 1960s and 1970s. This module concentrates on the 11 full-length films he made from 1956 to 1999, but also considers his early career as a photo-journalist and maker of documentary shorts and short features. The module examines the production, themes, style and reception of Kubrick's films, and situates them in the context of broader developments in American cinema, culture and politics. more...	FTVF3F52	30	Semester 2
Teenage Kicks: Media, Youth and Subculture This module will address the historical development of the commercial youth market and introduce key debates relating to young people and their uses of mainstream and underground media. It will examine a range of theoretical approaches to youth culture, subculture and post-subculture, employing case studies of popular and alternative music, club culture, film, television, subcultural style and new digital technologies. It will address questions of ideology, identity and representation, most significantly issues of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and encourage students to discuss how cultural interests and practices are used to construct individual and group identities. It will focus primarily on the British post-war context ' highlighting the influence of American popular culture, Black Diaspora and technological transformation on British youth ' but will also examine young people's media use and subcultures in other national and transnational contexts. The emphasis will be on analysing the extent to which cultural power is negotiated and resisted through shared media consumption and subculture formation more...	FTVF3F61	30	Semester 1
Women, Islam and Media BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE EITHER FTVF1F09 OR TAKE PSI-1A05 OR TAKE PSI-1A06 This module intends to explore the relationship between women and Islam in contemporary media; particularly in film and television. The module is interdisciplinary in scope with readings and theoretical underpinnings from film and television studies as well as media, cultural and gender studies. The module is arranged thematically and focuses on different aspects of the relationship between women and Islam. Some of the themes and topics that will be studied in the module are: the political and religious resonance of the veil; Orientalism and Occidentalism's significance to media studies; representations of consequences of arranged marriage in television; honour killings; trauma, terror and Islam and the representation of women as terrorists in films; the representation of silence, women and Islam in television adverts; international women's film festivals. more...	FTVF3F83	30	Semester 1

Disclaimer

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules and regular (five-yearly) review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff or sabbatical leave. Where this is the case, the University will endeavour to inform students.

UEA

Film and Television Studies Courses

Film and Television Studies

BA Film and Television Studies (W610)

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UEA was one of the first British universities to develop the study of cinema and television.

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