UNIVERSITY OF WALES, LAMPETER
FILM & MEDIA
STUDIES
FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES
The Film and Media Studies programme at University of Wales, Lampeter offers a unique opportunity to combine vital practical training with challenging academic approaches to studying cinema and the mass media. In the following pages, you will find details of the courses on offer in each year of the degree. With excellent facilities and experienced staff, this is a well-resourced programme that equips students for a range of employment opportunities in the media and related industries.
For further information on Film and Media Studies at Lampeter, please contact: Caron McKee-Hands, Department of Film and Media, University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED. Tel: 01570 424790 Fax: 01570 423669 E-mail: caron@lamp.ac.uk
For general information about the University of Wales, Lampeter, please contact: Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions, University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED. Tel: 01570 422351 Fax: 01570 423423 E-mail: recruit@lamp.ac.uk
www.lamp.ac.uk
................2
Year One Compulsory Modules
................3
Year One Optional Modules
................4
Year Two Compulsory Modules
................5
Year Two/Three Optional Modules
..............6-8
Year Three Modules
.............9-10
Staff Profiles
...............11
Facilities and Equipment
...............12
Open Days
...............13 1
CONTENTS
Course Content And Structure
COURSE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
In the first year of this degree, students take a number of compulsory modules that provide a solid platform for practical and academic media study. Subsequent years have less in the way of compulsory requirements, allowing students to pursue a range of optional modules in areas of study that are of particular interest to them.
Year 2 Compulsory Modules: 1) Film Stars: Representation and Performance 2) Understanding Television 3) Research Methods in Film and Media and a choice of optional modules offered within the Department of Film and Media and across the University. Year 3 Compulsory Modules: 1) Dissertation and/or Media Studies Project and a choice of optional modules offered within the Department of Film and Media and across the University.
Year 1 Compulsory Modules: 1) Introduction to Film Studies 2) Digital Video Production Level 1 3) Introduction to Media Studies 4) Creative Computing + a choice of optional modules offered within the Department of Film and Media and across the University.
Individual module descriptions are provided on the following pages. Please note that new options are added to the programme every year.
2
Introduction to Film Studies
This module is intended to introduce students to the academic study of cinema at undergraduate level. The course will provide a basic outline of narrative techniques and stylistic conventions to enable them to develop their appreciation of cinematic form. Some of the major theoretical issues in relation to the study of film, including authorship, genre, systems of representation and the role of the spectator, will be examined. The course is supported by a series of screenings which will allow students the opportunity to view some of the classics of film history, providing an overview of many of the most influential movements, including German Expressionism, the French New Wave, Hollywood and Soviet political cinema. By the end of the course, students will be armed with a solid grounding from which to develop their scholarly interest in the medium.
Digital Video Production - Level 1
A practical and intensely hands-on introduction to the basic skills used in single and multi-camera digital video production. During the module you will experience working as a team member in the studio-based, multi-camera sessions, while as an individual you will produce a 2-minute video using a digital camera and Adobe Premiere editing equipment. Teaching consists of 10 x 2 hour workshop sessions in groups of 10 - 15 students. On successful completion of the course, you should be able to demonstrate basic technical competence while understanding the roles and processes which support creative video production.
Introduction to Media Studies
YEAR 1 COMPULSORY MODULES
BA Film and Media Studies - Year One Compulsory Modules
This module introduces student to the study of the mass media from a variety of critical and theoretical perspectives. Initially the module examines key moments and institutions in the historical development of the mass media using case studies drawn mainly from America and the UK. In the second half of the module, students will engage with the major issues and theories that have concerned media studies as an academic discipline. Through subjects such as semiotics, ideology and reception theory, students will gain a firm foundation for theoretical and practical studies in the second and final years of the degree.
Creative Computing
Utilising industry standard software in the Mac Lab this module concentrates on design and publishing skills in desktop publishing for business. After being introduced to word processing and basic design principles, you will be taught how to use Adobe Photoshop to retouch and enhance photographic images from a variety of
sources, such as the World Wide Web, scanners and PhotoCD. The primary focus of the module is then on the use of Adobe Pagemaker to incorporate text and images in a desktop publishing project. Suitable for all students wishing to learn presentational and publishing skills to enhance their degree work and employment prospects, this module is completely 3 assessed by coursework.
YEAR 1 OPTIONAL MODULES
BA Film and Media Studies Year One Optional Modules Understanding the Social and the Cultural
Genre in Film
The history of cinema has been dominated by the development of key film genres. Whether it is the western, film noir or melodrama, the genre film has provided audiences with a safe formula, seemingly guaranteeing the delivery of reliable entertainment. This module will examine the way in which generic conventions function and change. Students will be gently introduced to some of the dominant theoretical discourses that have shaped the academic study of genre cinema. Key issues, such as historical context, the centrality of gender and the role of the director, will be discussed, and the course will be illustrated with examples drawn from both Hollywood and beyond.
Introduces various different ways of approaching and researching the complexities of human societies and cultures, social and cultural processes. The course explores various methods (e.g. interviews, participant observation, textual and visual analysis, questionnaires) used in research, highlighting the applicability, strengths and limitations of each.
Aswell as these modules, you can also choose from a range of other modules from other Departments across the University.
An Introduction to Cultural Studies
This module provides an introduction to the cross-disciplinary field of Cultural Studies. This course traces the development of key debates and approaches to the meaning of ‘culture’ and the study of ‘popular cultures’. Using a wide variety of examples and case studies, the course engages with different ways that the relationship between culture, society and power can be understood.
4
Film Stars: Representation And Performance
One of the central factors in the continuing popularity of cinema has been the status of the film star. Pampered and promoted, egotistical and overpaid, the film star is still likely to be one of the key elements affecting our choice of viewing. This module will look at the creation of the star system in Hollywood and follow its influence. Changing styles of performance will be examined, from the silent period, through ‘the method’ style of Marlon Brando, to the modern anti-hero. Students will be introduced to theoretical approaches to the analysis of stardom and the key issue of representation will be examined in detail. The importance of gender and sexuality will be addressed in relation to the creation of identity and the pleasures of spectatorship.
Research Methods in Film and Media
This module provides vital preparation for the Dissertation component in Year 3. Students will be introduced to the major areas of research methodology that they will need to employ in the Dissertation, testing each with a relevant exercise. Subjects covered will include researching original source material, content/ discourse analysis and interview techniques. The module will culminate in the production of a detailed proposal for the Dissertation that students intend to pursue in their final year.
Understanding Television
Television is a hotly debated medium at the heart of contemporary popular culture, a powerful global industry and a key source for both information and entertainment. This module will examine the history of TV, paying close attention to recent developments in public and private sector broadcasting.
5
YEAR 2 compulsorY MODULES
Drawing case studies from America and closer to home, the module will consider television as a specific textual form, highlighting major genres including the soap opera and so-called reality television. Other elements to be covered will be the regulation of the industry, issues of representation and the consequences these have for television audiences.
BA Film and Media Studies - Year Two Compulsory Modules
YEAR 2/3 OPTIONAL MODULES
BA Film and Media Studies Year Two/Three Optional Modules
build on the skills acquired at Level 1. The studio gallery will operate from our new multi-camera mobile unit, which will also enable us to produce “as live” broadcasts from a various locations. You will undertake most of the roles necessary to multi-camera video production, acting as camera person, sound and vision mixer, production assistant, floor manager, producer / researcher, director and performer as required. Your team-working, management and communication skills will be developed to a high level during this course, as will your appreciation of the hard work and organisation that goes into the most formulaic of television programmes.
Advanced Digital Video Production
This module develops the basic skills acquired at Level 1. You will be introduced to advanced non-linear editing techniques and set exercises designed to extend your visual and aural awareness and creativity. You will be required to submit 3 video productions; a 30” sound and vision montage, a 1’ trailer / promotional video and a 5-minute fact or fiction film. Teaching will be by 10 x 2 hour workshops in the first term, while the 5’ video production will be supported by masterclasses and tutorials during the second term.
Asian Cinema: Politics And Aesthetics
This module introduces students to examples of several major film cultures that provide alternative models to Hollywood. This begins with an overview of cinema in the People’s Republic of China under the Communist government and the related film industries of Hong Kong and Taiwan. The second part of the course examines Indian cinema, the most prolific industry in the world in terms of production. In all cases students will examine the extent to which the films produced in these contexts reflect national and regional issues. Throughout, a key emphasis will be placed on textual analysis, paying close attention to specific features such as the use of song and dance sequences in popular Indian film.
Introduction to Screenwriting
This is a practical course, in which the essential elements of effective screenwriting - character, narrative structure, action, plot, dialogue - are explored through lectures and workshops. Using a variety of screen narratives as examples, students are asked to submit a portfolio of written exercises designed to develop their writing skills leading to the production of a short script. The course also explores the role of the screenwriter within the context of commercial programme production.
Advanced Multi-Camera Production
Using the well-equipped 3-camera studio at the Media Centre, this course will
6
Professional Publishing
Digital Photography
Concentrating on professional publishing skills using Quark Xpress software, this module covers the advanced techniques used in the magazine publishing industry. You will be taught the procedures followed in a commercial printing environment from production and prepress through to the printing process itself. Issues explored are the role of process colour printing, techniques for colour trapping, prepress checklists and how to ensure that your printed output matches your expectations.
Traditional photographic methods involving the use of analogue cameras are being extended and, in some respects, being replaced by new digital methods. This practical course explores the technology of digital photography and (in the Departmental Macintosh Laboratory) the key computer software used in the creation of digital images. But digital photography is more than the supplanting of traditional methods by a digital alternative. New types of imagery can be created using digital technology, such as interactive ‘Virtual Reality’ tours for use on the world wide web. A major part of this course involves the creation of such ‘beyond the still image’ products.
Popular Music: Industry and Society
This module approaches the study of popular music from two broad points of view. In the first half of the course, students will be introduced to the key institutions that are responsible for the global production and mediation of contemporary popular music. An important focus will be recent changes in the industry, not least those brought about by the impact of the Internet. The second half of the module will concentrate on the role of popular music in contemporary debates about identity. Particular case studies will examine the representation of race and gender in popular music culture.
Cinema, culture and society: The 1960s in Europe and America
Culture and Media in Everyday Life
Explores the use and interpretation of language (English; spoken, textual, sung etc.) in interactions, social cultures and within news, ‘lifestyle’ and advertising media as situated practices, that are shaped by and may also reshape wider social contexts. Using examples in practical sessions, it investigates links between language, meanings, notions of identity and the operation of power.
7
Are the 1960s the most influential decade of the twentieth century? This module explores an era whose influence is all around us to this day, whether it is in contemporary pop music and fashion, or in debates about the effects of permissiveness on our society. Whilst this course is centred largely on films, there will be the chance to look at other key cultural developments of the period, including pop music, photography and television. The social and economic context will also be studied. Whilst focusing mainly on Britain and the United States, the module will also look at important developments in other European countries such as France and Italy. From The Beatles to the hippies, via Vietnam, civil rights and the counterculture, this module will take students past the Austin Powers stereotypes into the heart of the revolution.
Encompassing Representations
Geographies of Violence
Explores various issues connected to cultural and media representations of places and spaces at a variety of scales: from the globe as an icon of supposed unity and equality through to the neighbourhood and the home. It explores links between representation and power, through examining how a variety of different kinds of dominant ‘stories’ about peoples and places are retold, redrafted and subverted through how these ‘stories’ are told to different kinds of audiences.
From verbal to nuclear confrontation, this module investigates ‘violences’ of many different kinds. It examines how various socio-cultural-political, legal and moral considerations combine to justify, ‘naturalise’, deem ‘viewable’ or deem illegitimate certain forms of ‘violence’ within a variety of cultural contexts.
Multimedia: Creative Web Page Design
Taught in the Apple Macintosh Laboratory, the module teaches the concepts and techniques required to create web sites using graphical web design software. You will learn how to plan, create and maintain a suite of web pages; how to create background designs for your web site and prepare images for the web using Adobe Photoshop; effective use of a digital camera and 35mm slide scanner; how to create animations for web page; and how to conform to accessibility standards for the less able. Critically, you will also learn how to ensure that your web site is accessible to users on Windows PCs and other computer systems.
Cultural Technologies
Explores technologies involved in the production, consumption and circulation of cultures and cultural artefacts. The course builds from the idea that technologies do not exist ‘apart’ from human societies and cultures, and are much more than particular arrangements of metal and plastics etc. built and used for specific purposes. The course is divided into three lecture blocks that look at the key debates around processes of production, consumption and circulation, using examples drawn from TV, film, music and ‘everyday life’ in contemporary and historical contexts.
Bodies and Representation
Focuses on the significance of bodies and their connections with individual and collective identities, personal and societal anxieties (e.g. in relation to health, beauty, sex etc.). These issues are explored through examining a wide variety of ways that bodies are managed, (re)presented and interpreted within different social, cultural and media contexts.
8
This wide-ranging course will look at a variety of alternatives to mainstream popular narrative cinema: from documentary realism to European art cinema and the avantgarde; from exploitation and niche films to animation and surrealism. Material that is sometimes challenging, but always rewarding, will be used to offer an alternative view to the one from Los Angeles.
Dissertation
A 12, 000 word piece of original work on a subject of the student’s choice. Based on the proposal written during Research Methods in Film and Media during the second year, this module requires students to pursue in-depth research into a media-related topic.
Media Studies Project
Based on the skills acquired in the first two years of the degree, students devise a project of their choice. Projects undertaken by past students have included the construction of a web site or shooting a short documentary. In all cases, students a required to produce a report on their project, detailing the processes involved.
The Films of Spike Lee
Spike Lee is one of the most controversial directors working in contemporary American cinema. He has made films as an independent and in mainstream Hollywood, producing a body of work that has provoked strong reactions from audiences and critics alike. With films such as She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, and Jungle Fever, Lee has been celebrated and vilified in equal measure for the way in which his work has engaged with racial politics. This module will examine Lee’s films in the context of key debates about representation and, in particular, the portrayal of African-Americans.
In addition to the above, students can choose from a range of options including those listed under Year Two and those below which are intended for Year Three students only: Alternative Cinemas
Is Hollywood all there is to cinema? One result of the all-pervading influence of Hollywood has been to provoke reactions and occasionally revolt against its dominant style and values. This has taken many forms, from experimental art cinema to the attempt to counteract Hollywood’s glossy surface values with a cinema dedicated to capturing the rawness of reality. There have also been those audiences who feel that their concerns and interests have never been fully catered to by the mainstream and who look elsewhere for their entertainment.
9
YEAR 3 COMPULSORY MODULES
In their final year, students take at least one of the following:
The Media in Wales
tive,” as well as the emergence of the “made for TV movie” and the “classical adaptation”, the move towards formulaic narratives and genres.
This module provides students with a unique opportunity to study the media in Wales. Examining the history of key institutions such as S4C and the Western Mail, the course will look at the way Wales has been represented in cinema, television, the press and popular music. In all cases the specificity of the Welsh experience, in relation to government policy or the role of language, for instance, will be placed in the context of developments in the broader UK and global media.
Introduction to Subtitling
This highly practical module conveys the basic elements of subtitling. Each student will have access to a sophisticated PC unit at the Media Centre in a dedicated Subtitling Suite. In addition to formal tuition there will be assistance in the form of surgery hours to support students as they become competent in operating the equipment. Students will learn to subtitle a range of material whilst adhering to the guidelines and conventions specified by the ITC (Independent Television Commission).
Introduction To Television Drama Its History And Development
An exploration of the development of television drama, from the televised single play to the multi-narrative soaps and series that fill our screens today. Technological advances have affected the stories we tell and how they are told on the “small screen.” We will look at the innovative presentations of the past, such as Bleasedale’s “Boys from the Blackstuff,” Potter’s “Singing Detec-
10
Trevor Harris B.Sc. (Ext London)
Carol has extensive experience in the production and direction of film and television programmes. For the past 25 years, her work has included feature film, drama, documentaries, and children’s programmes in Welsh and English for local and international markets. A Skillset External Evaluator, she has been closely involved with the development of national vocational qualifications for broadcast and new media industries, examining the “match” between academic / vocational training and industrial needs. Her screenplay adaptation of T. Llew Jones’ “Dirgelwch yr Ogof” will be broadcast on S4C as their “Christmas special.” Her research interests include story-telling, narrative practices and structures as expressions of cultural and national identity. She is a director of “Small World Theatre”, a locally based company that uses puppets and mixed media to work with developing countries on social, cultural and environmental issues.
With over twenty years’ experience in a design and publishing environment, Trevor teaches electronic publishing skills which range from Desktop Publishing through to New Media. A Mac user since the advent of computer based DeskTop Publishing, he supervises the Department of Film and Media’s dedicated suite of Macintosh computers and ensures that the facility is kept up to date with industry standard software. His current interests include the emergence of digital video technologies as interdisciplinary tools in education, the advent of ubiquitous computing using wireless technology and extending the reach of broadband Internet access into rural areas.
Simon Horrocks M.A. (Edinburgh), M.A. (Warwick) Previously Cinema Education Officer at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre, Simon has a wide range of teaching and research interests in the areas of film and media. These include Chinese cinema (and Asian cinema more generally) and the use of popular music in film and television. He is currently writing a book about contemporary popular music culture, due to be published by Arnold in 2003.
Geraint Davies
Manager of the University of Wales, Lampeter’s Media Centre (see section on Facilities and Equipment), Geraint has over twenty years’ experience in video production for broadcast and corporate video.
staff profiles
Carol Byrne Jones B.A., P.G.C.E. (Cardiff), M.A. (Sheffield)
11
FACILITIES AND EQUIPTMENT
3) The Mac Lab The Department of Film and Media provides students with access to some of the best training facilities in the UK.
This facility includes 20 Apple G4 computers, open access scanner, CDWriter and networked colour and blackand-white laser printers.
These are updated every year to keep pace with developments in the media industries. Key facilities and equipment are as follows:
The software suite comprises: Design and Publishing software: Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign Adobe PageMaker Adobe Illustrator Adobe Streamline Quark XPress
1) Media Centre This purpose-built facility includes :
Electronic Publishing software: VR Worx Apple iMovie
New Mobile Multi-camera production vehicle with web-streaming capabilities; PC Video Editing Stations with DVD drives, Matrox RT.X100 real time effects, Adobe Premiere 6.5 and DVDit; Television Studio (with three JVC Digital wide-screen broadcast cameras); Production Gallery; Access to Seven Portable Digital Video Cameras, Lights, Microphones etc. Subtitling Training Suite; Dubbing Suite and Access to the on-site Student Radio Station.
Administration software: Microsoft Office 2001 Professional Scriptwriting software: Final Draft Web Design software: Adobe PageMill Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Microsoft Internet Explorer Netscape Navigator iCab web browser
2) Video Conferencing Suite
In addition to the above, students have access to a wide range of computing facilities around the campus. VHS and DVD viewing facilities are also provided, both in the library and in a separate facility opposite the Media Centre.
12
Open Days
The Open Day is the perfect opportunity for you to find out as much as you can about the courses and facilities available at the University. You’ll get an insight into what life as a student is really like; find out about all our degrees and meet the academic staff; get answers to those questions you haven’t had the chance to ask from staff and students and show your friends and family around the place you could be living for three years or more. If you can’t make it on the day, give us a ring and we’ll arrange another date for you and your friends. To Book a Place... You can call us on 01570 422351. Once we have received your booking, we will send you a letter confirming your place and giving you an outline of the day. If we require more information from you, we will ask you to get in touch with us.
Other opportunities to visit us If you apply to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and are offered a place, you may be invited to a departmental visit day or for an interview. Information about these visits will be sent to you directly.
Alternatively, you can also visit the website to find an online booking form.
We look forward to welcoming you to University of Wales, Lampeter.
13
UNIVERSITY OF WALES, LAMPETER LAMPETER CEREDIGION sa48 7ed 01570 422351