module specification

This module examines the interplay between commercial and political concerns in the film and television industries by exploring key moments in the development of screen industries as well as more contemporary concerns.

You will explore critical, socio-cultural, industrial and political debates surrounding film and television, considering the implications of these issues for film and television analysis and practice.

You will investigate a range of conflicts and controversies around topics such as regulation, censorship and control, propaganda, moral panics, and the impact of political developments on film and TV.

The module aims to

• Provide students with an overview of the development of key aspects of the film and TV industries and their political and social contexts in the UK and elsewhere.
• Develop students’ knowledge of key industrial and political moments and their significance.
• Develop students’ understanding of conflicts and controversies within the field.
• Enable students to critically analyse film and TV in relation to relevant cultural and political contexts.

You will be introduced to a number of key issues and case studies in which political concerns, pressures, and ideologies impact on film and television industries, such as (but not limited to):

• Public Service Broadcasting, commercial television and streaming
• ‘Video nasties’ and the BBFC
• Censorship and Hollywood’s ‘Red Scare’
• The Hays Code
• Film and television propaganda
• 1970s paranoid conspiracy thrillers
• ‘#OscarsSoWhite’
• ‘State of the Nation’ Film and Television

Topics such as these will be investigated alongside screenings of relevant film and television programmes in order to situate the issues within a specific screen context and explore their current significance.

Note: This optional module may become unavailable if the student intake numbers are low.

The module will begin by considering the industrial development of the film and television industries, with a focus on Hollywood in the United States and public service broadcasting in the UK, and introducing the concept of political economy in this context. A series of case studies will then be introduced such as:

• Censorship and the Hays production code, the influence of religious pressure groups and the state; (LO1, LO2)
• The ‘video nasty’ moral panic, the role of the BBFC, and its context in debates around the impact and influence of popular cultures; (LO1, LO4)
• Propaganda film in war and peacetime; Television propaganda and its deployment as entertainment in public health messages and news; (LO1, LO3)
• The ‘Red Scare’, the Hollywood Ten and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (LO1)
• The influence of political developments in the US-Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal in the emergence of 1970s paranoid conspiracy thrillers; (LO1)
• The emergence of the ‘#OscarsSoWhite’ movement and its impact on the film industry (LO1, LO3)
• How issues of class are represented in ‘state of the nation’ television and film. (LO1, LO4)

In each case study, selected readings will be discussed and analysed, and selected screenings will illustrate the relevant issues and invite critical analysis and discussion.

Learning and teaching activities for the module include short lectures, seminar discussions, small group readings and discussions student presentations and screenings. The first assignment provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate an understanding of a key aspect of module content as it is discussed in an academic context, and to engage critically with relevant academic research. The final assignment then allows students to expand on this and demonstrate an in-depth understanding of a specific area of module content and its relationship to the over-arching theme of the module - the interplay of political and economic concerns in the film and television industries.

Weblearn materials include a range of readings, websites, and video-based learning materials such as clips and full length film and TV shows through Box of Broadcasts which students are encouraged to engage with throughout the module.

Students are encouraged to read selected texts prior to attending class, with prompts and questions provided for students to consider and discuss. The content of the module also offers an opportunity for self-reflection in terms of students own responses to film and television texts, and their understandings of the these issues (e.g. their own concerns around censorship, or problems of access to creative industries for people of colour).

At the end of this module you should be able to:

1. Understand how film and television are subject to ideological, political and economic influence;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between commercial and creative aspects of film and television;
3. Critically appraise key aspects of the political pressures on the film and television industries;
4. Analyse key film and television texts in order to identify their socio-political contexts.

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/72FE19DB-4A13-CB8F-E463-6445E55C03AB.html?lang=en