Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Practical project (15-20 minutes) | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Critical reflection (5,000 words) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Practical project (15-20 minutes) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Critical reflection (5,000 words) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Undertake research to a high intellectual level and apply this to a practical film project.
2. Demonstrate advanced practical filmmaking skills, using an appropriate but original formal approach for addressing the chosen topic.
3. Demonstrate a high level of advance planning and effective project design in delivering a quality documentary film.
4. Demonstrate an advanced ability to reflect critically on the intellectual and aesthetic context of the work
Brief description
This module enables students to complete their MA in Documentary Filmmaking: Landscape and Ecology through a sustained period of research and production planning that will lead to a final documentary film on a topic related to space, place, landscape and/or ecology. Supported through regular tutorials with departmental staff and visiting documentary filmmakers, students will identify an area of interest and will produce a piece of film work informed by intellectual engagement and critical thinking. This will be accompanied by a piece of writing that contextualises the work and demonstrates a reflective approach to the production process. Students will be assigned an appropriate supervisor at an early stage in the project, with whom they will have a total of six hours’ supervision time.
Content
Under supervision of an appropriate member of staff, the student will complete a film project and a 5,000-word critical reflection.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Not developed specifically in this module unless students are working with analogue equipment. |
| Communication | Students will develop verbal and written communication skills throughout the module. They will be working with external organisations and will be required to develop effective interpersonal skills. Their written communication skills will be assessed through the written assignment. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | There will be a significant feedback component to the module, where students will have the opportunity to reflect on specific ideas and techniques in order to refine their work for the final project. |
| Information Technology | Students will be encouraged to use electronic resources throughout the module. This will be a necessary part of the research for both the critical and practical assignments. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The module is part of an MA programme that requires students to consider their work within a context of professional practice. They will have the opportunity, throughout the module, to network with filmmakers and other industry professionals. They will be encouraged to think about how the skills they are gaining can contribute to future professional practice. |
| Problem solving | The students will encounter numerous situations in which they will have to develop effective problem-solving skills, particularly in planning and carrying out their filmmaking project. They will have to liaise with organisations and negotiate filming rights. They will also encounter a range of technical challenges common to filmmaking practice and they will develop a flexible and responsive approach to working. This will also be an element of the research process, in which students will negotiate the terrain of their chosen topic. |
| Research skills | The nature of this final project demands that students develop an effective and systematic approach to academic research. They will negotiate a range of written and audio-visual sources, engaging critically with them and using them to build an intellectually informed piece of film practice. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students will be developing a range of skills which are specific to documentary filmmaking. |
| Team work | Students will have the opportunity to work together on film projects if they wish, but they will rely on their classmates for technical assistance at key points in the production process. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7