| Unit name | From Silent Films to YouTube: Opera on Screen |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI30144 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Vella |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
From silent films to TV broadcasts, from DVDs to HD simulcasts and YouTube, opera has, for the past 120 years, provided inspiration for a growing number of audiovisual media. In this unit, we will explore its successive encounters with the screen from ca. 1900 to the present by examining different types of ‘mediatised’ stagings. As well as analysing selected filmed opera productions and opera adaptations for the screen, we will consider the larger aesthetic, cultural and political implications that opera’s ongoing ‘screenification’ raises. Each week we will focus on a different medium, including (but not limited to!) silent film, television, DVDs, videogames, HD simulcasts, Facebook and YouTube. One lecture-seminar will include a discussion of how surtitles and audio description can enhance accessibility to opera among the blind and Deaf communities.
The unit’s aims are:
1. to introduce students to the history of opera’s interactions with screen media, with a focus on Europe and the USA from ca. 1900 to the present
2. to help students engage with key theoretical debates in film and media studies
3. to provide students with an analytical toolkit that will allow them to critically evaluate screen adaptations of operatic works and operatic topoi in an independent way
4. to develop students’ skills in the oral and written presentation of their ideas
1. demonstrate an extensive knowledge of opera’s interactions with screen media in Europe and the USA between ca. 1900 and the present
2. engage critically with key concepts and theories in film and media studies
3. critically analyse selected ‘mediatised’ stagings, and solidly back up their views with independently chosen examples
4. develop original and coherent arguments in both oral and written form
Weekly two-hour lecture-seminars
3000-word essay (70%). ILO 1-4
Podcasts, in groups of up to 3 students, 10 minutes in total (30%). ILO 1, 2, 4
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. MUSI30144).
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.
