BA(Hons) Film

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LEVEL 1 – INTRODUCTION AND COLLABORATION

FILM PRACTICE 1: Screenwriting, Directing and Producing
You will learn the function and purpose of story, the fundamentals of screenplay structure, the nature of scenes, subtext, beats and point of view, script format and elements of style. You will get a good understanding of directing and producing, from development of a project, preproduction, working with the actor and crew, and the delivery of the film production.

FILM PRACTICE 2: Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Recording, Editing and Sound Design
This module will introduce you to the practices of the other concurrently running key disciplines of filmmaking, and cover topics such as the collaborative efforts and work of directors of photography, camera operators, production designers, sound recordists, sound designers, and film editors.

Critical Film Studies: History of Film
The introduction of Critical Film Studies concentrates on the history of film, with a direct connection to the genesis of film language, clearly illustrated by a series of programmed curriculum screenings whilst connecting how contemporary films have been informed by historical approaches.

FILM PRACTICE 3: Screenwriting, Directing and Producing
Workshops on Development and Writing for Location Short Film Production prepare you for the roles and responsibilities of the screenwriter where original screenplay and adapted writing will be covered and enables you to translate fictional works into an artistic cinematic language.

Directing for Location Short Film Production takes you on a comparative approach to expound on a 'style versus story' technique in order to gain insight into genre and how it affects the intrinsic dramatic structure of a film.

A Cross Faculty Exercise introduces the basic approach of the directing and acting vocabulary in order to achieve the best out of a performance in front of the camera.

FILM PRACTICE 4: Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Recording, Editing and Sound Design – Classical Narrative Cinema
The Camera and Lighting Workshop builds on the knowledge of the previous introductory semester, and concentrates on motivation for the movement and blocking of the camera, cinematic continuity and light measuring.

Editing aesthetics for narrative structure extends the understanding of post-production methods, procedures, workflows and technologies. It introduces you to the dynamic and creative roles involved in the post-production stage of the filmmaking process in defining the final outcomes of a production work through editing, colour correction and visual effects, using an appropriate range of software application and hardware tools.

Critical Film Studies: Narrative in Film
Critical Film Studies will evolve from a film historical background – including a new series of curriculum screenings – to a more analytical one with a focus on the study of narrative cinema and its popular genres by providing an overview of the major cinematic works and directors from the early stages to the present. It traces the history of Hollywood cinema and the influence of the film industry on the development of these particular modes of production. It will then proceed to explore and analyse other forms of narratives such as the art cinema narration as well as the documentary.

LEVEL 2 – CRITICAL PRACTICE

FILM PRACTICE 5: Screenwriting, Directing and Producing
This module continues the study of the screenwriter, director and producer as the three key initiators of any film project. However, these will be extended to the work of the actor, where you get basic introduction to well known acting methods, and to other practice modules, so as to include also the role and importance of the director of photography in realising the scene/project in accordance with the intentions of the screenwriter, director and producer, while exploring the photographic aspects of the shot and related areas. This applies also to the other key roles of production design, editing and sound design, which extends from the collaboration of the three key initiators of film projects to the delivery of the final product.

FILM PRACTICE 6: Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Recording, Editing and Sound Design
This module continues the study of essential elements in professional filmmaking and introduces the procedures that affect the film as an aesthetic product. It looks at the artistic and technical potentials related to the image and sound in the professional production and post-production process. It focuses on key areas of expertise that are involved in staging a screenplay in front of the camera, such as blocking, set design and decoration, costumes and props design, lighting and sound design, sound effects, visual effects, editing and mastering.

Critical Film Studies: Film Form
This module will offer perspectives on filmmaking techniques by evaluating and deconstructing traditional film practice, discourse and philosophies in the analysis of film as an art form. Critical Film Studies will be accompanied by a series of curriculum screenings.

FILM PRACTICE 7: Screenwriting, Directing and Producing
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop and realise a short film project. You take responsibility for at least one key role in the production team. In the module, the roles of the three key initiators of film projects are covered.

FILM PRACTICE 8: Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Recording, Editing and Sound Design
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop and realise a short film project. You define the project with advice from and under the supervision of an assigned mentor/lecturer, conduct relevant research, and manage the entire process of the project. You will take responsibility for at least one key role in the production team.

Critical Film Studies: Issues in Film
This module looks at and connects film movements and content to social, cultural, political and historical events that have shaped contemporary films today. By studying these issues, you will clarify the relevance of theory, making it the spine of your practice. This crossing between theory, reflection and practice will be accompanied with curriculum screenings.

LEVEL 3 – ADVANCED FILM PRODUCTION

FILM PRACTICE 9: Specialisation Modules
Specialisation modules are offered in the key areas of filmmaking. You will select one of the core disciplines, with the foresight of taking on a head crew position in one of the thesis films.

FILM PRACTICE 10: Special Film Productions
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop and realise a film project within your selected discipline area. You will define the project with advice and under the supervision of an assigned mentor/lectirer.

Dissertation: Thesis for Thesis Film
Dissertation writing will be the backbone of your film practice as it complements the process and production of the thesis film to ensure that each specialism is both informed and analytical through appropriate and accurate research. As a module involving research writing, which encourages you to be an autonomous learner, you are required to formulate a self-explored research paper that reflects your discipline within the thesis film.

FILM PRACTICE 11: Final Project – Thesis Film
You are required to complete your final project in this module. The independent project brings together the experiences gained throughout the film programme in a collaborative effort to realise a cinematic project that matches the professional demands and requirements of the creative industries.

POSTSCRIPT: Thesis for Thesis Film
You will revisit your thesis paper and correct flaws and inadequacies of the paper. This post-script approach while aiming to be a continuance of the original paper, also addresses self-evaluation and critique on arguments, discourse and implications previously put forth.