2023/24 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue
COMM5825M Film Theory and Practice
30 creditsClass Size: 35
Module manager: Rafe Clayton
Email: r.m.clayton@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2023/24
Pre-requisite qualifications
Experience in practical photography or digital film at undergraduate intermediary or advanced level, or equivalentModule replaces
COMM5815M Cinematics and PhotographyThis module is not approved as an Elective
Module summary
This module explores film theory alongside creative practice and experience of short film production. The film short is studied as a way of addressing ontological questions about cinema in the 21st century, media convergence and digital creation/dissemination. Critical relationships are investigated through a combination of academic research into the changing nature of film and exploration of theoretical concepts through digital filmmaking.Objectives
Film Theory and Practice aims to establish a better understanding of short film as a distinct form, whilst contextualising it within the broader cinema and digital media landscapes. The lecture programme will encourage students to think critically about both cinematic form and content, and then challenge the conventions of audio-visual structure and narrative in their creative work. Students will have the opportunity to experience practical production of a short film project, underpinned with analysis of cinematic form-content in an essay on film theoryLearning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate knowledge of ontological questions regarding film and photography and their ongoing convergence
2. contextualise and situate the short film within contemporary cinema and other changing media environments
3. understand how their own filmmaking practice relates to current and historical creative contexts
4. Show cinematographic and/or other communication skills through digital filmmaking practices.
Skills outcomes
Digital filmmaking skills including camera, location sound, picture grading and image manipulation, professional production workflows. Film production and creative lens-based practice informed by theory and academic research.
Syllabus
Indicative lecture content includes:
• What is short film and what is it for?
• Bazin, cinematic ‘realism’ and the ontology of film
• Psychoanalytic film theory and cinema of intersection
• Documentary on the big screen
• The essay film – where fact meets fiction
• Experimental shorts: materialism, video art and cinema in the gallery
• Convergence and its history: cinema as ’24 photographs per second’
• Narratology and film structures
• Deleuze, duration and cinematic time
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Lecture | 11 | 2.00 | 22.00 |
| Practical | 11 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| Private study hours | 267.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 33.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300.00 | ||
Private study
Group seminar and work-in-progress session research and preparation. (60 hours)Essay research, development and production. (67 hours)
Individual and group production planning and organisation. (70 hours)
Production and post-production practice. (70 hours)
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
Students will be monitored through a number of ongoing mechanisms throughout the duration of the module including attendance, participation in classes and through assessments. In addition further monitoring will take place through:Tutor/peer discussions and reflective feedback on group presentation during week 3.
Group and individual feedback during practical workshops throughout the semester.
Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Essay or Dissertation | 3000-3500 words | 50.00 |
| Group Project | video 5 minutes | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100.00 | |
Groups can choose between three different types of video submission: short fiction, essay film and non-narrative
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 28/04/2023 14:38:13
Browse Other Catalogues
- Undergraduate module catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
- Undergraduate programme catalogue
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