AMU1305 Film studies: Forms and approaches

Film studies: Forms and approaches gives students an overview of the discipline of Film studies. Weeks are devoted to the close analysis of film, with topics focusing on key formal and stylistic elements, such as narrative, mise en scene, camerawork, editing and sound. In addition, students will become familiar with some of the main theoretical approaches used in Film Studies, such as authorship, genre and national cinema. Throughout the unit emphasis is placed on situating films within their broader social, political and historical contexts, and in doing so students will engage with the ideological significance of cinema - how films offer particular, politically-loaded visions of life. Exploration of these issues is supported through weekly screenings, with a variety of films being shown, spanning a range of historical periods, genres and countries.