Course Overview
Your degree is a new programme from LICA. It recognises cinema's role as a major cultural form and investigates film through a variety of approaches. You'll examine cinema's aesthetic importance in the context of an increasingly visual and media orientated culture, while also investigating the intersections between contemporary art, theatre, music and film.
At Lancaster, film Studies isn't intended as a vocational course, however, all film students have the opportunity to make their own digital film. We have excellent technical resources, including the state-of-the-art digital editing equipment house in Lancaster University Television Unit.
You begin your degree with courses including Modernism in the Arts and an Introduction to film Studies. This module introduces you to a range of key critical approaches with an explicit focus on the meaning making structures and techniques of film. You will expand your knowledge and understanding of a wide range of Film-making traditions and be introduced to fundamental terms and concepts such as mise-en-scène, editing, narrative, acting, stardom, film sound and genre.
In addition, you'll explore the key areas of film aesthetics and Film history, including silent cinema, classical Hollywood cinema, French, German, Italian and Chinese cinema. In the third term, you will work in a small group to produce a multimedia presentation on a film topic.
In your second year, you'll study film Cultures and Documentary Cultures. Documentary Cultures uniquely combines the academic study of documentary cinema with the production of a short documentary video which will be informed by the theoretical and historical analysis of documentary styles and structures you learn about.
In your final year you will study one core module, Film Dissertation and Project. You will also choose between four and six optional modules from a selection including Contemporary Arts Theory and Film Theory.
Related Courses
Modules
Lancaster degree programmes are flexible, offering students the opportunity to cover a wide selection of subject areas to compliment their degree. The following is an example list of modules which our previous students have studied. For a full list contact the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts department.
Year 1
- Modernism in the Arts
- Introduction to Film Studies
Year 2
- Film Cultures
- Critical Reflections
- Documentary Cultures
- Film, Modernism and the Avant Garde
- Critical Cultural Theory
- Sociology goes to Hollywood
Year 3
- Film Dissertation
- Film Theory
- The Cultural History of American Film
- Silent Cinema
- Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema
- Television, Society and Morality
Lancaster University offers the chance to follow a structured study programme or the option to devise a more flexible programme. We divide academic study into 2 sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). In Part 1 you will take three modules of study which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects, a higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster visit our Teaching and Learning section.
For further information about the department, staff and courses please visit the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts department website.
Entry Criteria
A-level: AAB. We normally expect three A-levels.
General Studies: Accepted as one of 3 A-levels
Preference: Minimum of 2 A-levels
Key skills: Not included in offer
Scottish Highers: ABBBB
Irish Leaving Cert: Offers will be made on the basis of 5 or 6 Higher level subjects. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
International Bacc: 35 pts overall with 16 pts from best three HL courses
BTEC: DDD/DDM
Mature students: Applications welcome, especially with evidence of recent successful formal study e.g. a pass in an Access Course involving English Literature with 6 - 8 unit distintions, including distinctions in all available English units
IELTS: 6.5
Careers
While this degree is not intended as a practical training programme in Film-making, recent Film Studies graduates have gone into production roles at the BBC and ITV, and jobs in advertising, marketing and media production.
Film Studies graduates are well placed to pursue postgraduate vocational training in media-related professions, such as broadcast and print journalism, or take their skills into promotional and marketing roles.
Many of our graduates go on to further vocational training in Film production, including the prestigious New York Film Academy and London Film School. Some Film Studies graduates have gone into teaching, or pursued further study and research in Film.
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, but that you also graduate with relevant life and work based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability/career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.
Studying
Teaching and Learning Methods
At Lancaster we offer a broad range of learning environments designed to best support the requirements of your chosen degree programme. These may include lecture and tutorials, interactive workshops, laboratory sessions, other practical activities, student-led seminars and web-based elivery.
The modules which make up a programme of study are assessed using a variety of different methods, enabling students to demonstrate their capabilities in a range of ways. Typical coursework assignments include laboratory reports, essays, literature reviews, short tests, short and sharply focussed critical reports, poster sessions and oral presentations. Formal examinations include short answer questions, essays and data analysis. Multiple choice formats are also employed where appropriate. Students are supported in the production of final year project reports and dissertations. Details of the assessment methods for individual modules can be accessed via the university's online module catalogue.
In addition to these learning and teaching methods we encourage independent study, meaning you take responsibility for your own learning. For more information visit our Teaching Approach page.
Assessment Methods
We offer you a variety of stimulating and effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. This enables you and your tutors to explore the very latest thinking within your subject and develops your skills in problem solving, analysis and critical reflection, communication, application of knowledge and modern technologies.
As a University, we commit to providing all our undergraduates with a minimum number of contact hours per week, providing you with timely feedback on your work and a maximum number of 15 students per seminar group.
Funding
Lancaster University has committed £2.7m in scholarships and bursaries to help with your fees and living costs. Our financial support depends on your circumstances and how well you do in your A-levels (or equivalent academic qualifications) before starting study with us.
Lancaster University's priority is to support every student to make the most of their life and education. For students starting their study with us in 2013, over 600 each year will be entitled to bursaries and/or scholarships to help them with the cost of fees and/or living expenses. For UK students entering in 2013 we will have the following financial support available:
- An Academic Scholarship of £2,000 for the first year of study to any student from the UK entering with A*, A*, A or equivalent academic qualifications
- An Access Scholarship of £1,000 per year for all UK students from households with an income of less than £42,600 who achieve grades of A*, A, A or the equivalent academic qualifications
- A Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 per annum for all students from England with a household income of more than £25,000 but less than £42,600
- As part of the National Scholarship Programme, a £1,000 Bursary, a £1,000 Fee Waiver and a £1,000 Accommodation Discount in the first year of study, for students from England with a household income of less than £25,000. Plus a Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 in subsequent years.
*All of the financial awards above are subject to approval by the Office for Fair Access July 2012.
For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our fees and funding page
View details of our current Undergraduate fees.
