Cinema, Television and Society – (M.A.)

Contents

Core Modules
Researching Cinema and Television: Theory and Method
This module will introduce and examine some of the key approaches to the study of cinema and television, including significant traditions in film and television theory, methods for analysing films and TV programmes, and research models appropriate for dealing with questions of history, the media economy, production and agency, and audiences and exhibition. It will also explore cinema and television in relation to a range of disciplinary contexts, including film and television studies, sociology, cultural studies and media studies, as well as considering some of the conceptual assumptions that inform analysis of cinema and television, including some of the tensions and overlaps between different theories and methods.

Key Issues in Contemporary Cinema and Television
This module will introduce and examine a range of key issues of relevance to contemporary cinema and television, primarily in the United Kingdom and North America. Particular attention will be paid to issues of convergence and overlap between cinema and television by considering shared issues concerning industrial, commercial, institutional, aesthetic, cultural and technological contexts and issues of specific relevance to each medium. The module will also examine ways in which contemporary issues of interest and concern are framed and articulated by the film and television industries and by critics and academics

Storytelling in Theatre, Film and Television
This module is taken by all MA/MSc students in the department over two terms and offers a unique opportunity for students to enter into dialogue across the three media. It is designed to stimulate common enterprise and to establish an arena of intellectual discovery and artistic experiment. The module explores questions of storytelling relevant to all three disciplines and will focus on matters such as narrative representation, the role of sound and visual image, the relationship between text and image, differences in acting and directing techniques, and the impact of new technologies. There will be an emphasis on learning about how certain aspects of specific disciplines might complement and enrich our understanding of the others.

Optional Modules

Contemporary British Cinema
This module will provide an advanced introduction to debates about and developments in British cinema from the 1990s to the present. It will explore debates about the local, the national, the transnational and the global filmmaking in relation to British cinema; as well as considering the ways in which industrial developments, media convergence, funding circumstances and state policy and practice relate to British filmmaking. While providing an overview of contemporary British filmmaking, the module will also identify and develop case studies of key genres or production cycles; and consider questions of identity, representation and style in relation to British cinema.

Small National Cinemas: Institutions and Cultural Identities
This module will explore the cultural and industrial significance of cinema in small nations drawing on examples including Denmark, New Zealand and Scotland. Each case study will closely examine the organisation of the specific film industry in relation to political and institutional contexts and factors; paying particular attention to the role of government policy and support, the profile of particular film-makers and popular genres pertaining to certain small national cinemas, and the significance and relationship between cinema and questions of national identity in small nations. The differential impact of globalisation on small national cinemas in different regions of the world will also be considered.

Television Audiences: Meaning and Emotion
This module will introduce students to the study of television and more specifically, the significance of the television audience. In particular, the module will examine audiences in relation to feminist perspectives on the concept of emotion and affect and theoretical work on the concept of emotion and affect within film and television studies. It will also consider developments and key issues within the study of contemporary global television and fan cultures. A number of contemporary case studies on emotion and television drawn from British and US media contexts will also be included.