Film Studies

"A film is never really any good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet." Orson Welles

Film Studies at St. Edmund's is an optional subject at AS/A2 level only. Film Studies aims to allow you to apply analytical skills developed in the study of literature at GCSE to a new type of text; the film text. Cinema is studied as a medium, as a text, an art form and as a social and economic institution. Students are encouraged to engage with a wide variety of different kinds of films, developing skills of observation, critical analysis and personal reflection. Furthermore, pupils will have an opportunity to apply their skills in writing screenplays, film production and conducting personal research over the two year course.

The course is divided into two parts over two years with coursework making up 40% of the overall mark for each. Overall there are six units to the course with three studied per year. St. Edmund's students have continued to achieve outstanding results, year after year, with special examiner commendation about our students' film production work.

In the first year of the course, the main objective is to explore the relationship between the film text and the individual by focusing on the exploration of meaning and response. This is supported by the introduction of critical approaches appropriate at this level, such as genre, narrative theory, auteur theory, aesthetic and sensory qualities of film and their connectivity to meaning and response. In addition, film institutions, stars and producers are also explored in relation to production and consumption, supply and demand. Hollywood, British and Irish cinema are studied with the overall intentions of the year to study how cinema is a medium which creates a specific relationship between spectator and film.

At A2 Level, students further enhance and develop their critical understanding of the film text by closely examining auteur theory through a detailed research project of their choice on a star or director. In addition, pupils also apply their new knowledge to their own creative work through film journalism, screen writing or video production. World cinema is also closely examined with particular attention to how specific cinema institutions can be firmly located within their unique economic, social and cultural contexts. A choice of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Latin American and Spanish cinema may be examined within this part of the course. The final aspect of the course functions as a synoptic unit synthesising learning from the other units studied, and in the process, developing critical reflection and analytical thinking. Some of the topics studied include the role of documentary films, regulation and censorship, fandom, gendered film studies and social and cultural approaches to film.

Film Studies lessons are taught within the English block of classrooms with state-of-the-art projectors and Apple computers. Pupils have the opportunity to develop their interest in film production through the use of Final Cut Studio/Final Cut Pro Apple software, used by Hollywood film makers. In November 2007 students were trained by a professional film maker, artist and lecturer on how to effectively use this new and progressive software.

AS and A2 Film Studies will provide a strong base for progression to undergraduate studies in film theory, criticism and history, in addition to a range of media-related studies. Film Studies is a popular option for English literature and history AS and A2 studies since many aspects of the course require the close reading and analysis which is encouraged and developed in these subjects.