BA Film & Television Studies

EAF1501: Major Debates in Film Theory

This module will introduce you to some of the key debates and concepts in film theory. It will investigate some questions about film that have emerged as the most pressing at different junctures in the history of film and of film studies. Together, these ideas will allow you to build a conceptual framework for understanding film's relationship to reality, individuals, cultures and societies. It will demonstrate how theories can be productively applied to film analysis, and will develop your understanding of film and of the world around you, in new and diverse ways.

• To introduce you to a series of major debates in film theory from issues of realism and film language to affect and queer theories.

• To familiarise you with these theoretical approaches, situate them in the broader development of Film Studies as an academic discipline, and demonstrate how these theories might productively be applied to analyse film texts in new and different ways.

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EAF1504: Introduction to Film History

This module will introduce you to key developments in the history of film and cinemagoing from pre and early cinema in the 1890s to around the 1960s. Through a series of case studies, the module introduces you to a range of key movements, trends and moments in international film history in countries such as Britain, Italy, Senegal, France, Japan, Germany, India and the USA. You will study a diverse range of film genres, forms and styles, including documentary, experimental and avant-garde filmmaking, short films and feature fiction films, and attention will be paid to the impact of changing technologies and social and political events in shaping film styles and film industries. A key focus on the module will be acquiring and practising the skills to 'do film history', and to you will think critically about the processes of writing histories.

• To study key case studies of film movements, genres and styles in the history of film from the 1890s to around the 1960s.
• To pay attention to the international nature of film in countries such as Britain, Italy, France, Japan and Germany, India and the USA. Attention will also be paid to the history of experimental and avant-garde filmmaking.
• To recognise the impact of changing technologies, and social and political events in shaping film styles and film industries.
• To acquire and practise skills in 'doing film history', through, for example, work with primary sources in the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture and the Media History Digital Library and to recognise the inevitably selective nature of almost all histories of film.

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EAF1506: Interrogating Screens

Interrogating Screens will introduce you to key skills in formal analysis for film and television. It offers you an essential technical tool kit for interrogating film and television form and style, considering properties of image, audio, editing, storytelling and non-narrative media modes. To do this, the module covers a wide range of big and small screen texts from different historical periods, cultures, genres and movements. By the end of the module, you will be proficient in the use of a range of tools and techniques for close formal analysis and will be able to relate this analysis outwards to an understanding of relevant cultural and industrial contexts and conditions.

The module aims to:

• introduce you to the essential technical vocabulary for the close reading of film and television form and style;
• teach you how to apply this vocabulary in oral and written forms in constructing original analyses and close readings of texts;
• introduce you to a wide range of cinematic and television styles and genres from global media histories;
• enable you to understand how particular movements and trends in film and television form relate to their particular cultural and historical contexts;
• develop your core study skills in academic reading, writing, research and presentation;
• develop your ability to work individually and in a team.

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EAF1507: The Contemporary Film and Television Industries

This module is a core component of the first year curriculum for Film and Television Single Honours students. It will introduce you to the practices, structures and roles which make up the film and television industries today. It asks how these industries function by looking at the work of key organisations, influential industry bodies, and important individuals and players in the UK, Europe, Hollywood and other global industries since 2000. The module provides a foundation for studies of the film and television industries, and especially of contemporary practices, in the following years.

The module is a primer in the workings of the contemporary film and TV industries, particularly the principles of the value chain. It will focus on and be anchored to exemplary case history texts. Students will benefit from direct experience of the London-based industry, Exeter's connection with the London Film School, and an international trip, offering a global perspective on these dynamic industries. In addition to perspectives from visiting speakers the module includes field trips to the Berlin Film Festival, and a Studio tour and trip to the British Board of Film Classification in London.

The module aims to prepare you for more advanced work at Level 2 and 3 on the creative industries, contemporary cinema and TV, and is designed to enhance confidence and employability opportunities, connections and work-placements at Level 2 and 3.

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CDF2001: Script Craft: Writing for Screen and Stage

This module introduces you to the basic skills needed for writing for Screen and Stage. You will learn how to write short-form and long-form texts (scripts, short dramatic scenes) tailored to specific audiences, media, and purposes. You will use concepts such as scene structure, character, conflict, dialogue, pacing or visual description to create dramatic writing for stage or screen. You will learn how to apply the conventions of film, broadcast, or stage and use them to shape tone, structure and rhetorical approach. You will have the opportunity to implement iterative revision practices using feedback, focusing on clarity, concision, tone, and dramaturgical coherence. There are no pre-requisites or co-requisites for this module, and no specialist knowledge, skills, or experience are required to take it.

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CMM2026: Communications and the Climate Crisis

The climate crisis is one of the defining issues of our era, threatening the future viability of human life on planet Earth. This module critically examines the media’s role in framing the parameters of climate change debates and how it represents visions of the natural world. It also interrogates some of the ways that the communications technologies and the media industries contribute to the climate crisis themselves, in terms of carbon footprints and digital (un)sustainability. Topics may include mapping the history of environmental awareness, the impact of digital technologies on the natural world, fictional and non-fictional stories about environmentalism, celebrity activism, and exploring a range of critical approaches to thinking about the climate crisis. No specialist knowledge, skills, or experience are required to take this module. It is suitable for all students in Humanities and on interdisciplinary pathways.

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CMM2027: Communications in the 21st Century

This module explores some of the most pertinent issues of communications in the contemporary digital landscape, including the uses and abuses of new media, debates about politics and citizenship, new media and identity, digital exhaustion, and security, surveillance, and safety. One of the key threads of this module will be to encourage self-reflection about how individuals engage with new media and digital communication technologies and the implications of this practice on everyday life, including new media’s overdetermined construction of our social realities.

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EAF2502: Shots in the Dark

This module offers you the opportunity to look closely at Hollywood, one of the world's most successful exponents of screen entertainment, but also consider the important realms of independent filmmaking and art cinema, which have broadened the scope of cinematic innovation and representation, and have often offered a distinct challenge to Hollywood's own practices. It gives you the chance to study some of the most fascinating and significant films to have emerged from the American cinema, placing them in the rich cultural and institutional contexts from which they emerged.

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EAF2511: Television: Times, Trends and Technologies

Mass entertainment, public service broadcasting, state apparatus, domestic screen medium, digital platform: this module examines the changing nature of global television by investigating its different histories, modes and technologies. By reflecting and informing daily life, television plays a significant role in shaping how individuals, families and communities consume sound and images. You will consider television's role from a number of perspectives drawn from a range of disciplines - visual culture, history, sociology, politics, and psychology, to name a few. As an introduction to television studies, this module is suitable for all students regardless of previous experience.

This module aims to offer a rich insight into the development of television on a global scale, considering its historical and geographical evolution, various forms and trends, and its changing technologies. The module examines the origins of television across the world, enabling an understanding of different national industries in America, Europe, Africa and Asia. You will interrogate television as a socio-cultural phenomenon, evaluating some of the most influential programming trends and ground - breaking texts, and how they have engaged societies. We will locate these discussions within specific broadcasting policies and broader institutional and political contexts.

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EAF2513: Filmmaking

This module will introduce you to the basics of film production, including story construction, camerawork, digital editing, sound recording, and directing, and you will work on creating a short film. You will be taught by expert tutor(s) with experience in the world of filmmaking.

In addition to creative and practical skills, the module will introduce you to the organisational & managerial aspects of film production, including scheduling, permissions, and promotion strategy. Small groups will work on films within focused teams, each taking on technical and creative roles. Teamwork and time management will be essential.

The practical component is a collaborative project and it is the film which is assessed.

An individual critical reflection will be written to support your learning and will be submitted with your final film.

By the end of the module

You should have acquired key filmmaking skills, and built your own creative pathway, including developing a stronger sense of your preferred specialism.

You should have experienced working in a tightly focused group and will experience practising a variety of filmmaking skills. Teamwork is essential to this module, so those applying for a place on it will need to be comfortable working as part of a group.

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EAF2519: Scrublands, Sanctuary, Screens: Co-creating Knowledges alongside Donkeys

You will be trained to evaluate critically the portrayals and experiences of donkeys in film and other screen media and contrast that with in-person donkey observations. You will be fully immersed into the day-to-day practicalities of donkey life including the labour of care, the exact nature of which will be individually determined at Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary (https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/visit-us/sidmouth). No prior experience of working with other species is required. The module includes 1 day at the donkey sanctuary. The day will consist of learning about donkeys in Knowing Donkeys sessions, donkey observations and potentially some interactions. You will explore the myriad ways in which donkeys have been represented in screen cultures and incorporated into discourse and rethink human-donkey relationships in the process of working on this module. You may be given the opportunity to present your final video assessment on the Donkey Sanctuary website and/or at their Education centre.

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EAF2520: Adaptations: Text, Image, Culture

The process of adapting material between media, including literary forms, such as scripts, short stories, novels and plays and visual forms, including film, television, graphic novels, webtoons, and games is one of the oldest, most dominant and most ubiquitous strategies in the creative industries. By analysing a wide range of adaptations in different forms you will be able to understand the rich and complex relationships between textual and visual media at distinct historical moments and in specific cultural contexts. This module introduces key issues in transmedia studies and offers you the opportunity to understand adaptation as a creative process and adaptations as cultural products.

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EAF2521: Fanatical: Fan Culture and Identity

Fanatical delves into the scholarly study of fandom, blending theory with real-world examples and personal reflection to examine how fandom shapes and challenges contemporary media. Through lectures, seminars, screenings, and hands-on engagement with archival materials at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, you will gain insight into fan studies and its discourse. Suitable for any student interested in critically reflecting on their own fan practices and examining media industry dynamics, this module is an excellent choice for interdisciplinary pathways.

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EAF2522: World Cinemas: Representations, Histories, Conflicts

World Cinemas: Representations, Histories, Conflicts is the first of two modules which introduce you to some of the key debates, themes and films of ‘world cinema’. In this module, you will examine how these films interrogate some of the key issues of our time: global conflicts, power and identity (including race, gender, sexuality and class). You will explore how these themes are portrayed in films from all over the world, including South and East Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. The films span a wide range of genres, including animation, comedy, drama, thriller and documentary. You do not need prior knowledge of film, or deep knowledge of geopolitics or identity politics to study this module. You just need a curiosity about the world around you and an interest in how cinema portrays it. There is no expectation that you will necessarily complete both World Cinema modules, although they address different material and you are welcome to if you wish to.

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EAF2523: World Cinemas: Contexts, Environments, Industries

World Cinemas: Contexts, Environments, Industries is the second of two modules which introduce you to some of the key debates, themes and films of ‘world cinema’. This module specifically invites you to explore some of the key debates around contexts, histories, and media industries globally. You will examine how these films interrogate some of the key issues of our time including representations from the margins, climate change, and neoliberalism. Further, you will explore how media industries are shaped by the idea of world cinemas, and global voices shape industry contexts, particularly, film festivals. You will explore how these themes are portrayed in films from all corners of the world. In addition to films from diverse genres, you will also assess the burgeoning global screen industries around cinemas of the world. You do not need prior knowledge of Film or a theoretical grounding to participate, and therefore the module welcomes students from all contexts and expertise levels. The module studies cinema as a key framing apparatus for the world, and as such will aid you through interdisciplinary readings to name the world and frame questions about the world. There is no requirement for you to have completed the first World Cinema module before taking this one, although it will provide some useful foundational understanding.

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HAS3999: Study Abroad

The Study Abroad programme enables you to undertake a year-long study placement at a partner university outside of the UK, as part of your degree programme.

This module serves as the administrative mechanism for recording the Study Abroad assessment results of students within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS). Students participating in the Study Abroad programme and based in a HASS department (except for the Law School, the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Modern Languages, and the School of Education) will be registered on this module during their Study Abroad placement year.

The Study Abroad programme widens the range of modules available to you during Stage 3 of your degree programme; enables you to broaden your academic horizons by studying in a different learning culture and (where relevant and appropriate) in languages other than English; and aims to promote resilience, independence, cultural awareness, and communication skills.

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HAS3998: Employment Experience

This module allows you to undertake and to learn from an extended work placement during the third year of a four year “with Employment Experience” programme. You will use one or more work placements to gain skills that equip you to work in the employment market and to improve your knowledge of the work environment. You are encouraged to think about the intercultural competence and the employability skills that you acquire during your year.

To progress to this module, you will have secured a suitable placement for a minimum of 26 weeks.

Having developed the skills necessary to find relevant roles and apply for roles in the graduate labour market, this is an invaluable opportunity to develop work-related skills and experience that will further enhance your success in the graduate labour market and support your future career choices.

During your placement year you will be supported by the Module Convenor and Placement Team.

The module assessment structure provides opportunity and support for you to evaluate your skills and achievements using personal development techniques.  You will also write an Employer Report to showpiece the culmination of your academic and business skills.

This module aims to:

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CDF3000: Dissertation

This module gives you the opportunity to undertake an

in-depth research project, either in the form of a traditional written

dissertation or by bridging academic scholarship and practical application. You

will develop critical thinking and independent research skills, and will have

the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world contexts should

you wish. You can choose between an 8,000-word scholarly dissertation or a

career-oriented portfolio, allowing you to tailor the project to your interests

and future goals. The module offers preparatory workshops, group supervision,

individual supervision and, where appropriate, reflective practice activities,

helping you explore topics of professional or academic interest. The module is

designed to enable you to enhance both your intellectual rigour and career

readiness and can be tailored to your individual skill sets and strengths.

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EAF3516: Creative Film Dissertation

This module gives the opportunity to pursue a sustained piece of independent visual media film production of your choosing, in the form of EITHER a short film OR a video essay. You will have the chance to develop both your imaginative and critical abilities through the completion of this audio-visual work, alongside a critical commentary. In both cases, you must submit an individual film, with your own edit, even if you have worked on the film as part of a team. In the case of the video essay, the critical commentary should concern a topic closely related to the video essay and should include a self-reflexive discussion of the creative research process as well as evidence of appropriate research. In the case of the short film, you should submit a critical commentary including a self-reflexive discussion of the creative research process, and a justification and explanation of the creative decisions taken using appropriate critical sources.

You will have a chance to discuss ideas with your peers and in supervisions with a single member of staff allocated to your project.

Module pre-requisite:

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