Welcome To Film Studies 2020 EDUQAS Syllabus Phil

Welcome To Film Studies 2020 EDUQAS Syllabus Phil Bury (SL) & Alex Corbett Subject Tutors

What is film studies? • A course which analyses film form and techniques across a range of film styles and genres • A challenging course that looks at film historically and cross culturally • A practical course for developing real film making skills such as script writing, storyboarding, cinematography and editing • A*-B Pass rate 2019 – 66%

EDUQAS A level film course structure • Examination component 1 - Varieties of film and filmmaking (35% of A level) • American film since 1930 – Auteur and Context • American film since 2005 - Spectatorship and Ideology • British film since 1995 – Narrative and Ideology • Examination component 2 – Global filmmaking perspectives (35% of A level) • Global film – film from Europe and outside Europe – aesthetics, representation and context • Documentary film – film maker’s theories and digital technology • Silent film – issues and debates, realism and expressionism • Experimental film since 1960 – narrative and auteur • Production component 3 – Creative product and evaluation of product (30% of A level)

What will I learn about? Film - The key (micro) elements of film • Cinematography – camera movement and techniques • Mise en scene – analysing the content, lighting and composition of film frames and shots • Editing – how films are shot and cut together to achieve particular effects • Sound – how sound and music shape our response to film • Performance styles

What will I learn about? Film – the key concepts studied • • • Narrative – film form: structure and conventions (including genre) Context(s) of film – social, cultural, historical, political and global Representation – of themes: people, places, race and gender Film aesthetics – visual and narrative styles Ideology – the social, cultural and political themes & messages of films Spectatorship – spectator positioning (and manipulating) the audience/viewer’s response Auteur theory – the director and others as the ‘author(s)’ of the film Critical debates in film – realism, silent and documentary film Experimental film – film storytelling experiments

Year 12 – Exam Component – Topics and the typical core films studied American Cinema Since 2005 - Two Film Study: • Mainstream - Inception/La La Land/No Country For Old Men • Independent - Boyhood/Captain Fantastic British Film Since 1995 - Two Film Study: • Trainspotting/This Is England • Shaun of the Dead Documentary Film: • Amy

Year 13 – Exam Component – Topics and the typical core films studied Hollywood 1930 -1990 – Comparative Study: • Casablanca/Vertigo • One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest Global Film: • European – Life Is Beautiful/Pan’s Labyrinth • Beyond Europe – City of God Silent Cinema: • Sunrise Experimental Film – 1960 -2000: • Pulp Fiction

What coursework will I do? �The coursework component is 30% of the A level �You will have to produce a ‘Creative Product’ inspired by the short films we have studied, your choice is: �Either a 4 -5 minute film with evidence of research and planning (easier with modern technology – see below) �http: //www. bing. com/search? q=how+to+make+a+film+with +an+iphone&src=IE-Search. Box&FORM=IESR 02 �Or a 1700 word script with evidence of research and planning and a 20 shot photographic storyboard of a key scene �And a 1700 word evaluation of your work and the ideas you have taken from studying the short experimental film compilation

Activity 1 – Film top ten • Make a list of your 10 favourite films (current or all time) • Think about what defines your choice of films? What, if anything, do they have in common? • • Genre(s)? Era? (all modern? older? ) Performers? Messages and themes? • What does this suggest to you about your film tastes and preferences

Activity 2 – ‘Reading’ a film clip • Watch this clip from a set film that we study ‘Inception’ • https: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=inception+clip&&view=detail&mid=3 A 6 A 830964 A 2744 EBA 983 A 6 A 830964 A 2744 EBA 98&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2 Fvideo s%2 Fsearch%3 Fq%3 Dinception%2 Bclip%26 FORM%3 DHDRSC 4 • Think about the different areas of film making technique to focus on: 1. Lighting and camera work 2. Sound and music 3. Characters and acting 4. Settings and props • Try to find 3 -5 things to say about your clip (see the next slide for more detailed suggestions) • What kind of a genre, theme or convention is established by this clip? e. g. the lighting, the music, the camera work • What does this clip ‘tell’ you about this character (Cobb) and his world?

Key areas of film – clip analysis • How do each of these areas create an audience response? • Cinematography – camera movement, angles and size of image and how it adds to the storytelling • Lighting effects – darkness and light, colour • The impact of settings, costumes, props, CGI and effects and make up • The editing/cutting together of shots to create excitement, shock and suspense • Sound effects and music and how they relate to the action • Performance and acting to convey emotions, reactions, thought and character

Activity 3 – Genre and narrative • Genre is a way of describing films that have something in common such as storylines, settings, themes and typical characters • How many different film genres can you think of? • Check your answers on the next slide

Did you get any of these? • • • Science fiction Horror Action Comic book Western Musical War Animation Comedy/romantic Historical Crime/gangster Documentary Which ones are your favourites?

Activity 4 – Genre and narrative • Choose a film genre from the list – or pick one of your own • Identify 6 key features/conventions of that genre – the things you would expect to see in terms of settings, stories, characters and conflicts • What is the typical narrative (storyline) of your chosen genre – how does its story usually start or end?

Coursework - Short film study • As coursework preparation you will have to study 3 -5 set short films adding up to at least 80 minutes of screen time Short Experimental film (for coursework preparation) • Meshes of the Afternoon/La Jetee/The Grandmother/Elephant/Wasp/The Gunfighter and others • One of those set films is Connect – you can watch and think about it now as an introduction to the kinds of films that you will be studying

Activity 4 - Connect – watch it at the link below • http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=connect+film+abrahams&&view =detail&mid=C 0 BAE 4015434 DE 460 BCA&FORM =VRDGAR • ‘Connect’ is a BAFTA Nominated short film – it is five minutes long – you have to make a film of the same length as part of your coursework – analyse the film thinking about the following: • What elements create the most impact? Think about specific shots, setting, lighting, music and performance. • What techniques might you copy from it if you were making a short film? • Spectatorship – What does the film and its title mean? • ‘Film is not a reflection of reality, it is the (creative) reality of a reflection. " (Jea. N-Luc Godard). How could we apply this idea of film as reflection on but not of reality to this film?

Coursework – scripts and storyboards • We will look at scriptwriting conventions later, but we can use storyboards to start to plan out our film projects from early on in the course • All professional filmmakers plan and storyboard their projects in detail first, even the briefest advert on TV is storyboarded (see the Kit Kat ad below), it saves time and money, and is a great way of visualising and sharing the film maker’s (usually the director’s) artistic vision with key people such as film producers, cinematographers and the actors • Look at these exemplar storyboards –

a) A classic Kit Kat chocolate bar advert ‘Have a break…’ What works as a persuasive visual concept here?

b) A simple sample student storyboard exemplar How to do it… 1. Draw a set of frames 2. Add a title 3. Draw your shot 4. Add notes on the shot, action and sound underneath 5. Add the duration of the shot in seconds

Activity 5 - Storyboarding • Using storyboard b) as a model, draw a 10 shot storyboard of a character answering a call on their mobile phone • A call from who? When? Where? About what? Why? How do they react to each other? Most crucially – be imaginative & ‘show don’t tell’. • • Use a variety of shots (see the next slide) What is the best choice of opening shot? Think about whether we see the caller? Why is this? Indicate the use of sound effects and music Think about lighting Indicate the length of shot Try and create an intriguing final frame…

Some classic camera shots and angles – think about their impact on the viewer when you choose to use them

Further information and resources • The EDUQAS film syllabus is found here • https: //www. eduqas. co. uk/media/sxdcwwck/eduqas-a-level-filmstudies-spec-from-2017 -e-24 -01 -2020. pdf • EDUQAS online film resources are to be found here • https: //resources. eduqas. co. uk/Pages/Resource. By. Args. aspx? sub. Id=5 0&lvl. Id=1

Next year… • Bring all of the work you have done to the first sessions in the new autumn term and we will discuss some of them in class

Where can film studies lead me? • Film Studies is accepted by all universities as a valid A level qualification – even Oxford and Cambridge (we know this from experience) • Many of our students go on to practical film making and directing courses at universities such as Bournemouth, Goldsmith’s, Westminster and Aberystwyth • Film is widely regarded as an exciting art form and many students choose a range of courses with a film/media component

And finally Stay safe. . . and see you in the autumn!