Film Studies MA

This module sees cinema as an inherently interconnected and global art form, and charts its development between diverse cultures from the early years of silent cinema to the present. It traces influences between film movements from different cultural contexts and across space and time to show that cinema is, and in a sense always was, a transnational, intercultural phenomenon.
The module will proceed chronologically, beginning with silent cinema, before charting a course through national cinema, commercial and arthouse movements, as well as lesser known cinematic revolutions of the twentieth century. We will conclude with a consideration of how the globalization and digitization of film and media industries are challenging traditional production, distribution and reception patterns in the present day.
As well as covering a number of key film movements and moments from around the world the module invites students to explore innovative forms of filmmaking. Film viewing and discussion will be supplemented by analysis of carefully selected film theory and criticism that is relevant to the topic under discussion.
These topics may vary depending on developments in academic research or the interests of the class, but throughout, the focus remains on drawing connections between mainstream film trends and their more radical counterparts throughout the world.
In each session, students will pay attention to three interconnected elements in their study of an assigned film or films for that week:

1. The movement, genre, style, theory or technology associated with the film;

2. Interdisciplinary context: the social and political framework in which it emerged, including how various audiences received the film;

3. Close reading techniques: understanding the conjunction of aesthetics and film form with the meaning and interpretation of the film.

In this module we will look at the ways in which the French narrative cinema has portrayed its own society, and the extent to which it has contributed to the general cultural understanding of that society’s history, aspirations and problems.

This module offers a great opportunity to enhance your personal and professional development through work based learning . You will gain hands-on knowledge of the film, or related, industry. Please note, this module is dependent on the availability of work placements.

This module is designed to introduce students to the range and diversity of current research in languages and cultures. In individual sessions, students will be encouraged to consider the range of theoretical and methodological approaches which they could adopt in approaching their individual research projects. This module aims to provide students with an awareness of the key theoretical issues central to cultural studies, and to develop in them an understanding of current methodologies.

This module aims to introduce students to the new trends in contemporary Italian cinema and to the main relevant theoretical and critical approaches in the field.

This module develops research and critical skills when examining digital cultures with a particular focus on the Americas. It takes examples that encompass North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. Building confidence in handling theoretical tools in the analysis of digital cultures it examines a range of professional and amateur content creators from social, institutional and personal perspectives and considers issues of curatorship, archival approaches, the ethics of (re)appropriation and remediation, and the relationship between the self and the public and private spheres.

Screen Cultures B introduces students to the diversity of cultural contexts and histories that have shaped the formal, industrial, institutional, and political meanings of cinema. The module examines both dominant/institutional and marginal/alternative screen cultures in relation to the formation of screen industries, histories, movements, and cultural identities.
Screen cultures are both an effect of production and reception. The module explores how screen cultures emerge and function, the formal and stylistic aspects that shape screen cultures, and the overlap between industries and audiences in the production of specific institutional, historical, critical, and audience-defined screen cultures. Screen Cultures A will introduce students to advanced film theory, industry and production studies, and film history alongside advanced formal analysis.

The Screen Cultures B syllabus is organized in two distinct blocks.

Block one: dominant and institutional screen cultures

The first block reflects the institutional or dominant screen cultures that are likely familiar to most audiences. These cultures are often understood through lay terms such as mainstream, popular, Hollywood, or art cinema. Their production and reception are defined by an understanding of screen cultures as an effect of industrial organizations and institutional practices.

Block two: marginal and alternative screen cultures

The second block of Screen Cultures A attends to the alternative and marginal screen cultures that have emerged beyond and outside of those dominant cinemas explored in block one. These screen cultures may be less familiar but have been central to particular audiences, political contexts, and sites of exhibition. Many of the screen cultures in this block seek to challenge the hegemony of those case studies from the first block.

In structuring the module in such a way, Screen Cultures B delivers a comprehensive overview of key debates surrounding screen cultures, especially cinema cultures, while also ensuring that it is inclusive given also its strong focus on diversity and alternative and marginal cultures.

With films such as Nigendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa, 2001), Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) and Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2005), German film has once more been greeted with international acclaim. However, in contrast to the ‘art house’ film-making of the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, today’s ‘post-Wall’ German cinema is resolutely commercial, employing genres and forms familiar to international audiences. This module offers an examination of key developments in German film since the 1990s. It traces the rise and international success of a German variant of the ‘heritage’ film in which the trauma of German history in the twentieth century – through the Third Reich, German division and the urban terrorism of the 1970s – is reimagined and mined as the source cinematic narratives. The module also explores a return to an ‘art-house’ film-making preoccupied with questions of realism and representation in the work of Andreas Dresen and the so-called Berlin School of film makers. All films are available with subtitles and the module is suitable both for students of German and students without German who are interested in film and its relation to society.

This module examines global film industries, platforms of distribution and contemporary developments in these different production contexts. It builds on students’ knowledge and skills gained in FILM501 World Cinemas and extends this through an approach to contemporary movements and currents in global film cultures. Drawing on a variety of local, national and transnational cinemas it focuses on current developments in, and critical approaches to global film cultures.

Film viewing and discussion will be supplemented by analysis of carefully selected film theory and criticism that is relevant to the topic under discussion.
These topics may vary depending on developments in academic research or the interests of the class, but the focus throughout will be on the analysis of a variety of different primary sources in context and informed by current theoretical debates and scholarship.

The module will prepare students for planning their research effectively and presenting it both within the department and to outside audiences. It will incorporate training in the specific skills required for framing a major piece of research at postgraduate level, along with personal, supervised preparation of a feasibility study for the dissertation which they will be writing and submitting in fulfilment of the MA degree.

Taking this module, students will become familiar with audiovisual translation theories and practices, with a focus on subtitling. Students will also learn how to subtitle from different perspectives: technical (e.g., programmes, time and space limitations), linguistic (e.g., genres, orality), inter-cultural. Subtitling will be explored as an intra- and inter-linguistic translation practice, and the module will have a practical focus, including the use of subtitling platforms and software.

This module considers what it is to think philosophically about the nature of film. It critically discusses philosophical approaches to the medium. It examines the thinking of philosophers, critics and filmmakers on vital issues encountered when discussing film as art. It considers the importance of film and its relation to other art forms. It familiarises students with works by key filmmakers, and encourages students to engage with these works. The module will enhance students’ abilities to think critically about fundamental issues surrounding film, and about what philosophers, critics and filmmakers have said about the medium. It is taught through weekly seminars (1 hour per week) and film screenings. Assessment is by one 3,000 word essay.

This module will focus on the immense changes that have occurred in the field of television with a view to understand the nature, role and function of the medium in the 21st century. Focusing on industrial, institutional, representational and textual issues it will engage with questions such as: the changing nature of television studies as a discipline; its changing role from home to mobile entertainment; the impact of VOD and on-demand services; the ways form and consumption of tv are changing; formats and transnational production; reboot, remake and cult television; and issues of representation as part of changes in TV formats, production and consumption.

Liverpool has a rich history on film and TV. There is also a rich archive of filmed material of the city that demonstrates the changing physical and social spaces of the city. This module will introduce students to some of those key representations of Liverpool on film and television. Students will have practical sessions in an editing suite to introduce them to the technologies available to create their own AV essays or short films.

This module explores themes in contemporary Spanish films and television, within their broader sociohistorical, political and industrial contexts. It examines the ways in which television and film respond to and to intervene in key moments, social crises and issues in contemporary Spain. As well as providing an in-depth knowledge and understanding of Spanish film and television, the module will develop an ability to apply close analysis of film and television texts, and relate this to broader theories in cultural and media studies to understand the context and significance of media texts in the shaping of public debates.

A large proportion of films are based on written texts and this module will introduce you to a range of cinematic adaptations of literary works from across Modern Languages. Using adaptation theory to inform your analysis, you will have the opportunity to study excerpts from texts and consider the issues that arise from their adaptation as films. How does cinema convey a sense of the past or modify literary works from a different time period? How does it represent the gender roles which can be a central preoccupation of literature? How does film transcend language boundaries to bring modern-language texts to new audiences? On this module you will have the opportunity to explore these areas whilst also developing skills in film analysis, journalistic writing and academic writing.

The concept of transnational cinema is an important and exciting framework through which the interconnections between film cultures and filmmakers can be explored. While the nation was the dominant model through which film was viewed for many decades, recent criticism has acknowledged that in a globalized world, looking at how film crosses geographical, linguistic, industrial and cultural borders is more important than ever. Transnational cinema also addresses a particular set of themes, centered around pressing global concerns: climate change, terrorism, migration and border crossing, diasporic identities, postcolonialism, memory and loss, and changing models of gender and sexuality in an interconnected world. This module invites students to consider these themes in films from multiple geographical locations, encompassing Mexico/Spain, US/Pakistan, UK/India, Korea/UK, and Iran/France, among other.
In class, we will always pay attention to how these films cross borders: in terms of cast and crew, themes, production, distribution and aesthetics.

The dissertation is a self-contained piece of individual and original research, offering the student the chance to study in-depth a topic that interests them guided by a member of the Department’s academic staff as their supervisor. Teaching and learning takes place through one-to-one tutorials. The key aims of the module are: to enable the student to construct an extended research project on an appropriate topic which is clear and realistic in scope and seeks to make a distinct contribution to the student’s chosen field; to develop independent research skills; and to develop professional standards for the presentation of research material. It will usually be related to a topic covered in the student’s Masters programme and can be tailored so that the research is relevant to a future career. Research for the dissertation will usually be standard academic research, but (with the permission of your programme leader) you may also be able to produce a more creative output or engage with more experimental methodologies. Meetings with supervisors are organized by the student and fortnightly meetings are recommended, although the number of meetings will vary, depending on your individual requirements and dissertation topic.