FV1S37 - Theory 2: Film Language 27 Jan 2021 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 2

Associated Module Information

Module Code: FV1S37
Module Title: Theory 2: Film Language
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Film and TV
Faculty Sub Group: Film and TV
Module Leader: Deirdre Russell, Joseph Sudlow
Module Team: Samo Chandler, Philip Cowan, Inga Burrows, James Cooper, Gwyneth Moore
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 4
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100058 - film studies
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 2
Valid From 27 Jan 2021
Valid To 31 Aug 2026

Module Aims

• Encourage students to appreciate film as an expressive art form.
• Equip students with the knowledge and skills to closely analyse film form.
• Support students to learn and draw inspiration from film classics.
• Foster an applied understanding of the relationship between critical study and creative practice.

Content Summary

How does film speak without words? How does it communicate ideas and feelings purely through its unique audio-visual capacities? How do individual filmmakers innovate with the ‘language’ of film? This module responds to these questions by exploring the expressive possibilities of film form, through the close analysis of a variety of classic and contemporary masterpieces.

Via a series of lectures, directed screenings and seminars devoted, in turn, to mise-en-scène, cinematography, sound and editing, you will develop your cineliteracy through knowledge of conventions and innovations as well as skills in interpreting film style. This process will encourage a more sophisticated appreciation of the medium, as well as a more inventive and thoughtful approach to personal practice.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 12
Seminar 12
Practical classes and workshops 24
Independent Study 152
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Identify conventions and innovations in film form.
LO2 Describe how film form communicates ideas and feelings.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Practical Assessment (CW) Production (Audio visual) (CW) 1 A 5-minute video essay exploring the expressiveness of a single technique. 0 N/A 50 No 40
Written Assignment (CW) Critique 1 A formal analysis of a sequence of the student’s choice from one of the films screened during the module, and analyse how the sequence’s formal elements – cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing and sound – generate meanings. 0 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Production (Audio visual) (CW) 1
Critique 1

Reading List

Barsam, R. (2007) Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 2nd edn. New York: W. W. Arnold
Bordwell, D., Thompson, K. (2012) Film Art: An Introduction. 10th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill
Cook, P. (1999) The Cinema Book. London: BFI
Kawin, B. (1992) How Movies Work. Berkeley: University of California Press
Hollows, J., Hutching, P. and Jancovich, M. (2000) The Film Studies. Reader London: Arnold
Lacey, N. (2005) Introduction to Film. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Monaco, J. (2009) How to Read a Film. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press