Film Studies A Level

Students will need a deep interest in Film and will utilise many of the same analytical skills required by English Literature. Film Studies is a discipline that deals with textual, theoretical, historical and critical approaches to Films. Film Studies also explores our role as the spectator and the psychology behind audience response. We study an exciting range of films from diverse national and cultural backgrounds.

For the AS Level, we look at: The language of Film and how it influences the audience; The different components of Film; what we see, hear and the way Film represents the real world; How these components work upon us as spectators and how our responses differ according to: who we are, where we are and what we seek from a film; The British, Hollywood and World Cinema industries, mainstream and independent cinema, historical and modern cinema; Who produces films, how they are funded, how they are created, how we get to see them and how we are convinced that we want to see them at all through marketing.

We will look at a diverse range of films. We study films from classic Hollywood cinema starring screen icons such as Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe, to new Hollywood, with challenging films from directors such as Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan and Danny Boyle. We also study Independent Cinema, Global Cinema and case studies on British Cinema, Silent Cinema and Documentary Film. In the second A2 part of the course, we will turn to look at the wider context of world cinema, documentary, and different, theoretical approaches to cinema.

Film Studies AS and A Level are assessed through a combination of exam and controlled assessment. Coursework is worth 30% and is a mixture of critical analysis and creative work. There are two examinations worth 35% each in both AS and A Level, with a focus on the different case study films.

Most A Level students go on to study at university. Students who have studied Film can expect to follow the subject on to degree level, or study a related subject from English Literature to Sociology, or a creative subject such as Film Production, Photography, or even Music. The study of Film is far reaching with skills that complement many careers such as television, journalism, arts administration, marketing, teaching and private sector or charities.