Film Studies
By Neda Mostafavi
Published: 15 August 2004
Why do it? Because it's fun. Because it's your passion and why not get a respectable degree in something you love? It is also a way into understanding the world we live in and all its cultures.
What's it about? It's not film school. Usually around ten per cent practical film-making is the most you can get away with. It's the study of film and it's development in various countries. Sussex spans the US and UK as well as France, Latin America, Asia and the former Soviet Union. You analyse films, the way they express their meanings, the background to their production and reception, and their relation to other arts and the media.
What are the students like? They are generally obsessed with going to the cinema. And watching films. They want to enjoy their degree.
How is it packaged? Almost all of the course is continuously assessed at Kent. The first year at Sussex is 50/50 exam to coursework in the first year. At UEA course and project work dominates and although it differs between modules there are never finals - any exams are done semester by semester.
How long is the degree? Three years. Four years at UEA if you want to do it with American Studies and spend a year in the States.
How cool is it? Unbelievably cool. Who knows, you could be the next Sofia Coppola.
What A-levels do you need? Any at Kent, but if you take Film or Media you need a B. UEA likes humanities subjects and if you go for the Film and English course you'll need English A level. Two strong humanities subjects for Sussex.
What grades? AAB/ABB for UEA. ABB for Sussex.
What do students say? Hannah Hamad, Film and American Studies, graduated 2001, UEA. "I enjoyed film studies so much I went on to do an MA in it."
Bosco Tench, Film Studies and Politics, second year, UWE. "I like watching a lot of films because it's one of my hobbies. In my film cultures course I get to learn about the background of the films and their history and the impact of the culture on the film and vice versa."
Will it keep you off the dole? Don't assume you'll jump straight into the film industry with a degree in film studies, although some do make it there. Writing and journalism are common career paths, but it is generally like any other humanities subject with a wide range of jobs.
Will you be interviewed? No.
Where's best for research? Film Studies did not exist as a department when the last assessment took place. Results from the next assessment will be out in 2008.
Where's best for teaching? Same here, wait for the next teaching assessments to find out.
Where's the cutting edge? Studying digital film-making, which makes it all look hyper real, beyond reality. The role of the media in an increasingly globalised age. At Kent it's cognitive psychology in film. Gender, as always.
Where are the stars? Professor Patrick Fuery for psychoanalysis, visual culture discourse and representation and Andy Meadhurst on trash culture, punk and counter-culture in film both at Sussex. At UEA its Professor Andrew Higson, an expert on British National Cinema and heritage cinema and Professor Charles Barr, a specialist on British film history especially Ealing Studios and Alfred Hitchcock. Professor Murray Smith at Kent for his books: "Engaging Characters" and "Trainspotting", an analysis of the critically acclaimed film and Dr. Elizabeth Cowie, a specialist in psychoanalytic theory and documentary and for her book "Representing the Woman: Psychoanalysis and Cinema".
Related courses: Film studies can often be combined with a huge variety and number of degrees such as European Languages, American Studies, Art History, Drama Studies, English, English Language, History, Music and Philosophy at Sussex for example. UEA offers Film and English Studies, Film and American Studies, and Film and TV Studies. At Kent it can be combined with the usual as well as the slightly quirky degrees with Classical and Archaeological Studies, Computing, and English American and Postcolonial Literature.
