Film Studies  

Exam board:  Eduqas/WJEC.

Welcome to Film:

Film is one of the main cultural innovations of the 20th century and a major art form of the last hundred years. Those who study it characteristically bring with them a high degree of enthusiasm and excitement for what is a powerful and culturally significant medium, inspiring a range of responses from the emotional to the reflective. Film Studies consequently makes an important contribution to the curriculum, offering the opportunity to investigate how film works both as a medium of representation and as an aesthetic medium.

 

Learners will study eleven films in total in relation to the following core study areas.

• Area 1. The key elements of film form: cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, sound and performance
• Area 2. Meaning and response: how film functions as both a medium of representation and as an aesthetic medium
• Area 3. The contexts of film: social, cultural, political, historical and institutional, including production.

 

Component 1: Varieties of film and filmmaking

For this component, learners must study:

• Two Hollywood films, one from the Classical Hollywood period (1930-1960) and the other from the New Hollywood period (1961-1990)
• Two American films produced since 2012, one mainstream film and one contemporary independent film
• Two British films

 

Component 2: Global Filmmaking Perspectives

For this component, learners must study:

• Two non-English language films, one European and one from outside Europe
• One documentary film
• One film option from a 1920s silent film movement
• One film option from an experimental film movement

 

Component 3: Production (coursework)

• Produce a short film OR a screenplay for a short film.
• Evaluative analysis of the production in relation to other professionally produced films or screenplays, including at least three short films totalling a minimum of 80 minutes.

 

How will I be assessed: 

Component 1: Written examination: 2 hours 30 minutes - 35% of the qualification

Component 2: Written examination: 2 hours 30 minutes - 35% of the qualification

Component 3: Internally assessed, externally moderated by WJEC - 30% of qualification.

Future course and possible careers:

Journalism, social media, computer games programming and design, working in film, television or broadcasting, working as a photographer, stylist, graphic designer, script writer, director, camera operator, sound recording artist, as well as many other possible career paths.

 

There are more than 1300 university degree courses dedicated to different aspects of the film industry and academic film studies.