Unit information: Introduction to Film and Television Studies in 2022/23

Unit name	Introduction to Film and Television Studies
Unit code	FATV10005
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Maingard
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	none
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	none
Units you may not take alongside this one	none
School/department	Department of Film and Television
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

This unit examines key concepts and approaches in film and television studies. Central ideas in the development and practices of these disciplines – such as auteurism, genre, national cinema, realism, representation and ideology – will be examined through close readings of scholarly texts, and the analysis of case studies and examples drawn from the history of film and television. In doing so, this introduction to film and television studies will engage with questions of the distinctive place of these media – as popular and artistic forms – within culture and society.

Aims:

1. To develop skills in using key terms and analytical approaches in the study of film and television;
2. To develop an understanding and appreciation of how the study of film and television relates to and differs from other modes of artistic and cultural analysis;
3. To develop critical skills for the textual analysis of film and television;
4. To write essays that articulate and illustrate a cogent argument developing from the textual analysis of film and television.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. engage critically with key intellectual paradigms within film and television studies and put them to productive use;
2. apply knowledge and understanding of how film and television style, genres and narratives function and can be analysed;
3. articulate and illustrate a cogent argument informed by textual analysis and using key concepts in film and television studies;
4. employ discipline-specific vocabularies and approaches in the analysis of film television.

How you will learn

Weekly seminar, lecture and screening, supported by self-directed tasks where appropriate.

How you will be assessed

1500-word essay (0%, required for credit, formative, ILOs 1-4)

2000-word essay (100%, summative, ILOs 1-4)

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FATV10005).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.