Secret Examiner

A Level Film

IB Film

Film Library

Codes & Conventions

Legacy Resources

Useful Materials

Viewing entries from category: Section B: Spectatorship Topics

Spectatorship Experimental/Expanded Film: The Blood of a Poet »

Rob Miller | Friday September 09, 2016

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics

Past Exam Questions ‘The experience of watching experimental film is so different from watching mainstream fictional film that the spectator often feels unease and boredom’. Discuss this statement with reference to the films you have studied for this topic. Explore how distinctive elements in the experimental films you have studied have an impact on the spectator. Explore how far your viewing of experimental or expanded film/video has made you more aware of issues in spectatorship.…
[ read full article ] »

Popular Film & Emotional Response: All That Heaven Allows & Far From Heaven »

Rob Miller | Wednesday July 01, 2015

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Analysis, Film Analysis, Film History, Films & Case Studies, Directors, Douglas Sirk, Todd Haynes, Hollywood Films, All That Heaven Allows, Far From Heaven, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience

An Analysis of Two Close Study Films This resource analyses two close study films All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Far From Heaven (2002) in relation to the FM4 Spectatorship topic, Popular Film and Emotional Response while cross-referencing key points with Imitation of Life (1959). Todd Haynes’ 2002 American drama Far From Heaven makes clear intertextual references to Douglas Sirk’s 1955 and 1959 films All That Heaven Allows and Imitation of Life in terms of style and themes although…
[ read full article ] »

Documentary and Spectatorship Workshop »

Richard Gent | Wednesday September 24, 2014

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Genres & Case Studies, Documentary, Hot Entries

click on image to enlarge Documentary, of all genres has a profound impact on spectatorship. This dedicated, interactive WJEC A2 Film Studies Section B: Spectatorship topic explores historical and contemporary genre pieces from Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera through to Senna, Grizzly Man and Marley ensuring that key theories e.g. the work of Dr Bill Nichols are incorporated. It is expected centres will inform Edusites Film of their chosen texts so the session can be bespoke to their needs.…
[ read full article ] »

Recommended A2 Film Studies Theorists »

Rob Miller | Monday September 15, 2014

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, OCR A2, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM3, FM4, Section A: World Cinema, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Section C: Single Film Critical Study, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Representation, Theory, Theorists

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…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC AS/A2 Film Studies Suspension of Disbelief Believing in Make Believe »

Emily Hughes | Tuesday March 18, 2014

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, FM1, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Theory, Spectatorship Theory

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…
[ read full article ] »

Spectatorship and Early Cinema Before 1917 »

jclarke | Saturday November 30, 2013

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, OCR A2, OCR AS, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Analysis, Film Analysis, Film History, Cinema in Context, Film Industry, Censorship & Regulation, Copyright & Licensing, Film Distribution, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Film Promotion, Production Companies, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Theory, Spectatorship Theory

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…
[ read full article ] »

Spectatorship Experimental/Expanded Film: Meshes of the Afternoon & Tarnation »

Amy Charlewood | Tuesday November 19, 2013

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Analysis, Film Analysis, Genres & Case Studies, Avant-Garde, Cinema Verite, Documentary, Experimental, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Theory, Spectatorship Theory

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…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section B Spectatorship Documentaries Exemplar »

karenardouin | Monday June 10, 2013

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Fahrenheit 9/11, Grizzly Man, Marley, Senna, Super Size Me, Touching The Void, We Are The Lambeth Boys, Genres & Case Studies, Adventure, Biography, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, History, Independent, Music, Sport, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Mock Exams, A Level Mock Exams

click on image to enlarge With reference to the films you have studied for this topic, how far can it be said that different kinds of documentaries offer different kinds of spectator experiences? The spectator experience is dependent on a number of factors including environment of reception for example (where it is seen) and specifically purpose, whether to entertain, inform, educate or persuade. Documentaries are diverse in content and can suggest degrees of realism. Mediated content is often…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section B Spectatorship Fahrenheit 9/11 Kurt and Courtney Exemplar »

karenardouin | Monday June 10, 2013

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section B: Spectatorship Topics, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Bowling For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Kurt & Courtney, Genres & Case Studies, Biography, Documentary, History, Music, War, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation, Mock Exams, A Level Mock Exams

click on image to enlarge ‘A common experience for the spectator when watching a documentary is to be manipulated by the filmmakers’. How far do you agree with this statement? (35) Generally, documentaries are created in order to impart information and, in the main, to persuade the audience into believing a particular viewpoint. The contract between audience and filmmaker is considered along with the code of ethics with regard to documenting the real. For example, there are questions…
[ read full article ] »