LT927-7-AU-CO:
Critical Moments in the Theory and History of Film

The details
2023/24
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
20
17 February 2023

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

MA Q20212 Film and Literature,
MA QV2312 Film Studies

Module description

This module aims to provide an updated and in-depth examination of historical and contemporary theories and debates relating to formal, social, cultural, and political dimensions of film and screen media, emphasizing these as transnational, globalized phenomena.

Through weekly screenings and class discussions of key film, media, and theoretical texts, we shall aim to call into question both the apparently 'obvious' or 'straightforward' ways in which we talk about film and screen media, and the importance of addressing and mastering theoretical approaches in the field in order to inform and deepen our analyses and debates. These may include among them historical, ideological, psychoanalytic, semiological, postmodernist, feminist, queer, phenomenological, haptic, and other emerging approaches to film and screen media.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To provide an updated and in-depth examination of established and contemporary theories and debates relating to formal, social, cultural, and political dimensions of cinema and screen media.

  • To emphasize debates around cinema and media as transnational, globalized phenomena.

  • To call into question both the apparently 'obvious' or 'straightforward' ways in which we talk about cinema and screen media.

  • To address the importance of mastering theoretical approaches in the field in order to inform and deepen analyses and debates.

  • To examine a select sampling of historical, ideological, psychoanalytic, semiological, postmodernist, feminist, queer, phenomenological, haptic, and other emerging approaches to cinema and screen media.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be expected to have an:



  1. Understanding of the assumptions underpinning formal, social, cultural, and theoretical accounts of cinema and screen media.

  2. Enhanced understanding of the relative usefulness and applicability these accounts.

  3. Enhanced understanding of various ways in which more recent theories have come to question established approaches to cinema and media.

  4. Enhanced comprehension of local and specific cultural phenomena in film and media.

  5. Enhanced consideration of film and media as transnational, cutting across and delivered through various platforms.

Module information

While stressing the importance of close analysis, the module is designed as a 'tool kit' approach to the critical understanding and analysis of film and media rather than a series of 'close readings' of selected texts. Classes will involve detailed discussions of different theoretical perspectives as well as drawing on extracts from texts which may complicate certain established positions and readings. Classes function as a space for you to develop your own ideas, through a process of constructively discussing and critiquing those of key theorists, artists, and practitioners. This will help facilitate students to move on to create their own distinctive interventions – whether as practitioners, historians, critics, or theorists.

Broad topics for seminar discussion are indicated in the reading list in the module documentation, though please consult the updated module handbook for the specific week-by-week subject matter and texts.

Bibliography and reading list (indicative):

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction, 7th edn (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004)

Carnes, Mark et al. (eds), Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (New York: Holt, 1995)

Cook, Pam and Mieke Bernink, The Cinema Book, 2nd edn (London: BFI Publishing, 1999)

Turner, Graeme, Film as Social Practice, 4th edn (London: Routledge, 2006)

Bazin, André, What is Cinema?, 2 vols (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967)

Deleuze, Gilles, Cinema 1: The Movement Image (London: Athlone, 1986)
____________, Cinema 2: The Time Image (London: Athlone, 1989)

Easthope, Antony (ed.), Contemporary Film Theory (Harlow: Longman, 1993)

Heath, Stephen, Questions of Cinema (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981)

Jenkins, Keith (ed.) The Postmodern History Reader (London: Routledge, 1997)

Sobchak, Vivian (ed.), The Persistence of History: Cinema, Television, and the Modern Event (New York and London: Routledge, 1996)

Stam, Robert, Film Theory: An Introduction (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2000)

Tosh, John and Sean Lang, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods, and New Directions in the Study of Modern History, 4th edn (Harlow and New York: Longman, 2006)

Turner, Graeme (ed.), The Film Cultures Reader (London: Routledge, 2002)

White, Hayden, The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987)

Learning and teaching methods

The principal learning environment for this module is the weekly seminar, during which you will be expected to make constructive contributions to class discussion, airing your ideas and responding respectfully to those of others. You are unlikely to maximise the potential of the learning environment if you come along to classes unprepared – for this reason, it is vital that you familiarise yourselves with the weekly set readings before each seminar.

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Essay (5,000 words)    100% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Daniel O'Brien, email: d.obrien@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Daniel O'Brien
LiFTS General Office - email liftstt@essex.ac.uk. Telephone 01206 872626

 

Availability
Yes
No
Yes

External examiner

Dr Andrew Birtwistle
Canterbury Christ Church University
Reader in Film and Sound
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 20 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies

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