jclarke | Thursday March 10, 2022
Categories: Drama, Thriller, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Introduction Exploring films that have been produced outside of those made and distributed globally by the Hollywood film studios offers us an exciting opportunity to broaden our horizons: in terms of storytelling (the way of telling, or organizing the elements of a story), the stories themselves become of broader interest in other cultures and their cinemas. Watching films from around the world, rather than only those made by American and British film producers is an…
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Rob Miller | Sunday January 23, 2022
Categories: Drama, Crime, World Cinema, GCSE, Hot Entries, Tsotsi, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
Clips Tsotsi Opening Sequence Tsotsi End Sequence Further Reading Studying Tsotsi: Judith Gunn (Auteur Publishing) Awards Best Foreign Language Film - 2006 Academy Awards Institutional Factors and Representation of People, Places, Events and Issues Tsotsi (urban slang – thug) is a film based on a novel by Athol Fugard set in the impoverished township of Soweto, Johannesburg in South Africa – Fugard is best known for his plays with political narratives opposing the historical South…
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jclarke | Thursday September 13, 2018
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Metropolis, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Posters, Film Poster Analysis, Key Concepts
European Cinema History: German Cinema of the 1920s Introduction One of the most rewarding aspects of Film Studies is to be found in recognising how films produced at one, quite distant moment in time often made long ago, continue to influence more contemporary films with which we might all be more familiar. This is certainly true of the impact of some examples of German cinema produced in the 1920s. If you watch Edward Scissorhands (1990), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Bringing out the…
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Richard Gent | Monday September 11, 2017
Categories: Cinematography, OCR A Level, EDUQAS A Level, A Level, Film Industry, Key Skills, Mise-en-Scene, Genre, Narrative, Editing, Pre-Production, Planning, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
Would you like to see an example of an A Level Film Lesson from Edusites Film? Below is a link to a single lesson online slide show focusing on Cinematography using The Bourne Identity. The Cinematography lesson from both the teacher guide (scheme of learning) and student workbook are below to illustrate the breadth and depth of the resources being published on Edusites Film. Film Representation Unit 2 Lesson 17: 12 Slides For fast and optimum viewing use Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer…
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Barry Rainsford | Sunday January 24, 2016
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, A Level, Key Skills, Film Analysis, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited.This is the Second A Level Unit To Film Students This booklet is to support you in your preparation for the A Level Film Studies Examination Papers 1 and 2 and the Non-Examination Assessment. This workbook comprises the theory and…
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Barry Rainsford | Sunday January 24, 2016
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, A Level, Key Skills, Film Analysis, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Guide Navigation Eduqas (WJEC) 603 A Level Film Unit 2 Film Representation+ SOL Teacher Lessons 1-15 Lesson Sixteen: Ideology Slides 1-9 Objectives Knowledge : To review understanding of the film framework Learning : To build ideas and strategies of how to study film Understanding : To link knowledge and learning by completing analysis tasks Starter/Loop Activity (5 Minutes) Slide 2 Task 16A Students asked to respond to the task from the Lesson Resource: Analysis of Bonnie and Clyde still.…
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Barry Rainsford | Sunday January 24, 2016
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, A Level, Key Skills, Film Analysis, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Guide Navigation Eduqas (WJEC) 603 A Level Film Unit 2 Film Representation+ SOL Teacher Lessons 16-26 This is the Second A Level Unit The purpose of this unit is not to tell anyone ‘what you must do’ or ‘this is the way that you must do it’. The work here is based on over twenty years of teaching Film Studies at A Level in a very large (2,500 pupils) urban comprehensive in what was once described as one of the most deprived areas in the UK. It is based both on my own teaching and in…
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Richard Gent | Monday January 18, 2016
Categories: OCR A Level, A Level, Key Skills, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Guide Navigation OCR H410 A Level Film Unit 2 Film Representation+ SOL Teacher Lessons 1-15 Lesson Sixteen: Ideology Slides 1-9 Objectives Knowledge : To review understanding of the film framework Learning : To build ideas and strategies of how to study film Understanding : To link knowledge and learning by completing analysis tasks Starter/Loop Activity (5 Minutes) Slide 2 Task 16A Students asked to respond to the task from the Lesson Resource: Analysis of Bonnie and Clyde still. Students to…
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Barry Rainsford | Monday January 18, 2016
Categories: OCR A Level, A Level, Key Skills, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Guide Navigation OCR H410 A Level Film Unit 2 Film Representation+ SOL Teacher Lessons 16-26 This is the Second A Level Unit The purpose of this unit is not to tell anyone ‘what you must do’ or ‘this is the way that you must do it’. The work here is based on over twenty years of teaching Film Studies at A Level in a very large (2,500 pupils) urban comprehensive in what was once described as one of the most deprived areas in the UK. It is based both on my own teaching and in leading…
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jclarke | Friday September 04, 2015
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Production Companies, World Cinema, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
Across the varied and diverse ways in which a film text can encode and emphasise meanings and a specific viewpoint on or presentation of a subject, realism is a key aesthetic and formal choice and approach that has functioned as a key creative direction of so much western expression across literature and the visual arts. This resource, then, explores the characteristics of a particular film style that we call neorealism. It stems from post World War Two Italian cinema and its influence has been…
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Rob Miller | Thursday July 16, 2015
Categories: Cinematography, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Micro Analysis, A Level, Hot Entries, Key Skills, Mise-en-Scene, Macro Analysis, Up, Gravity, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Shining, Skyfall, Genre, Narrative, Editing, Pre-Production, Planning, Production Zone, Shot Analysis, Moving Image Production, Film Analysis, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Non-Hollywood Films, Analysis, Film Opening Analysis, Key Concepts
Overview Analysis of a 3-5 min Film Extract – Mise-en-Scene, Cinematography and Editing only: (30 Marks) Creative Project – Planning, Producing and Editing a 2 min approx. film sequence of between 10-25 shots (50 Marks) Reflective Analysis – (10 Marks) Edusites Film recommends a logical time to introduce the FM1 coursework is in week 6, the second week in October, 1 week before the Half Term. By then, students will have learnt skills of textual analysis in regards to micro and macro…
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Rob Miller | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Categories: OCR A Level, Drama, Crime, History, War, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
YouTube Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd5Pz8KJeU4 Copyright © 2018 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. In 2010, The Guardian newspaper published a story entitled “Algeria (national football squad) prepare for World Cup battle by watching The Battle of Algiers.?.…
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Rob Miller | Monday September 15, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, Theory, OCR A Level, EDUQAS A Level, OCR A2, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Representation, Key Concepts
The following theorists represent a selection of film theorists (from many) whose work can be cited in both A Level Film Studies coursework and external assessment, for both WJEC and OCR. For example, OCR Film Studies Section B F633 suggests: “candidates are encouraged to engage with critical frameworks relevant to the topic area? e.g. Film Regulation, Authorship and Film and Audience Experience while WJEC Film Studies FM4 states that students should: “apply key concepts and critical…
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jclarke | Tuesday September 02, 2014
Categories: OCR A Level, OCR A2, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Marketing, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Posters, Film Poster Analysis, Key Concepts
The purpose of this unit is to assess students’ ability to independently research, investigate and analyse a film based topic and present the findings; secondly, to assess the students’ application of knowledge and understanding to the planning and construction of a creative realisation; and finally, to assess candidate’s application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work. 1. ResearchIndependent Research Project: 40 marks Planning: evidence of planning for a filmed…
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jclarke | Monday August 18, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Understanding the relationship between the micro and the macro elements of a film is an essential part of our analysis of movies. Every shot, every sound accumulates to form the expression of an idea. Thinking about movies in this way might prompt us to acknowledge that a camera move for example, can express a character’s psychology, sometimes more forcefully and memorably than a line of dialogue could ever do. In the opening scene of Vertigo (1958) as the film’s…
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jclarke | Thursday July 10, 2014
Categories: Drama, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Introduction Lynne Ramsay’s film Ratcatcher is a key British production of the late 1990s and is notable for its thoughtful and sensitive focus on the representation of a young person. The film explores the representation of childhood, guilt and atonement in a dysfunctional environment. Although on the paper 2, GCSE list of films, Vicky LeBeau’s analysis of the narrative and ideological function that children typically embody in movies can apply when she writes…
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jclarke | Monday May 19, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Drama, Comedy, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge The first image that we see in Modern Times is of a clock - a symbol of the workplace and productivity as Chaplin’s Little Tramp struggles in the modern, industrialised world of which he is so critical during the time of the Great Depression, see more on that here. As such the image is emblematic of the entire film. Modern Times is a silent film comedy that is as ideologically rich and meaningful as a wide range of far more ‘serious’ dramas about ‘serious’…
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jclarke | Friday May 09, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Drama, Comedy, Romance, World Cinema, Talk To Her, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge In this resource we will consider the film Talk To Her (2002) and explore some aspects of its film style, by which we mean the choices made by the filmmakers in their deployment of sound and visual elements in the construction of the narrative. As such, we are considering how storytelling devices express a range of meanings and values embodied within the drama. Talk To Her offers an opportunity for us to think about how film (and non Hollywood films, particularly)…
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jclarke | Wednesday April 16, 2014
Categories: Drama, Adventure, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge In this resource we will consider the film Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) and explore some aspects of its film style, by which we mean the choices made the filmmakers in terms of how they deploy sound and vision. As such, we are considering the storytelling devices with which the film expresses a range of meanings and values embodied within the drama. Through the way that the stylistic choices of the film’s producers’ (writer/director/producer/actors/camera/sound/music)…
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Emily Hughes | Tuesday March 18, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, Theory, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Spectatorship Theory, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge The movies: flickering images running past our eyes at 24 frames per second. They have the power to make us cry, make us sit on the edge of our seat, exhilarate and infuriate but how? The narratives that unfold in front of us are products, made up stories. The events we see on screen are just actors pretending to be other people, increasingly a lot of what we see is so devoid of reality that it is created on a computer through CGI, it’s all just make believe. So…
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karenardouin | Monday March 17, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Section B: British Film Topics Choose one question from this section. British Film and Stars You should discuss a minimum of two British films in your answer and base it on one of the following: Julie Christie or Ewan McGregor. 5. What are the star qualities that your star brings to the roles they play in your chosen films? [40]Example Answer The big five studios were vertically integrated during the Hollywood Studio era from 1930 to 1948. They not only owned the…
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karenardouin | Monday March 17, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Section B: British Film Topics Choose one question from this section. British Film and Stars You should discuss a minimum of two British films in your answer and base it on one of the following: Julie Christie or Ewan McGregor. 5. What are the star qualities that your star brings to the roles they play in your chosen films? [40] Example Answer Stars have much more freedom today, as they used to be part of a 7-year contract under the Hollywood Studio system that ended…
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karenardouin | Monday March 17, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, British Film, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Answer three questions – one from each section Section A – Producers and Audiences Study the items in Part B of the resource material, which include:Poster for Cowboys & Aliens, released in 2011 Extract from a blog discussing film genre Forum discussion on movie genres. Use this material, together with your own studies, to answer the following question: How important is genre for audiences and producers? [40 marks] Item 1: Poster for Cowboys and Aliens,…
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Rob Miller | Friday March 14, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section A World Cinema: Aspects of National Cinema This section of FM4 Section A: World Cinema does not require a comprehensive study of the period as long as there is some significance in the films chosen, and their relationship to the national cinema to which they belong. It is expected two principal films will be chosen, supplemented by briefer reference to one or two other films. As such, this resource (not an exemplar exam response) will…
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Rob Miller | Friday March 14, 2014
Categories: OCR A Level, OCR A2, Drama, Action, History, Fantasy, Romance, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
OCR A2 Film Studies Unit F633: Global Cinema and Critical Perspectives Section A: Messages and Values in Global Cinema click on image to enlarge The study of “two contrasting non-English language texts that derive from different countries of origin?: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China, Honk Kong, Taiwan) 2000 Russian Ark (Russia, Germany) 2002 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Both films, one a Wuxia martial arts/romance hybrid and the other a historical drama-documentary provide audiences…
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Rob Miller | Thursday March 13, 2014
Categories: GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Genres & Case Studies, Superhero, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge WJEC GCSE Film Studies Paper 1 Superhero Film Codes and Conventions It was not until Superman in 1978 that the superhero film genre took off with the film securing critical and commercial success and for many years creating a genre template. This is why when we talk about historical examples of the genre it is difficult to cite examples before 1978 as in terms of cinema the genre has only featured broadly since the late 1970s. Yes, you could talk about Batman on…
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jclarke | Thursday March 06, 2014
Categories: Drama, Horror, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
WJEC GCSE Film Studies Paper 2 Exploring Film Outside Hollywood: The Devil’s Backbone (2001 – Spain/Mexico) Introduction In his book The Uses of Enchantment, Bruno Bettelheim writes that “The deep inner conflicts originating in our primitive drives and our violent emotions are all denied in much of children’s literature, and so the child is not helped in coping with them. But the child is subject to desperate feelings of loudness and isolation, and often experiences mortal anxiety.? [1]…
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jclarke | Thursday March 06, 2014
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section A World Cinema Aspects of a National Cinema: Iranian Cinema 1990 - Present Introduction Let us start with a piece from what could serve as possible further reading beyond this resource as it suggests the complexity of the subject we are exploring: “for many pious families, going to the cinema was tantamount to committing a sin. The main reason for this was that cinematic representations of women and love upset the delicate dualism…
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Amy Charlewood | Wednesday February 12, 2014
Categories: 1990 Onwards, Drama, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Animation, Key Concepts
WJEC GCSE Film Studies Paper 2 Exploring Film Outside Hollywood: Persepolis (2007) Introduction and Synopsis Persepolis (2007) is based on a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi’s called The Complete Persepolis and is a coming-of-age memoir that tells of the author’s experiences growing up during and in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Persepolis was also adapted into a 2007 animated film of the same name, written and directed by Satrapi along with Vincent Paronnaud. …
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jclarke | Tuesday February 11, 2014
Categories: Theory, Film Theory, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, British Film, Production Companies, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge While we often first think and refer to contemporary examples of film stars when we study film, it’s useful and valuable to consider film stars whose work has featured across several decades. More specifically for us as British audiences, it’s of particular interest to consider British film stars both in terms of the interest of their performances, and also in terms of how these performances offer representations of national identity and gender in combination.…
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Rob Miller | Friday February 07, 2014
Categories: GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Students need to produce one Film Exploration and one Production broken into: Film Exploration (must be the same film for both tasks) Industry Research: 10 Marks Micro Analysis: 20 Marks Production Pitch: 10 Marks Pre Production: 20 Marks Production: 30 Marks Evaluative Analysis: 10 Marks Total: 100 Marks: 50% of GCSE NB. The Controlled Assessmentmust not be based on the examined topic, 2013-2015: The Superhero Genre. WJEC say: “The work is designed to draw on…
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Richard Gent | Wednesday December 04, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, British Film, Horror, Production Companies, Comedy, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge The British Film Industry is successful and thriving but as Jill Nelmes identified in An Introduction to Film Studies can be defined on a number or levels and by a range of “disparate films, genres and movements?. In addition to this there are arguments over what is a British Film and as such, there have been many attempts to define British Film over the years. A useful definition that the BFI proposed in 1996 was that films could be described and culturally…
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jclarke | Tuesday December 03, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Sport, Drama, History, Comedy, Romance, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge One of the key issues to be explored in our study of film is that of representation. As such, it’s fair to say that there’s an established, and largely agreed upon, understanding that film, like other media and forms of cultural expression, can reflect back to us aspects of the conditions in which we live or have lived with. Certainly, there’s scope for us to think about how British cinema has, in more or less ‘obvious’ ways, reflected back to us a point of…
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jclarke | Tuesday December 03, 2013
Categories: OCR A Level, Drama, War, Production Companies, Romance, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge World War Two impacted ferociously on Great Britain: cities were attacked by German bombers, air battles were fought and daily life was severely tested over the six years of conflict. It’s understandable though, if the war seems a long, long time ago to you. Cinema, however, offers us a meaningful way to reconnect with, and reflect on the event and to develop a sense of the relationship between World War Two and British cinema. Attendance at cinemas was acutely…
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jclarke | Saturday November 30, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, Theory, OCR A Level, EDUQAS A Level, OCR A2, Production Companies, Spectatorship Theory, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Cinema is now nearly 120 years old and it’s a magnificently broad, deep, complex and exciting subject. It’s understandably easy to think that the way films are now is how they have always been, in terms of their technology and particularly how they organize (tell) their stories. However, this isn’t the case and so it’s important for us to be aware that all forms of cultural expression evolve across time and that they are subject to many influences, intended or…
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jclarke | Wednesday November 27, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, OCR A Level, EDUQAS A Level, OCR A2, EDUQAS AS, Production Companies, World Cinema, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Censorship & Regulation, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Film is technology. It’s an obvious point, and an essential one. Film established itself as a symbol of the modern, mechanical age of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and so it is particularly interesting to now witness how the medium is moving into the digital age. Indeed, we should perhaps talk not of new technology but of now technology because it is so quickly ever changing and evolving. In Western Europe we live in an increasingly digital and…
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jclarke | Monday November 25, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Production Companies, Japanese, World Cinema, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section A World Cinema: Aspects of National Cinema Japanese cinema can be understood as a major presence in the international film style context, not only in terms of its own achievement but also for the influence it has exerted on cinema far beyond its borders. It’s a national cinema with a very specific set of concerns and stylistic traits and with a number of particular contexts that allow the film texts to be understood in all the…
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Amy Charlewood | Tuesday November 19, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, Theory, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Experimental, Avant-Garde, Documentary, Spectatorship Theory, Cinema Verite, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Definition and Introduction As one might expect the term experimental cinema is difficult to define clearly and by its very nature avoids simplistic categorisation. Within the movement itself there has been frequent debate over its definition. Fred Camper discusses experimental film-makers such as Peter Kubelka and Stan Brackage who questioned titles like ‘Avant-garde’ for suggesting experimental cinema is intrinsically European, ‘different…
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jclarke | Monday November 11, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge All films manipulate audiences and this is one fundamental reasons why we choose to watch a film. It is because we want to experience a change in our emotional condition - we may want to be provoked into laughter, tension, sadness, fear or happiness. One of the key issues underpinning our exploration of film and the experience of an emotional response to it is the understanding that emotions can be argued to be culturally formed. Chris Barker writes “Emotions are not…
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vikiwalden | Monday March 25, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, Science Fiction, Drama, Action, Crime, History, Comedy, Romance, Thriller, World Cinema, A Level, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Students can find studying spectatorship challenging. There are many theories of spectatorship, but starting with the theory can lead students to list theoretical ideas rather than engage with the texts. Let’s not forget this A2 Film Studies unit is about “emotional responses? more than critical ones. This is a good place to start with students. What is “emotion?? What is “popular film?? And what elements of the film experience trigger emotional…
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jclarke | Friday March 22, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Social Realism, British Film, Crime, Production Companies, Thriller, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Independent, Key Concepts
click on image to enlarge Crime and cinema have a longstanding relationship. Going right back to early cinema one of the landmark silent films was The Great Train Robbery (1903). There is a shot in that film which is overtly referenced as the last shot that we see in the American crime film GoodFellas (1990). click on image to enlarge However, whereas we might argue that the criminal life that’s represented in the Hollywood-produced GoodFellas is somewhat glamourised and told in an overtly…
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jclarke | Thursday March 21, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, EDUQAS A Level, French New Wave, Production Companies, World Cinema, A Level, Film Industry, Film Distribution, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
In 1950, when he was only nineteen years old, Jean-Luc Godard, one day to become one the great filmmakers, wrote a piece for the French publication Gazette du Cinema called Towards A Political Cinema. Even at this young age, Godard was aware of cinema’s power to communicate ideas. Jean-Luc Godard examines a strip of film: Film history describes a wide range of film movements that have each had an often-short lifespan that’s been quite specific but the legacies of which have endured.…
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Amy Charlewood | Monday February 04, 2013
Categories: EDUQAS A2, Theory, Film Theory, EDUQAS A Level, Amores Perros, World Cinema, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
It is important to firstly consider the context of this unit as an exploration of world cinema. World cinema is difficult to define; with most definitions reverting to that it can be defined simply as any cinema outside of the globally dominant industry of Hollywood or any non English language cinema. Often discussed as an alternative to Hollywood’s ‘dream factory’, World cinema tends to be perceived as possessing certain features offering an insight into another country’s culture, a…
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jclarke | Thursday December 20, 2012
Categories: Theory, Film Theory, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Social Realism, British Film, Production Companies, A Level, Film Industry, Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Audience, Film Promotion, Film Analysis, Trainspotting, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
Ewan McGregor is a major British film star who has appeared in a wide range of films that have been released globally since 1994. His career has combined performances in a range of lower budgeted feature films and work in highly budgeted, event films released by the major film studios. Over the course of almost twenty years McGregor has appeared in nearly fifty films. Professionally trained as an actor at London’s Guildhall, McGregor hails from Scotland and the narrative of his career…
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Rob Miller | Monday December 10, 2012
Categories: OCR A Level, Social Realism, A Level, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Genres & Case Studies, Analysis, Key Concepts
Origins and Development Social Realist films originate in the 1950s/1960s but drew in terms of their form and style from the British documentary tradition of the 1930s popularised by the GPO Film Unit (Nightmail) who ultimately became the Crown Film Unit at the start of WW2 (Fires Were Started, Britain Can Take It). In the 1960s social realist films became critically and commercially successful and benefitted from the fact that television was only a feature in some middle class households –…
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vikiwalden | Monday November 05, 2012
Categories: Drama, British Film, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Independent, Key Concepts
Paper 2 | Non-Hollywood Film | Yasmin Synopsis The opening of Yasmin reveals a Britain where racism prevails. Khalid and his son (Nasir) open the shutter of the family shop, which has been coated in racist graffiti. Nas proceeds to sing morning prayers – his voice echoes over the city and surrounding hills through the loud speaker - calling everyone to prayer. Several Muslims are seen hurriedly preparing, except one - Yasmin. In a field, just outside of town, she swaps her hijab for skinny…
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Richard Gent | Wednesday April 25, 2012
Categories: Theory, Film Theory, Micro Analysis, Hot Entries, Shot Analysis, Film Analysis, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
We had an enquiry recently about Postmodernism which led to some productive responses. Ellen Grundy’s approach involved: (L)ooking at representation and postcolonialism (as follows): A research task on Gurinder Chadha and her films. How do her life and the themes of her films suggest a post colonial identity? For example Bend it like Beckham as a coming together of different ethnicities / cultures. The classic clip of going for an ‘English’ in Goodness Gracious Me that turns…
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nicoleponsford | Wednesday October 19, 2011
Categories: A Level, GCSE, Hot Entries, Audience, Film Analysis, Film Language, Representation, Analysis, Key Concepts
Denotation and Connotation These are two important words concerned with the way an audience understands the meaning of a media text. These can also be called the signs and signified meaning, or the micro and macro features. Denotation / sign / micro feature is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene. Connotation / signified meaning / macro feature means different interpretations suggested by the text, often associated with additional meaning, values, or ideology. The…
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jeremy | Friday September 02, 2011
Categories: Hot Entries, Film Language, Representation, Key Concepts
Technical and Symbolic Codes.doc Signs and Signifiers When we look at the iconography of a film we are looking at the way certain images convey layers of meaning – in other words there is much more meaning than is at first apparent. The science of how meaning is created by signs is called semiology, from the Greek work semeion meaning sign. Semiology explores the way signs and codes are used in texts. So what is Semiotics? Semiotics is the study of signs, symbols and sign systems, and their…
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