| Unit name | Film Criticism |
|---|---|
| Unit code | DRAM33128 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Alex Clayton |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Film and Television |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Film criticism is a form of communication that addresses films as potential achievements and wishes to convey their distinctiveness and value). What makes this film the film it is? How might we elucidate its qualities or explain its success or failure? In this unit students will study key examples of film criticism and films that pose special challenges for viewer and/or critic. Students will examine, and participate in, the different activities involved in distinguishing and evaluating a film’s specific qualities. The unit culminates with the production of a work of film criticism.
Aims:
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to: (1) articulate their own understanding of the purposes, principles and potential of film criticism.
(2) account in a critical fashion for their own experiences as a viewer.
(3) critically evaluate films, and defend their evaluations with appropriate evidence.
(4) identify and assess the standards and criteria of evaluation that are employed in the criticism that they read and discuss.
(5) situate critical judgements (both their own, and those of other critics) in relation to appropriate intellectual contexts.
Weekly 2-hour seminar, weekly 3-hour screening with 15-minute introduction.
10 min. individual presentation (30%) ILO 1-2, 4-5 4000 word essay (70%) ILO 1-3, 5 Presentations will take place in seminar sessions.
