module specification

This is a 30 credit module that runs over a period of 15 weeks. Building on the skills and awarenesses developed through previous education and experience, this core module will join students from both strands and create an opportunity for an intensive collaboration. The work will be centred in the creation of a film project that tackles social issues within a local or global community.

Students will explore collaborative strategies across disciplines, centred in a film-based project and develop areas of interest and specialism within group collaborations; exploring creative ways in which to address local or global issues through the medium of film and collaborative practice.

Completion and Pass (120 credits) of previous level.

The first part of the module will be based on practical masterclasses led by a range of tutors, tailored to specific skills needed for the project in question. Masterclasses may include acting techniques for the camera, practical film techniques, research methods for script-writing. LO1, LO6

The students will then be mentored in groups and given a thematic stimulus to begin their exploration, as well as creative strategies to source their material and research their topic. They will form production companies, assigning each other particular roles but also working together collaboratively. LO3, LO4, LO5

The work is geared towards an end-of-term screening, in which students will both present their film projects and discuss these in live presentations. LO2, LO3, LO6

Scheduled teaching ensures that independent study is effective and addresses the learning outcomes and assessment tasks. Students are expected to, and have the opportunity to, continue with their studies outside of scheduled classes. There will be a range of learning strategies deployed and individual learning styles will be accommodated. The module’s learning outcomes, its contents and delivery, have been scrutinised and will be regularly reviewed to ensure an inclusive approach to pedagogic practice.

The module and course utilise the University’s blended learning platform to support and reinforce learning, to foster peer-to-peer communication and to facilitate tutorial support for students. Reflective learning is promoted through assessment items and interim formative feedback points that ask students to reflect on their progress, seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, students build a body of work, including reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-related learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

The following learning and teaching strategies are employed in the course of this module:
• multimedia lectures;
• student-led seminars;
• online activities through blended learning approaches;
• practical creative tasks (occasional practical workshops, creative writing, design, photography and videography);
• visits to relevant points of interest;
• interviews with professionals in the industry;
• a short film screened in front of an invited audience

On completion of this module students will be able to:

      Knowledge and understanding
1. identify and engage with methodologies of collaboration, as tailored to their envisioned project;
2. demonstrates knowledge of the issues raised by the project within a local/global context;

Transferable skills
3. engage in a creative project through detailed research methods, with a particular focus on local and/or global communities;
4. locate and deliver one’s own role in a flexible context of work;

Subject specific skills
5. demonstrate awareness and skills in developing particular specialisms, according to the specific roles undertaken in the project.
6. identify the inherent challenges of a project and possible strategies in tackling these.

The assessment modes utilised in this module are intended to promote and test the development of broad academic skills as well as subject specific knowledge and interdisciplinary awarenesses, in line with the learning outcomes.

Process: Students are continuously assessed on this module, with their assessment referencing key events within the term, including seminars, viva and the finished film-work itself. Together with their creative and collaborative skills, process is also evaluated in terms of professionalism, engagement, reliability.

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5

Portfolio: This is a written document supporting their work and reflecting on its development. It may include set research questions as well as self- and peer-evaluation tasks. It may also include appendix material (e.g. interviews, scripts, annotations, storyboards, design ideas, photography and videography).

Learning Outcomes LO2, LO6

No set core text
Specific readings to be identified by tutor, depending on each project

Additional Reading
Comey, J. (2002) The art of film acting: a guide for actors and directors, Oxford: Focal Press
Cornea, C. (2014) Genre and performance: film and television, Manchester : Manchester University Press
Edgar-Hunt, R. (2010) Directing fiction, Lausanne: AVA Academia
Edgar-Hunt, R. (2010) The Language of Film, Lausanne: AVA Academia
Kaufman, J. and Simonton D. (eds) (2014) The social science of cinema, New York: Oxford University Press, 2
Mackendrick, A. (2005) On film-making : an introduction to the craft of the director, London: Faber and Faber
Perkins, C. (2016) Creating a short film. Working with actors, Carpenteria, California: lynda.com
Robertson Wojcik, P. (2004) Movie acting : the film reader, London: Routledge

Online Resources:
JSTOR
DawsonEra
MyiLibrary
Weblearn