Action! Introduction to Film Studies

About

This module will introduce students to the discipline of Film Studies by focusing on the main theoretical and technical aspects of filmmaking. Through lectures, seminars, screenings and excursions, students will learn how to approach and discuss films analytically and will acquire an awareness of the history and development of cinema and of the key concepts that can be used to discuss and write about films.

Course leader

Dr Cristina Massaccesi

Target group

This is a level one module (equivalent to first year undergraduate). No prior subject knowledge is required for this module, but students are expected to have keen interest in the area.

Course aim

Upon successful completion of this module, students will have:
• Acquired appropriate technical vocabulary and cinematic terminology (e.g. mise-en-scene, editing,
sound etc.);
• Developed their analytical skills when conducting a formal investigation of films;
• Become aware of a set of social, cultural and political issues which have triggered or are connected with
key developments and tendencies in the history of cinema (e.g. silent cinema, the advent of
synchronized sound, avant-garde, auteurism, digital cinema, genre theory etc.);
• Developed their ability to discuss films in a written and oral manner through presentations, in-class
discussions, sequence analyses etc.

Fee info