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Programme Specification

PgDip Film

Academic Year 2022/23

A programme specification is required for any programme on which a student may be registered. All programmes of the University are subject to the University's Quality Assurance processes. All degrees are awarded by Queen's University Belfast.

Programme Title PgDip Film Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)
Postgraduate Diploma
Programme Code FLM-PD-FV UCAS Code HECoS Code 100441 - Film production - 100
ATAS Clearance Required No
Mode of Study Full Time or Part Time
Type of Programme Postgraduate Length of Programme Full Time - 1 Academic Year
Part Time - 2 Academic Years
Total Credits for Programme 120
Exit Awards available No

Institute Information

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Arts, English and Languages

Quality Code
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code

Higher Education Credit Framework for England
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/higher-education-credit-framework-for-england

Level 7

Subject Benchmark Statements
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/qualifications-frameworks.pdf

Communication, media, film and cultural studies (2008)

Accreditations (PSRB)

No accreditations (PSRB) found.

Regulation Information

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

No

Programme Specific Regulations

N/A

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

No

Educational Aims Of Programme

Within the framework of the University's Mission Statement, Film Studies aspires to be a research-driven teaching unit with an international portfolio that harnesses strategic connections and promotes an educational environment of equality, tolerance and mutual respect. The teaching specialisms and research priorities in Film reflect both its responsiveness to regional needs, and its commitment to attaining global esteem. Within this context, this Postgraduate Diploma programme integrates the critical and practice-based study of film and visual culture, and aims to:

- Deliver an innovative, intellectually robust, and flexible curriculum, in accordance with relevant QAA Benchmark Statements, reflecting the diverse field of scholarship and production practices within Film Studies at Queen's. The curriculum is informed by the research interests of staff, as well as promoting new convergences between critical and creative practice in the areas of film and visual studies

- Facilitate the study of film and visual culture through an integrated balance of practice and theory whereby practical-based modules are placed within a critical, interrogative framework and where theory-based modules can inform creative practice

- Attract students from regional, national and international environments through an appropriate range of entry routes, and to provide them with the best possible learning and teaching experience

- Provide all students with the widest possible opportunity to pursue and extend their knowledge and understanding of film and visual culture through a variety of learning methods

- Enable students to develop advanced critical, analytical and technical skills, as well as their creative potential; to improve their self-confidence, powers of concentration, understanding of group dynamics, and communication skills through a variety of oral, written, visual and practice-based media

- Introduce new areas of teaching and implement innovative pedagogical techniques and technologies in response to advances in scholarship, technology, and educational research, student feedback, as well as the interests and aptitudes of staff members

- Provide a supportive and stimulating learning environment that enables learners with a variety of entrance qualifications to fulfil their potential and develop their capacity for motivated independent learning

- Provide appropriate learning resources, including suitable production facilities and to supplement library provision by effectively utilising modes of online learning

- Foster mutually beneficial partnerships with the film industry and training programmes to facilitate applied learning

- Enrich students' learning experience by exploring possible interdisciplinary linkages /collaborations with other subject areas within the School

- Embed a diverse range of generic and transferable skills in our pathways, and thus prepare students for a variety of academic and professional careers

- Provide a range of opportunities to apply theory in the context of screen and lens-based production

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate a keen critical awareness of the main research methods used to collect and analyse data

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study; resource-based learning, including library work and attendance at screenings, workshops, and research seminars.

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods focus on project work and essays submitted to a deadline.

Understand the relations between practice and theory in the discipline

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Tutor and self-directed study, tutorial/workshop discussion, resource-based learning, attendance at post-screening discussions, meetings with industry professionals/industry workshops

Methods of Assessment

Individual and group tutorial presentations, learning journals, reflective essays

Analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse and their effects on representation in the arts, media and public life

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study

Methods of Assessment

Individual interviews and essays, written assignments and exercises

Think reflexively and independently

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Classroom discussion and online interactions

Methods of Assessment

Edited commentaries on learning journals

Understand group dynamics and implement them in practical contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in film production and classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group presentations and films/visual works

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate critical, analytical skills in film practice and criticism

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study; resource-based learning, including library and production studio work and attendance at screenings and relevant public events; on-line teaching methods.

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods include practice-based projects and essays and exercises submitted to a deadline.

Demonstrate creative and imaginative skills as shown through the realisation of practical projects

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work and attendance at screenings

Methods of Assessment

Continuously assessed individual and group presentations

Communicate in a variety of oral, written and visual media

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Online teaching methods

Methods of Assessment

Summative group presentations

Develop ideas and construct arguments and present them in appropriate ways

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Workshops and production meetings/filming

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations

Handle creative, personal and interpersonal issues

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in filmmaking and classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Participation and engagement

Negotiate and pursue goals with others

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in filmmaking and classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group presentations and film productions

Manage personal workloads and meet deadlines

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays, exercises and presentations with hard deadlines

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays, exercises and presentations with deadlines

Produce written work with appropriate conventions

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Essays marked for grammar, presentation, and content

Methods of Assessment

Essays submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate information retrieval skills, involving the ability to gather, sift, synthesise and organise material independently and critically evaluate its significance

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays and presentations

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays and presentations

Demonstrate information technology skills such as word processing, electronic mail, and accessing electronic data

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays and presentations, communication with lecturer and other students

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays and presentations

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of film theory and practice; historical and contemporary contexts of production, exhibition, and critical reception of the cinema

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

This is an integrated programme, with a close inter-relationship between theory and practice. The statement of teaching and assessment methods indicates a broad correlation with different learning outcomes, but there is necessary overlap between different areas of learning.

Methods of Assessment

Essays/exercises submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate an understanding of how to analyse and discuss the conventions and practices involved in producing a short film

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Attendance at screenings and workshops

Methods of Assessment

Individual Interviews and marked essays

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of contemporary technologies and their relationship to film and media arts production and scholarship.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work, DVD and other recordings and online resources

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations and marked essays

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate a high level of specific skills including the reading, analysis, documenting and/or interpreting of film images; a wide range of processes in the creation of original work.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study.

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods focus on project work and essays submitted to a deadline.

Demonstrate a wide knowledge and understanding of regional, national and world film production and the cultures and societies from which these practices have arisen, including an understanding of: the histories, forms and traditions of cinema and theoretical explanations of those histories; historical and contemporary contexts of production, circulation and reception of film; the work of key practitioners and theorists; traditional and contemporary critical perspectives on film; and a developed understanding of the processes by which cinema is created, realised and managed informed by practical experience.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, seminars, tutorials

Methods of Assessment

Essays submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of contemporary technologies and their relationship to film, and media arts, scholarship.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work, DVD and other recordings

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations and marked essays

Demonstrate an understanding of how to analyse and discuss the conventions and practices involved in producing different forms and genres of film

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Attendance at screenings, and seminars/workshops

Methods of Assessment

Individual Interviews and marked essays

Demonstrate a high level of specific skills including advanced audio-visual literacy, modes of film production, reception, and criticism

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study

Methods of Assessment

Individual and group assessments, exercises, and presentations

Understand, evaluate, document and/or interpret

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Online teaching methods

Methods of Assessment

Practice-based exercises, assignments/exercises

Demonstrate the film production skills necessary to communicate to/with an audience

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Workshops and screenings

Methods of Assessment

Participation and engagement

Participate in processes in the creation of original work

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Contact with industry professionals in all relevant specialisms (eg editors, camera operators, directors, screenwriters, critics)

Methods of Assessment

Edited commentaries on learning logs

Understand the interplay between the filmmaker’s conscious and subconscious resources in the realisation of a film production

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Seminar discussion and industry workshops

Methods of Assessment

Contributions to learning logs and online forums; assessed essays

Understand production and postproduction filmmaking processes and forms (eg. studio-based, location, documentary, fictional, etc.).

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Workshops and screenings

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group/individual production work

Module Information

Stages and Modules

Module Title Module Code Level/ stage Credits

Availability

Duration Pre-requisite

Assessment

S1 S2 Core Option Coursework % Practical % Examination %
Censorship, Regulation and Audiences FLM7017 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N -- YES 100% 0% 0%
Research Skills in Film I FLM7018 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N YES -- 60% 40% 0%
Research Skills in Film II FLM7019 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N YES -- 100% 0% 0%
Avant-Garde and Experimental Filmmaking FLM7016 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N -- YES 40% 60% 0%
Political Cinema: Conflict and Form FLM7012 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N -- YES 100% 0% 0%
Film Practice FLM7008 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N -- YES 40% 60% 0%
Film Industries and Digital Cultures FLM7013 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N -- YES 100% 0% 0%
Screenwriting FLM7010 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N -- YES 100% 0% 0%

Notes

Students who fail one or more taught modules are permitted one further attempt to pass the module at the next available opportunity for a maximum mark of 50%.