Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Viewing | 8 x 3 Hour Viewings |
| Seminar | 10 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 5000 word essay | 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 5000 word essay on a different topic |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate a clear and comprehensive understanding of the structures and processes of the film industry;
2. critically evaluate the mechanisms of production and distribution;
3. demonstrate a systematic understanding of the political and economic factors that shape the product film.
Content
10x2 hour seminars
8 x 3 hour screenings
Week 1: How a film is conceived: Pitching an idea (screening of a film whose original pitch is studied in the seminar)
Week 2: Co-production (screening: co-production)
Week 3: Distribution (screening: box office hit)
Week 4: Film Festivals (screening: festival winner)
Week 5: Around Film Festivals: programming, markets, talent campuses
Week 6: Projecting film: technical issues (screening)
Week 7: The Press: film critics and press releases (screening of a film and discussion of press reviews)
Week 8: Sales and Promotion (screening and marketing campaign in different countries, e.g. Head On)
Week 9: European Cinemas: national identity? (screening: local film)
Week 10: Revision seminar
Aims
This module aims to acquaint students with the production and distribution side of the film industry and enable them to explore the ways in which film is also a product that is sponsored, advertised and sold. With a solid knowledge of the infrastructure, they will be able to better pitch projects (of particular relevance to MA Scriptwriting students), to analyze films not only in aesthetic, but also production terms, and to contextualize films within an industry. They will be able to apply the knowledge gained to jobs in the film industry (and film criticism).
Brief description
This module will look at the range of ways in which films are made and distributed. It will explore issues of co-production and the function of pitching for finding producers; of the promotion and distribution of European cinema; of the projection of cinema in the digital age; of the role of festivals in the promotion of art-house European cinema; and of the role of the press and film critics in the positioning of the product film on the market amongst an audience.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | Communication skills will be developed during seminar discussion but will not be assessed. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will independently assess their on-going learning and performance in the development of their critical essay. |
| Information Technology | Students will be encouraged to use electronic resources in the library |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The module is part of MA programs that require students to consider their work within a context of professional practice. However, the module itself will not directly assess this skill. |
| Problem solving | Students will develop ways to solve both creative and practical production problems using research and professional practice skills |
| Research skills | Students will develop their research methods and procedures; the efficacy of these will be assessed in the critical essay |
| Subject Specific Skills | During Q&A with guest lecturers, interview skills will be tested. |
| Team work | Students will collaborate informally during seminar discussion. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7