Film (Film with Practice)

What is the best structure for telling a story? How does a writer ‘show’ and not ‘tell’? How can dialogue and action reveal character? In this module you will reflect on these questions by taking an advanced look at one of the fundamental processes in creating work for the screen: screenwriting. You will review the basics of this craft before delving into more complex topics, using critical engagement with conceptual issues in order to refine and reflect upon your practice. Such topics may include: the proponents of storytelling and narratology; medium specificity; authorship and collaborative practices; sources of inspiration and adaptation; reflecting on how non-fiction stories are told; and the place of screenwriting studies within larger theoretical approaches to film and media. This module will help you build confidence as a writer and film practitioner, with a clear understanding of the importance of this art and craft within the larger creative industries.

What do the principles of fiction tell us about the filmmaking process? You will explore the fiction film as a way to engage with and learn key skills in filmmaking. You will reflect upon the short fiction film as a form with its own aesthetic and narrative principles, imbued with creative possibilities and challenges. The module combines intensive analysis of fiction and short-form films with historical contextualisation; training in the use of Film & Media’s technical facilities; and instruction in key areas of practice, which may include cinematography, sound recording, sound design, production design and editing. You will be equipped with the key skills required to make MA-level short films and enabled to develop creative ideas grounded in rigorous critical enquiry alongside technical and professional knowledge delivered by film practitioners. By the end of the module you will have refined your creative practice and reflected on your identity as a filmmaker, with the opportunity to take these skills forward in a chosen area of filmmaking elsewhere on the course.

Building on your experience with creative practice developed so far on the course, you will further refine the advanced technical, creative, and logistical skills required to produce your final creative project film. You will develop a proposal for either a fiction or non-fiction/documentary film and contextualise your ideas within critical areas of pre-production in order to further understand industry practices and establish your own style. Practical exercises provide a framework for you to generate and explore ideas, developing your project through activities which may include: research, outline and synopsis writing, location scouting, casting, shot listing, budgeting, and scheduling. These tasks are complemented by weekly seminars that place short film production within a broader cultural and industry context. Areas explored may include: short film distribution, navigating film festivals, initiating feature and documentary projects, and developing a professional profile.

The Final Creative Project is designed to develop your creative voice as a writer/director of fact and/or fiction film, together with your ability to contextualise and analyse your creative practice and contribute constructively to films directed by others. Throughout your studies on the MA Film with Practice Pathway, you will have prepared your own film idea for production, underpinned by solid research strategies and advanced knowledge of Film Studies, and acquired the technical and production management skills required to realise your creative project. Under the supervision of an appropriate academic supervisor, you will complete the production and postproduction of your film and the associated critical analysis. By also contributing to the realisation of fellow students' films and taking up roles such as researcher, producer, costume designer, sound engineer or editor, you will graduate with a range of skills that can be applied to future professional work or post-graduate practice-led research projects.

What are today’s pressing research questions? What are current lines of inquiry in the discipline? What are film scholars working on right now? Although universities are devoted to the distribution of knowledge, they distinguish themselves crucially from other educational institutions: uniquely, they are also sites dedicated to the production of original knowledge. With access to the international expertise and cutting-edge research of the university’s film staff, you will engage in one specialist topic for the duration of the module. The specific topic of the module varies from year to year according to the convenor’s area of expertise. (For the year's specific topic, please get in touch with the module convenor.) By doing so, you will be able to critically engage in an active area of research and use this to reflect upon how new knowledge is created and how your own ideas can be contextualised within scholarly debates.

How do films communicate their ideas? How do they convey narratives and build story worlds? How have the various audio-visual components of film been deployed and conceptualised and what does this tell us about the history of the medium, present-day practices and the larger film industry? This module will train you to communicate confidently and professionally about film form, style, and technique in a variety of spoken, written, and audio-visual formats (e.g. presentations, writing, video-essays and/or podcasts). You will study the theoretical frameworks and specialised terminology which you need to produce accurate, coherent, and effective film analysis. You will also learn to reflect critically on filmmaking from a variety of modes, genres, historical periods and national traditions (including, where applicable, your own filmmaking).

Since the advent of recorded moving images as a potent sociocultural phenomenon and aesthetic form in the late nineteenth century, film and cinema have inspired a voluminous diversity of writing: utopian celebrations of a new art and leisure activity, fan mail to stars, jeremiads of impending moral doom, reviews and critiques, and, eventually, theoretical and empirical scholarship in the context of an academic discipline. This module makes this writing and thinking about film its central focus. By varying topics and emphases from year to year, in line with current public discussions and cutting-edge research, the course focuses on empowering you to be able to better read, understand, test, apply and interrogate complex conceptual thinking on film; to recognise the purposes and audiences of diverse forms of writing about film; to rigorously debate and formulate theoretical questions about film and media culture; and to bring these insights to bear on exemplary film screenings.

Film Studies, a relatively young academic discipline, traces its origins to both the humanities and social sciences. Although some of contemporary Film Studies derives from the literary traditions of genre, thematic or textual analysis, major swathes of the field are now delving into wider and often interdisciplinary investigations of aesthetic, technological, economic and/or social formations of cinema, film and wider media culture. This module acquaints you with a variety of sources, methods and methodologies currently used in film scholarship and how to talk about them in rigorous ways. It empowers you to read and understand how researchers in the discipline strategically use sources and methods to answer research questions and advance knowledge, and to be able to apply these insights in your own research and enquiry.

Where do innovative ideas come from and how are they translated into published works? You will engage with this question by turning attention to your own research and writing practice. How do you come up with a research question? How do you narrow down your sources and make the most of your reading time? How do you plan an advanced piece of writing? This module focuses on the skills of advanced research writing, providing you with the training needed to research, plan and communicate with confidence for an academic audience.

The module will trace the process through which research is consolidated and prepared for the academic essay, highlighting the importance of structure, signposting and clarity of expression.

This module is also research-led, meaning the topic through which such skills are developed will be chosen by the module convenor to reflect their own research interests. The module will therefore also engage directly with current, innovative research and allow you to gain an understanding of the discipline’s larger research community and activities.  

After taking this module you will be able to reflect on the connection between innovation and writing, and your own development as a researcher. You will refine and develop the skills of constructing a sophisticated argument which engages critically with appropriate scholarship and is clearly articulating an intervention.

What does it mean to decolonise the curriculum? This module answers this question and explores the history of world cinema with a focus on diverse film industries which may include South American, African, and Asian national cinemas. It aims at situating histories of cinema that do not originate from the West in the context of imperialism and colonialism and considers narratives that were long marginalised. As part of this module, a wide range of films is represented and used to reflect on wider historical perspectives and global frameworks. You will reflect on connections and cultural flows between national cinemas, the history of film and a global history built on the exchange of creatives, styles, and technologies across national borders. International events with an impact on multiple nations and continents are also explored in relation to film style and genres. By the end of the module, you will have honed your research skills and ability to reflect on, and write about, the industry as a global phenomenon.