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AMS-30037 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2022/23 Last Updated: 04 May 2022

AMS-30037 - Film Noir: The Dark Side of America
Coordinator: Oliver Cg Harris Room: CBB1.053 Tel: +44 1782 7 33016
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733147

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Yes

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2022/23

This module assumes and builds upon knowledge of Hollywood as an institution and on a grasp of skills in film analysis, and so is suitable for those who have already taken a film module in Y1 or Y2.
It seeks to develop a more advanced approach to the conditions of film production and to such features as genre conventions and the star system, and fosters skills in psychoanalytical screen theory and mise-en-scene analysis, in order to historically contextualise the study of key works of the classic film noir period.
The selection of films is intended to suggest networks of relations between directors, actors, cinematic techniques, and studios, as well as themes and settings. The main topics studied will include gender, masculinity, sexuality, censorship, World War II, and the relation between cinematic form and historical knowledge in order to map noir's dark representation of America during the war and immediate postwar years.

Aims
To engage with a series of topics, including gender and sexuality, related to wartime and postwar American society and culture through the study of a major Hollywood film genre
To develop students' film-analytical skills and and film-theory knowledge to an advanced level
To enable students to relate filmic formal features to issues of historical knowledge

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/ams-30037/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

apply advanced skills in close textual analysis of film (mise-en-scene analysis): 1,2
relate formal features of films to issues in wartime and postwar American society: 1,2
demonstrate skills in referencing and bibliography: 1,2
analyse formal features of films to an advanced level: 1,2

Study hours

36 teaching hours, comprising: 12 x 2-hour seminars + 8 x .5-hour lectures (preceding each film screening); 8 hours workshops. 114 hours independent study, comprising: 30 hours seminar preparation; 20 hours Short Paper preparation; 64 hours long essay preparation.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Essay weighted 70%
Long Essay, based on topics outlined in the Module Document.
2,500 word essay, based on topics outlined in the Module Document, requiring students to combine critical research with close textual analysis supported by still image illustrations.

2: Short Paper weighted 30%
Mise-en-scene analysis based on students' choice of a different scene to that used in the Group Discussion
1,200-word exercise in mise-en-scene analysis, using still frame images, written up in essay format to include references and a bibliography.

Please note that for the 2021/22 Academic Year all programmes will be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there will be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 04 May 2022