Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
TFM3120
Module Title
Film Dramaturgy
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Reading List

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Critical Reflection  2000 Words  25%
Semester Assessment Practical project  8 Minutes  50%
Semester Assessment Project workbook  2000 Words  25%
Supplementary Assessment Project workbook  2000 Words  25%
Supplementary Assessment Critical Reflection  2000 Words  25%
Supplementary Assessment Practical project  8 Minutes  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Adapt, synthesise, and deploy dramaturgical frameworks in film development to an advanced standard.

Critically analyse and evaluate narrative choices in short and feature films to establish dramaturgic case studies as a basis for advanced understanding.

Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the producer and director, as well as their respective departments, in the creative and professional aspects of realising a filmmaking project.

Master analysis of film markets to establish creative frameworks that encompass the sales and distribution process.

Brief description

This module equips students with the necessary knowledge and practical ability to choose, apply, and structure narrative elements in a film production. The module will develop students’ creative control as producers by teaching them the key skills required to collaborate with a director and interrogate the creative choices that influence the financial impacts of key craft positions.

Content

The module will provide an historical overview of the concept of dramaturgy, with the main emphasis placed on developing skill in the creation and application of dramaturgy in film, including research, pattern-finding, structuring, questioning, and reflecting. Alongside this, students will be encouraged to research film markets and consider avenues for sales and distribution as an integral part of film development.

Topics covered on the module include:

A short history of dramaturgy;
Film dramaturgy; Ideas, forms, and themes;
Constructing a story for screen;
The central question;
Research and development;
Concept design;
Film language,
Film space and time;
Poetic unity – ‘poikilia’ and ‘taxis’.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Adaptability and resilience Throughout the module students work individually and in groups to critique, analyse, and compare their research and works in progress, building adaptability and resilience in receiving criticism and applying criticism to themselves and others on a regular basis.
Co-ordinating with others Co-ordination skills are developed in workshops as students work together on various exercises, including weekly projects, which require co-operation and co-ordination in pairs.
Creative Problem Solving The creation and application of dramaturgic frameworks will require a high degree of creative problem solving on an ongoing basis.
Critical and analytical thinking The module will require a substantial amount of critical and analytical thinking through the weekly workshops, seminars, and assessment work. This will include analysis and appraisals of both professional and student works.
Digital capability Digital capabilities will be increased on a weekly basis, especially with regards to filmmaking practice, learned in workshops and assessed in the creative artefact, and digital design skills, learned in seminars and assessed in the project workbook.
Professional communication Throughout the module, professional communication will be enriched through the application of new terminology, concepts, and techniques, learned and practiced through weekly readings, seminars and workshops.
Real world sense Readings and example works from established practitioners will be provided to ground the students in a real world sense for the application of film dramaturgy in the work of directors, producers, production designers, and other key creative heads.
Reflection Reflection will be a key process for students of this module, both as a weekly occurrence in seminars, as well as in the reflective essay assessment.
Subject Specific Skills Skills in film dramaturgy will be learned and practiced specific to key creative roles in the production of film, from writers and directors to producers and production designers.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7