Introduction to Cinema

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Hilary Smith
• Assessment: two 1500-word essays (50% each)

In this module, you will be introduced to a diversity of films and a variety of film-making practices and methods with which to analyse cinema. You will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge of film form, history and theory and to enhance your appreciation of cinema.

The first term focuses predominantly on American cinema, given its perceived dominance; in the second term the focus is widened to explore other cinema practices. To help focus study, this module is split into four interlinked sections:

• Film language: the creation and evolution of a dominant film language, and critical approaches regarding how this shapes our understanding of films
• The studio system: the historical and industrial contexts of the Hollywood studio system and approaches to these areas within film studies
• Film form: selected forms and movements within cinema history that provide alternatives to the classical Hollywood narrative
• National cinemas: concepts of national cinemas through selected case studies