BA (Hons) Film and Television Studies

Key details

BA (HONS) FILM AND TELEVISION STUDIES

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Bachelor of Arts

UCAS course code

W610

Entry Requirements

ABB

Duration (years)

Film and television are multi-billion pound, interrelated global industries that play a crucial role in shaping how we see the world around us. UEA pioneered the study of these media forms and remains a leading institution in their study. In this degree, you’ll explore the historical, aesthetic, and cultural dimensions of film and television as well as considering the social, political and industrial aspects that shape those media forms. You'll learn about key historical moments in film and television and about theories which have been developed to create and make sense of the film and television content we consume on a daily basis.

Topics might include the global phenomenon of Doctor Who, trace Marvel Comics adaptations through TV and Film, study global cinema, or American cinema and screenwriting. Alongside your theoretical studies, you’ll have opportunities to discover how to make your own film and TV content and explore writing for different media.

Our BA Film and Television Studies is ranked in the top 20 for Media and Film Studies by 'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.

About

One of the longest-established and most prestigious degrees of its kind in the country, our BA in Film and Television Studies will provide you with an opportunity to explore these two hugely influential mass media art forms in depth. Your degree will be focused on those cult hits and global franchises that define the market today.
In your first year, you’ll cover all the essentials in the subject gaining a grounding in key theoretical and historical debates. In your second and third years, you’ll choose from a wide array of modules, enabling you to specialise in the areas that interest you the most. These range from explorations of the earliest experiments in moving pictures to contextualizing modern multimedia franchises.

You’ll also get to choose from creative practice options in areas such as making short films and working in TV studio production, deepening your knowledge of how film and television texts are produced by applying your critical skills to practical outcomes.

You’ll develop many transferable skills on this degree course, including high-level research and communication skills, team working, leadership, and self-management, all of which are desirable transferable skills that open up a wide variety of careers.

Our Film, Television and Media Studies department is recognised as a leading centre for the study of British and Hollywood cinemas, British television, popular film and television genres, and feminist approaches to media. We’re home to the extensive East Anglian Film Archive – a unique resource which you can make use of during your time here. We also have close links with the British Film Institute in London, and with film festivals and local production companies.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be assessed primarily by coursework across all three years. You'll be assessed in individual and group assessment modes. Group work may be in the form of research presentations, practical work or discussions. Individual assessments may be in the form of essays, critical reflections or individual presentations. You may be asked to deliver in-person presentations or produce online video-essays or video presentations. Your progress in some theoretical modules may be assessed through creative practice.

Structure

In your first year, you’ll be introduced to the major historical debates in film and television studies, and consider the major technological changes which influenced shifts in narrative forms and modes of representation which underpin all contemporary film making and television production.

To do this effectively, you will be taught the key skills needed to analyse film and television as separate media using contemporary and historical examples to aid you. These analytical skills will be invaluable in distinguishing the nuance of film and television examples and allow you to develop a critical eye as well as a critical voice.

The theory at first year encourages the use of your critical voice and provides opportunities to apply it as a researcher and writer. You will be introduced to a range of influential thinkers who have shaped today's media world and will form the foundation of your studies as you progress through the degree.

Teaching and Learning

Our world-leading academics employ a range of teaching styles. Alongside the more traditional lectures and seminars, you’ll learn through film and television screenings. You’ll also have access to UEA’s Television Studio and Media Suite, containing editing suites, cameras and sound equipment, and sound studios. You’ll have the opportunity to be trained to use all these.

In addition to timetabled lecture and seminar slots, academics hold dedicated office hours where students can come and seek advice and guidance on a one-to-one basis. You’ll also be assigned an adviser who can support you through your studies by providing academic and career guidance.

In Year One, you’ll acquire vital skills needed for independent learning and will develop the analytical skills you’ll need throughout your course. You will have access to dedicated sessions designed to help you make the most of UEA’s state-of-the-art library facilities. Through these sessions and your academic modules, you’ll gain the vital research skills of uncovering resources and critically assessing sources. You will be given opportunities to practice essay writing and presentations skills both in person and online. You will also get the opportunity to work in groups and develop the skills necessary for effective collaboration.

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Open Days

Assessment for Year 1

Compulsory Modules

ANALYSING FILM

Code AMAM4009A

Credits 20

The analysis of film form underpins film studies as a discipline, informing aesthetic, theoretical and historical modes of inquiry. You will be introduced to the analysis of film form and film style. It encompasses approaches to the fundamental formal elements of mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing and sound. You will also build on these elements of film form to address systems of and approaches to film style including narrative and narration, genre, realism, continuity and classicism, modernism and experimentation. You will also learn how questions of film style are integral to the analysis of representation, for example in relation to modernity, gender and race.

ANALYSING TELEVISION

Code AMAM4010A

Credits 20

You will explore the many ways television has been examined, explored, understood, and used. You will focus particularly on the specifics of the medium; that is, how television is different from (and, in some ways, similar to) other media such as film, radio, and the internet. Each week will focus on a particular idea which is seen as central to the examination of television. The medium will be explored as an industry, as a range of texts, and as a social activity.

FILM HISTORY

Code AMAM4001A

Credits 20

This module provides an introduction to the history of film from 1895 through to the end of the 20th century. The module will outline important developments in European and American film history, which will underpin your future study. The course will help you understand some of the complex processes of historical change (e.g. technological, industrial and socio-political) that transformed cinema during the period. We will situate particular films in the aesthetic and narrative traditions in which the films were originally made and seen, and explore film histories through a critical lens. The module is also designed to familiarize 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 how film history is constructed, and how as scholars we might usefully explore, or ask questions of, the accepted narratives of film history.

THEORISING MEDIA AND CULTURE

Code AMAM4033B

Credits 20

This module introduces you to a range of influential thinkers whose work has shaped Media Studies. It will provide you with the foundational knowledge you need to progress with confidence onto more specialist modules in your second and third year. You will compare and contrast how different scholars have tried to explain the role of the media in creating communities, in reproducing social inequalities, but also in driving social change. You will discuss whether we need to study media audiences, media content or media industries in order to understand media power. The module will help you develop your own voice as a researcher and writer. You will learn how to effectively compare and contrast complex theoretical arguments and how to place your own argument within the context of academic debate. You will have opportunity to apply your knowledge of media theories to a small piece of media research and to express your research ideas not only through writing, but also through a creative media project.

WORLD CINEMAS

Code AMAM4035B

Credits 20

The concept of World Cinema pervades our everyday experiences of film. It is a category of films that can be seen increasingly from cinema listings to the high street. 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 you will break down some of these discourses and address the significant cultural, economic and political influences that world cinema has had, and indeed still has, within cinema. There are innumerable cinemas that may be contained within the notion of “world cinema,” but few are more long-lived, or as well-developed, as those we will investigate during this module. Taking the conceptual frameworks of “Middle Eastern,” “European” and “Asian” cinemas as starting points, you will break down the meanings that these regional, national and international definitions of cinema share. You will focus, for example, on the cinemas of Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Japan and America. This tightly focused definition of “world cinemas” is intended to introduce some of the most significant of contemporary world cinemas, while also focusing on those which have had the most influential global histories.

TELEVISION HISTORY

Code AMAM4001B

Credits 20

This module aims to offer an introduction to television history. It explores how television has developed (at the level of institution, text, genre, technology or audience), 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 primary focus of the module is on British television, and it is broadly split into three sections. Although each week always has a particular programme case study or screening, the first section of the module explores the history of television as institution (the emergence of public service broadcasting, the rise of commercial television, the development of Channel 4 and the changed status of public service in the multi-channel age). The second section focuses on the history of particular genres or programmes (and how to research them), while the third section explores how questions of audience and reception are also part of television history (with case studies including the ‘media event’ of Princess Diana’s death, and the impact of the internet on cultures of television viewing).

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. 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. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Students will take 120 credits (6 modules) across year 2. 60 credits in semester 1 and 60 credits in semester 2. Students wishing to enrol on the 60-credit Film and Television Studies semester abroad module AMAM5037B in the spring must first seek approval from the Study Abroad Office and Internationalisation Director.

Assessment for Year 2

While in the first year, assessment largely focusses on ensuring you have the key critical and analytical skills needed to work more independently in your second year, by the end of your second year your assessment will have prepared you for independent research as well as continuing to develop your critical and analytical skills.

Compulsory Modules

Optional A Modules

(20-40 credits)

FILM THEORY

Code AMAM5030A

Credits 20

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 and influential formulations of and debates about realism and film aesthetics associated with writers and critics such as André Bazin, Siegfried Kracauer, Rudolf Arnheim and Bela Bálázs. You’ll study the impact of structuralism, theories of genre, narrative and models of film language; feminist film theory and its emphasis on psychoanalysis; theories of race and representation; cognitive theory; emerging eco-critical approaches; post-structuralist and post-modern film theory. You’ll be taught by lecture, screening and seminar. You’ll 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.

THEORISING TELEVISION

Code AMAM5047A

Credits 20

This module explores some of the key ways in which television has been theorised, conceptualised and debated. You are offered insight into how the discipline of Television Studies has developed, as well as how television itself has developed - in terms of social roles, political functions and aesthetic form. The medium will be explored as a textual entity, a social activity (i.e. the focus on audiences and viewing), and a political agent (ideology and power). Part of our intention is to focus on how the specificities of television have been understood.

Optional B Modules

(20-40 credits)

FILM GENRES

Code AMAM5033A

Credits 20

Film Genres introduces students to the range of theories and methods used to account for the prevalence of genres within filmmaking. We investigate 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 including the Western, science-fiction, 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 richness of film genre and its continuing relevance as a mode of analysis.

POPULAR MUSIC

Code AMAM5046A

Credits 20

For many people, popular music provides the soundtrack to their lives. It is intimately bound up with their sense of themselves, their attitudes and values, their friendships and social lives, their dreams and fantasies. But what can we learn about the power and place of popular music by studying it from an academic perspective? Throughout this module you will discover the range of approaches brought to popular music’s sounds, images, meanings, audiences and production through the perspectives of media studies, cultural studies and sociology. In examining songs and videos, fans, industry and performance, you’ll be encouraged to communicate your ideas in seminars and written work, engaging with key concepts and theories which will give you the tools to carry out your own research on popular music. We’ll begin with a consideration of the ‘popular’ of pop, before critically engaging with historical perspectives on popular music, tracing this through to the development of a fully-fledged ‘popular music studies’. Along the way, you’ll uncover approaches to analysing popular music’s texts, their production and the ways in which audiences and fans relate to them in the formation and expression of identities. You’ll also be encouraged to reflect on popular music’s relationship with other media (such as television, music writing and the internet), its role in everyday life, questions of representation, politics and power, and the contemporary relevance of terms such as ‘scene’, ‘subculture’ and ‘genre’. Having considered the study of popular music in this way, you will put your knowledge into practice by developing and conducting your own research project into an aspect of popular music audiences and/or culture of your choice.

STUDYING AUDIENCES

Code AMAM5064A

Credits 20

This module seeks to provide you with an understanding of the ways in which audiences engage with media. It will introduce some of the key research on, and theoretical debates about the relationship that exists between audiences, texts and technologies of production, distribution and reception, covering work on encoding and decoding, through studies of the social activities of television consumption, to research on marketing, critical reception and beyond. 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.

ADAPTATION: CROSS-MEDIA TRANSFORMATIONS

Code AMAM5065A

Credits 20

This module explores the process of adaptation looking at key concepts and theories in adaptation studies and a wide range of case studies. The adaptation of prose fiction and graphic narratives into film will be central, looking at examples from early cinema through to contemporary film. In addition, the module will also give some attention to other manifestations of cross-media transformation, including audio/radio dramatization, digital gaming and immersive performance, from theatrical interpretations to themed and site-specific screenings. The module will be structured with encounters with key theoreticians – and emerging scholarly voices – in the field of Adaptation Studies (Linda Hutcheon, Julie Sanders, Thomas Leitch etc.) in tandem with major examples which might, for examples, span the cross-media interpretation of texts from children’s fiction, classic literature, popular genre and comic books. For assessment, there will be seminar presentations as formative and an individual research project as summative.

THE BUSINESS OF FILM AND TV DRAMA IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Code AMAP5026A

Credits 20

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 drama 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; and the difference between the independent model and the US studio model. It will examine the effect of Netflix and the rise of digital streaming. It includes a wide range of recent case studies and real-life examples, with companies from Pixar to Working Title. 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.

DOCUMENTARY

Code AMAP5045A

Credits 20

This module will introduce you to key issues in documentary history, theory and practice. You will engage with definitional and generic debates; historical forms and founders; different modes of documentary; ethical issues; and social and political uses. We will draw upon a range of national and media contexts and give you the opportunity to engage with a range of theories, archival materials, documentary styles and ethical debates within your written and practical work. At the end of module you will produce a documentary shaped by the traditions and theories you have studied, employing a range of archive film and television footage sourced from the East Anglian Film Archive.

WRITING THE AMERICAN SCRIPT

Code AMAP5051A

Credits 20

For much of the twentieth century, the screenplay was synonymous with Hollywood, the Studio System, and “The Movies”: films as brash and bold as booming American power, written by screenwriting giants, such as Preston Sturges, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Billy Wilder, Anita Loos and Paddy Chayfsky. But much of what we love about more recent American film-making has been the work of writers outside the mainstream: John Cassavetes, Joan Micklin Silver, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Lee, Nora Ephron, Quentin Tarantino, and the like. Throughout, American screenwriting has produced work as dynamic and expansive as the nation itself. In this module you will move through the high points of American scriptwriting, using scripts, texts, and creative pastiche to develop an understanding of the form. Your work may be assessed through a mix of creative and critical work, writing exercises and a complete short script. In broadly the first half of the semester you will use pastiche and other techniques to develop basic screenwriting skills. The remainder of the term will be devoted to developing and workshopping an original script. You will be introduced to the basic dramaturgy of cinematic storytelling, screenwriting form and format, and skills in pitching and story development. This module will therefore help you develop your creative capacity, your communication skills, and will help broaden your commercial awareness.

FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION

Code AMAP5123A

Credits 20

Film is frequently described as a ‘director’s medium’, while simultaneously defined as a ‘collaborative effort’. How is that possible? How do the director, cinematographer, designer and editor work together to create the suspense, romance, or comedy that we expect from our favourite films? What does the film director actually do? What are the choices that see one director lauded as an ‘auteur’ and another derided as a ‘hack’? Why does a cinematographer choose the specific lighting, framing and camera style for a scene? How does the director work with a script and coax performances out of the actors? What prompts the editor to use one angle, rather than another? This module attempts to answer these questions, as it introduces you to the practical application of film and television grammar and explores the fundamental questions of cinematic and televisual storytelling. A series of filmmaking exercises give you the chance to experiment with elements of camera and blocking, the use of sound, and multiple editing options. Other exercises look at script as a dramatic text and introduce basic techniques of working with actors. The final project asks you to work with professional script material to produce a video scene study. The module encourages students to understand the choices and decision-making processes involved in filmmaking, and the pros and cons involved in any creative decision.

THEY CAME FROM OUTER-THE-CLOSET: GENDER, SEXUALITY AND PANIC IN AMERICAN FILM

Code AMAS5020A

Credits 20

With its main focus on the 20th century, this module will explore key moments of change or crisis in the century and consider the ways the panic caused by such changes is distinctly gendered and/or sexualised. It will concurrently examine gender and sexual resistance to dominant ideas of American identity and the subsequent creation and/or promotion of liberationist discourses and alternative communities. Film will provide the focus for this cultural study, and the module will range widely over a number of different genres including the western, sci-fi, detective and LGBT themed works.

LGBT AND BEYOND: SEXUAL CULTURES, QUEER IDENTITIES, AND THE POLITICS OF DESIRE

Code HUM-5007A

Credits 20

How do notions of gender and sexuality shape culture, and how are in turn our understanding and experiences of gender and sexuality shaped by cultural production? How important are other times, places and identifications – associated with class, race, ethnicity – to these understandings and experiences? And to what extent can a film, an image, a testimony, or a place capture such complexity? Addressing these questions from an interdisciplinary approach, the aim of the module is to explore the ways in which gender and sexuality are constituted through a broad array of experiences, practices, and cultural products. The module focuses on issues raised in classical and contemporary research in history, politics, media, cultural studies and visual cultures such as: representation and cultural production; subjectivity; identity; identification; bodies and embodiment; performance and performativity; among others. Overall, by exploring theory in conjunction with queer cultural production that explores questions of power, identity, and desire across different racial, national, and cultural landscapes, the module aims to problematise how gender and sexuality are not stable identities or classifications but are instead processes involving normalisations, hierarchies and relations of domination that can be challenged, troubled and/or queered.

Optional C Modules

(60 credits)

THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM

Code AMAM5042B

Credits 20

Is there really 'no business like show business'? This module will develop your understanding of how silent-era, classical and post-classical Hollywood has developed as an industry, balancing the twin demands of creativity and commerce. Our aim is to encourage you to analyse how Hollywood works as an industry, the kind of films it produces, and the ways in which they are consumed by domestic and global audiences. You will engage with a variety of Hollywood films and be introduced to a range of theories and approaches for analysing how they are produced and consumed.

TEENAGE KICKS: MEDIA, YOUTH AND SUBCULTURE

Code AMAM5066B

Credits 20

This module will explore key debates relating to young people and their historical and contemporary uses of mainstream and underground media. It will examine a range of theoretical approaches to youth (sub)culture and media, employing case studies of popular and alternative music, club culture, fashion and style, magazines, film, television, digital media, celebrity culture, and social activism. It will address questions of ideology, identity and representation, most significantly issues of class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and encourage students to discuss how cultural interests and practices are used to construct individual and group identities. The module will initially focus on the British and American post-war contexts but will expand its focus to consider young people’s media use and subculture in a range of other national and transnational contexts. In the module we will analyse a range of media texts representing and addressing youth; we will analyse key readings from the period and contexts the films were produced within or which they represent; and discuss to what extent the theories and approaches are applicable to the media we are studying. Through their own empirical research, students will also analyse the extent to which cultural power is negotiated and resisted through individual and collective media consumption, participatory culture and subculture formation.

SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT AND STORY EDITING

Code AMAP5003B

Credits 20

This course will explore how professionals ‘read’. Much of the film and television industry spends their day reading, editing and developing scripts and this module will look at that process. The module will be a practical exploration of industry practice, dramaturgy, and the arcane art of writing ‘coverage’ and story notes. We will look at the screenplay development ‘business’ in writings by Peter Bloore and Ian Thompson. We will look at dramaturgy with readings from Aristotle to John Yorke and Steve Waters. And we will look at examples of studio coverage, explore the Black List, and look at the stand-out contemporary scripts. And we will write coverage. Lots of coverage. Students will learn to rapidly read, evaluate, and write up scripts. This is an education in itself, providing a useful skill for anyone interested in writing, directing, or producing and development. And it makes an outstanding entry-level skill for anyone hoping to move into film and television. Students can emerge from the module with coverage samples to add to their CV

FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION

Code AMAP5125B

Credits 20

LIVE TELEVISION STUDIO PRODUCTION

Code AMAP5127B

Credits 20

This module introduces you to television studio production, using the resources of the campus television studio. You will learn basic skills of both live and recorded studio production (including directing, vision and sound mixing, camera-work, lighting, floor management and editing), using practice-based training. You will produce a short television programme, researching the appropriate genre characteristics, style and narrative to create the final work. The live broadcast will be accompanied by written reports analysing and evaluating the production process and the finished product. PLEASE NOTE - This module needs a minimum of 12 students enrolled to run; if that enrolment is not met, the module may be withdrawn.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Code AMAP5129B

Credits 20

Cinematography is the craft of motion picture photography, comprising numerous visual elements – light and lighting, frame composition and shot size, camera placement and perspective, focus and depth of field, ‘look’, exposure, and camera movement. This module will explore how the Cinematographer brings together all these elements to capture a scene that interprets the Director’s vision.

RACE AND VISUAL CULTURE

Code AMAS5055B

Credits 20

This course examines the visual construction of race, including how indigenous groups have been racialized through visual means and how the category of “black” has been established as the hyper-visual opposite of the comparatively low-profile (some might say invisible) “white.” We will consider and critically contextualize examples of visual representation of racialized bodies from throughout modern history, in an examination of the racist visual rhetoric that props up white supremacy in the West. Visual culture is part of social and political life, and in studying images we will think about the context of their production, the public for whom they were intended, and the ideologies that inform ways of seeing it. Our in-class examples will be drawn from all aspects of visual culture, including film, television, painting, comics, magazines, advertising, postcards, sculpture, anthropological illustrations, museum exhibits, digital media, and more, and our secondary readings will come from both historical considerations and contemporary critical race theory.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES PLACEMENT MODULE

Code HUM-5004B

Credits 20

This module will provide you with the opportunity work within a creative/cultural/charity/ heritage/media or other appropriate organisation in order to apply the skills you are developing through your degree to the working world and to develop your knowledge of employment sectors within which you may wish to work in the future. The module emphasises industry experience, sector awareness and personal development through a structured reflective learning experience. Having sourced and secured your own placement (with support from Careers Central), you work within your host organisation undertaking tasks that will help you to gain a better understanding of professional practices within your chosen sector. Taught sessions enable you to acquire knowledge of both the industries in which you are placed as well as focusing on personal and professional development germane to the sector. Your assessment tasks will provide you with an opportunity to critically reflect on the creative and cultural sector in which you have worked as well as providing opportunities to undertake presentations, gather evidence, and articulate your newly acquired skills and experiences.

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Important Information

Students will take 120 credits (4 modules) across year 3. 60 credits in semester 1 and 60 credits in semester 2.

Assessment for Year 3

In your final year, you will have the opportunity to work closely with an expert supervisor in completing a dissertation on a topic of your own devising. All our assessments are designed to strengthen your critical thinking, prepare you for the next level of study and give you skills that are attractive to future employers.

Compulsory Modules

Optional A Modules

(60 credits)

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT ON SCREEN

Code AMAM6002A

Credits 30

Module Description (This module is about) This module explores the ways in which cinema and television have engaged with discourses of crime and punishment across the history of the two mediums. It will look at the ways in which screen cultures have circulated and contested historical understandings of crime, criminality and justice, but also ongoing debates regarding cinema and television’s influence on the propagation and perception of criminal behaviour. The module will explore a range of film and television genres that focus on crime, investigation and the penal system, and that have incorporated scientific and technological innovations with regard to surveillance and detection, including: gangster films, police procedurals, delinquency films, true crime, prison dramas, crime appeal programmes, superhero movies, and forensic crime dramas. We also map the ways in which these genres have responded to different historical, national and social contexts, and explore the ways in which a range of converging identities (gender, sexuality, class, race, ethnicity, generational identity) have influenced these contradictory depictions and discourses. This interdisciplinary module will explore the relationship between media history, theory and representation, drawing upon theories from fields including film studies, television studies, cultural studies, gender studies, sociology, criminology, psychology, and science and technology studies.

GENDER AND TELEVISION

Code AMAM6045A

Credits 30

This final year module will pick up on the theoretical frameworks that you gained during your first two years of study and use them to focus on discussions about the ways in which gender, as well as class, race and sexuality are represented across various television genres. We use the concept of postfeminism as one which frames the ways discourses of gender in popular culture as a theoretical basis from which to proceed. We explore the medium of television as a textual entity, a social activity (i.e. the focus on audiences and viewing), and a political agent (ideology and power) and focus specifically on the ways in which these intersect with and inform the representational politics of the texts under discussion. The predominant texts under discussion in this module will be drawn from British and American Television enabling us to examine the specificities and similarities of these two cultural contexts

FILM, TELEVISION AND MEDIA STUDIES: DISSERTATION (AUTUMN)

Code AMAM6079A

Credits 30

This module provides the opportunity to work on an independently-researched dissertation on an aspect of Film, Television and/or Media Studies; you will choose and negotiate the topic of your choice to gain approval. 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. You 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.

SCIENCE FICTION

Code AMAM6121A

Credits 30

Science Fiction films and television series have provided a significant focus for addressing social, cultural and political issues. You will look at the historical development of the genre, with an emphasis on situating examples of films and television programs within their historical and cultural context. The module also concentrates on issues surrounding human identity, as played out in this genre. A range of films and series episodes from both the US and UK will be screened and various clips will also be discussed in seminar.

MEDIA PRACTICE PROJECT (AUTUMN)

Code AMAP6097A

Credits 30

You’ll be able to make use of your practical skills to produce a significant practice-based project investigating some aspect of Media, Film and/or Television studies. You’ll produce a significant practical work that refers to, and makes use of, relevant theoretical debates and issues, and will also write a critical evaluation of your work. Projects are individually negotiated with supervisors, and will build upon an area of practice that you have previously covered (film-making, screenwriting, digital media, magazine or sound media). Before taking this module students MUST have completed one of the following modules: AMAP5119B – Television Studio Production; AMAP5123A – Film & Video Production; AMAP5124B – Digital Media Theory and Practice; AMAM5052B - Writing the American Script; AMAM5051A/AMAM5052B – Writing The American Script: Hollywood and Beyond; LDCC5002A or LDCC5008B – Creative Writing: Scriptwriting.

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Code AMAP6101A

Credits 30

In this module, you will gain an advanced understanding of 21st century forms of digital storytelling and narrative practices in a variety of contexts. You will examine how effective stories can be created and shaped using a range of web platforms and hear from guest speakers working in digital storytelling roles. You will critically and creatively engage with case studies of digital stories drawn from creative arts and cultural heritage. You will have a chance to explore many forms, which may include social media, mobile media, gamified/branching/procedural narratives, data visualisation, citizen journalism, podcasting, and other forms of digital content.

ADAPTATION AND SCRIPTWRITING

Code AMAP6102A

Credits 30

In this module you will explore the process of creating new screen stories from previously published material. Today more films are made from adaptations than wholly original screenplays, so you will learn an essential skill for anyone preparing for work in film, television, and new media. You will explore the practice of scriptwriting, dramaturgy and story structure, as well as key theories of adaptation. You will probe a series of different examples of narrative adaptation across literary and media contexts. Module assessments you will produce a short critical essay and a creative project that includes an adapted script.

CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Code AMAP6107A

Credits 30

What is the effect of leadership on creativity and innovation in business today? Managing creativity and innovation is increasingly important for all companies in the current fast-changing business landscape. Digital disruption and new business models have made a huge impact on many businesses, including the media industry. The aims of this module are to introduce you to a practical understanding of the nature of managing creative people in a business context; and the leadership and business strategies of organisations to encourage different types of innovation, with a focus on media companies. What is the effect of leadership on creativity and innovation in business today?

WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER: GLOBAL SEXUALITIES AND CONTEMPORARY QUEER CULTURES

Code HUM-6005A

Credits 30

The transnational movement of bodies, images, and capital has transformed modern conceptualisations of gender and sexuality. Sexual practices, identities, and subcultural formations have been altered through processes of migration and globalisation, as well as by the advent of new media technologies and the wide-reaching circulation of categories such as gay, lesbian, and transgender. In this context, this module aims to situate categories of gender and sexual difference within specific cultural and political contexts, and investigate non-normative gender and sexual formations in relation to emerging discourses on race and class and to anti-colonial theories of modernity and global capitalism. At the centre of the module sit questions such as: How have queer subjects been incorporated into nationalist projects and consumer culture? How has the liberal framework of human rights reshaped the struggles of queer movements outside the West? In what ways have transnational discourses on multiculturalism reshaped notions of queer community and belonging in global cities and in postcolonial metropolitan spaces? What role have media technologies and various forms of visual culture played in the reconstitution of gender and sexual identities and of representations of queer desire, affect, and kinship? Addressing these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, and drawing on case studies from different geographical regions and from different disciplinary fields, the overall aim of the module is to explore the varied ways local histories and geographies interact with the forces of political, economic, and cultural globalisation, focusing especially on the experiences of sexual minorities in the Global South and of queer diasporas in the Global North.

Optional B Modules

(60 credits)

EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO ART

Code AMAA6109B

Credits 30

Since the 1960s the increased number of artists working with film and video has resulted in the moving image becoming a common feature in museums and contemporary art exhibitions. Surveying the work of a broad range of American and European film and video makers this module will explore how they have sought to develop a mode of practice that distinguishes their work from more conventional forms of cinema and television. This module will examine in detail how the work of experimental film and video artists relates to established histories of avant-garde art, performance, and sculpture. It will also ask how the relationship between their peculiar production and exhibition methods informs a critical engagement with both the spectator and the institutions that present their work.

BRITISH FILM SINCE THE 1960s

Code AMAM6012B

Credits 30

How has British cinema developed through the 21st century? What has it learned from the successes and failures of its own past? By focusing on British film and British film culture from the 1960s to the present day, this module will give you new and different perspectives on the modern British film industry, and the films it produces. You'll get a grounding in the important movements, directors, genre, cycles and stars within the last 6 decades of British film. You'll learn how to examine and analyse those people, films, and movements within a cultural and industrial context, considering the social, technological, artistic and ideological motivations underpinning the creation of 'British' film. Central to this will be your exploration of how 21st century British cinema understands and exploits its own history, from Ealing Studios and Hammer Horror to claims of the 'boom and bust' economic cycle of British production.

CONTEMPORARY SCREEN DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION

Code AMAM6025B

Credits 30

This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of the structure and workings of the independent and local screen sector in the UK and its global context. The module will look at different approaches to distribution and public exhibition of screen content and audience development, including commercial exhibition, community cinema and film festivals. Covering a range of relevant theories and concepts, the module will provide students with a critical understanding of the key issues at stake in how screen content is circulated and accessed by audiences. Key themes will include the influence of industry regulation (by government and industry), impacts of public funding, professional work practices, content diversity and social inclusion. Students on this module are required (as a group) to programme, organise and host a ticketed public film screening on campus using a mobile film projection kit. Some of this work will need to be completed outside of scheduled classes.

FILM, TELEVISION AND MEDIA STUDIES DISSERTATION (SPRING)

Code AMAM6080B

Credits 30

CREATIVE WORK IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES

Code AMAM6086B

Credits 30

What is it like working in the media industries? What are the key opportunities and challenges which face aspiring and established media professionals? In engaging with such questions, this module offers you the opportunity to gain an understanding of the industries in which you may well wish to work. Throughout the module you will engage with academic research and other writing, both historical and contemporary in nature, to provide you with an understanding of the potential to find pleasure, fulfilment (and a steady income), as well as pressure, frustration and precariousness in media work. As well as developing skills in communicating ideas, principles and theories, you will conduct your own research into the nature and conditions of media work. To help you understand media work, we reflect on changes in the nature of work itself in modern societies, considering historical and recent developments in working cultures and questions of work-life balance. Following this, you will gain insights into work in the media and creative industries through an engagement with academic research, policy developments and the accounts of media workers themselves (across sectors such as film, television, music, magazines, advertising and digital media). We also look at questions about the extent to which it is feasible to do ‘good work’ and produce challenging, innovative, ground breaking, thoughtful or just genuinely entertaining media products in a seemingly ever competitive and commercial media landscape. Having developed a grasp of some of the key dynamics at play in creative labouring, you’ll put this knowledge into practice by carrying out and reflecting upon your own research into the challenges and opportunities bound up with media work. The module will not only provide you with a range of valuable insights into the realities of media work but will also help you develop skills in conducting research, organising and communicating your ideas and weighing your own arguments against those of others.

CELEBRITY

Code AMAM6090B

Credits 30

You'll 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, You'll 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.

ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

Code AMAM6133B

Credits 30

This module looks at a range of print, broadcast and online alternative media in the USA and Britain from largely the 1960s counterculture onwards. This includes pirate radio, underground press, guerrilla television, fanzines, subvertising, video activism, Indymedia, community media. It maps the history and development of alternative media, explores connections and tensions with technological innovations, the cultural politics of alternative media, the relationship with and impact on mainstream media forms, and assesses the significance of alternative media for social change. There is an emphasis on historical and cultural material theorised through aspects of media, subculture and social movements.

INVESTIGATING AUDIENCES AND RECEPTION

Code AMAM6144B

Credits 30

In this module you will investigate a range of changing audience practices and cultures in the twenty-first century. You will be introduced to some of the key research on, and theoretical debates around, audience practices in relation to changes in distribution, technology and evolving forms of engagement. You will also study social practices and fan cultures surrounding new technologies, transmedia storytelling, branding, steamed media, event cinema, theme park attractions and other participatory cultures. Investigating Audiences will enable you to expand your critical and analytical skills, and also to develop your abilities as an audience researcher. You will evaluate and assess published academic writing on audience research methodologies, which will then enable you to exercise critical judgement in the design of your own empirical research project.

GENDER AND GENRE IN AMERICAN CINEMA SINCE 2000

Code AMAM6146B

Credits 30

This module offers an overview of critical and theoretical approaches to gender and genre in film and television, focusing particularly on North American media, over the last decade. Topics explored may include: the articulation and development of postfeminism in film and television; popular and independent film; feminism and authorship; media responses to the political and cultural contexts of postfeminism; responses to the recession; race and the limits of feminist representation; motherhood and fatherhood; representations of queerness. The module is taught by seminar, tutorial and screening.

MEDIA PRACTICE PROJECT (SPRING)

Code AMAP6098B

Credits 30

You’ll be able to make use of your practical skills to produce a significant practice-based project investigating some aspect of Media, Film and/or Television studies. You’ll produce a significant practical work that refers to, and makes use of, relevant theoretical debates and issues, and will also write a critical evaluation of your work. Projects are individually negotiated with supervisors, and will build upon an area of practice that you have previously covered (film-making, screenwriting, digital media, magazine or sound media). Before taking this module students must have completed one of the following modules: AMAP5119B – Television Studio Production; AMAP5123A – Film & Video Production; AMAP5124B – Digital Media Theory and Practice; AMAM6032A – Adaptation and Screenwriting; AMAM5038B – Adaptation and Transmedia Storytelling; AMAM5049B – Writing The American Script: Hollywood and Beyond; LDCC5002A or LDCC5008B – Creative Writing: Scriptwriting

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Important Information

Entry Requirements

A Levels

ABB If you are taking an EPQ and three A-levels, we may offer you a one grade reduction on our advertised typical offer, if you achieve an A in the EPQ.

T Levels

Not accepted

BTEC

DDM excluding BTEC Public Services, Uniformed Services and Business Administration

Scottish highers

AAABB

Scottish highers advanced

BCC

Irish leaving certificate

3 subjects at H2, 3 subjects at H3

Access course

Access to Humanities and Social Sciences pathway accepted. Pass Access to HE Diploma with Distinction in 30 credits at Level 3 and Merit in 15 credits at Level 3

European Baccalaureate

75%

International Baccalaureate

32 points

GCSE offer

You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE.

Additional entry requirements

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our Foundation Year programmes

ALTERNATIVE QUALIFICATIONS

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications. If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries.

INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.

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:

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):

IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:

Interviews

Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time.

Gap year

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.

Intakes

This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake is in September each year.

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Course Reference Number: 6775432

BA (Hons) FILM AND TELEVISION STUDIES