FIL-20015 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

The aim of this module is to analyse contemporary popular cinemas at a `global¿ level. We will look at a series of films across a range of different national contexts, focusing especially on the impact of globalisation, as both an economic and cultural process, on the content, style and distribution of different cinemas internationally. We will consider the ways in which the wider influence and viewing of different cinemas across different filmmaking contexts ¿ and the effect of globalisation on traditional understandings of `culture¿ ¿ have impacted on the types of films produced globally, and the ways these films are made and seen. Central to the module is the question of a `globalised¿ culture. Does this mean a uniform culture, dominated by certain tendencies of filmmaking (for example, Hollywood)? Or alternatively, how has the increasingly globalised nature of culture created new opportunities and possibilities for the expression of `local¿ cultural forms? How, moreover, might globalisation represent a positive challenge, rather than a threat, to traditional ideas of national cultures and national film industries? The module will consequently provide a significant knowledge base for understanding how contemporary films are made globally, and why. It will also be invaluable in terms of identifying the changing ways we understand `national¿ film cultures and film industries in an increasingly `global¿ contemporary culture.

- Provide students with a strong grounding in key texts, concepts and discussions around the production, form and content of popular cinema at a 'global' level
- Identify the influence of film aesthetics beyond and between Hollywood and other international cinemas
- Expand students' existing understanding of the production, location and style of films internationally
- Focus on issues of national and trans-national identity as represented through film;
- Provide knowledge of a wider range of non-English language cinemas

Intended Learning Outcomes

identify different kinds of context for film production and film forms within the economic and cultural effects of globalisation: 1,2,3,

understand the meaning and impact of globalisation on international film production and film form: 1,2,3,

identity aspects of film genre and film style, and their changing shape, across a variety of national contexts: 1,2,3,

understand the relationship between contemporary national cultures and the films they produce: 1,2,3,

recognise and understand the impact of economic contexts on the production and form of contemporary film: 1,2,3,

develop a familiarity with key debates around `global¿ and `national¿ cinemas and cultures in the context of globalisation: 1,2,3,

Study hours

12 x 1 hour lecture 12 hours
10 x 2 hour lecture + screening 20 hours
12 x 2 hour seminar 24 hours
Supervision and feedback 4 hours
Class preparation 48 hours
Short paper preparation 52 hours
Reflective Diary preparation 60 hours
Essay preparation 80 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment