Studying at York
Research Now: Film, Culture & Industry - ENG00157I
- Department: English and Related Literature
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Module summary
Research Now gives you the chance to explore a cutting-edge specialist research area, while developing advanced skills for your own independent, extended research in the final year of your degree.
In the first half of the module, you will tackle your ‘deep dive’ research area of Film, Culture, and Industry. The past few decades – and past few years especially – have seen major changes to the way films are made, distributed, and consumed. These changes have led to more prominent debates around access and diversity in the film industry, the impact of new digital platforms, and film’s cultural and political role in relation to the wider creative industries. This deep dive will help develop your critical proficiency in ‘reading’ films, while broadening your sense of its cultural and industrial contexts. It will include practical aspects of film analysis, but you will also learn how this close formal analysis can intersect with cultural analysis, with models for the different ways a film or filmmaker might respond to and/or influence wider social trends, concerns, and discourses. As the third part of the title suggests, this deep dive will triangulate these formal features and cultural contexts with an understanding of the industry structures affecting film production. The syllabus will take you through key roles in the industry, with weeks focused on directors, screenwriters, actors and on-screen representation, and audience engagement through changing platforms. Contemporary case studies of particular directors, writers, and films will help us understand our role as film scholars looking at these complex, collaborative texts. You will hear from a range of lecturers, while collaborating in team-based workshops, in order to develop a team research project and presentation on the topic’s material.
The second half of the module focuses on skills to take your research further: formulating comprehensive research proposals and questions; developing a clear methodology or research practice; working interdisciplinarily, across languages, and periods; and improving ways of presenting research both orally and in writing. Each week will introduce a new tool for developing your research, and will contribute to a portfolio that will also look ahead to your final-year (bridge) dissertation project.
As a whole, the module gives you the chance to develop key employability strengths, including teamwork, creative and critical thinking, and problem-solving, while also developing the skills needed to embark on a longer research project by putting together an individual dissertation / bridge dissertation proposal.
Note: The ‘deep dive’ research area that you choose for the first half of this module does not have to correspond with the proposed subject area of your final-year (bridge) dissertation. You have the freedom to explore new, innovative terrain in this ‘deep dive’ or opt for a research area that you know and love - it is entirely up to you.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
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This module aims to introduce students to cutting-edge research and innovative approaches to research design and presentation.
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This module will encourage students to engage creatively with critical sources and texts, preparing students for the design of an extended dissertation project in the third year.
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The module will develop essential research techniques together with oral, written and digital skills that can be applied to individual and collaborative research projects
Module learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
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Demonstrate an informed understanding of and engagement with the ‘deep dive’ research topic, the issues involved, and the critical debates surrounding the subject of Film, Culture & Industry
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Demonstrate an informed understanding of and engagement with research strategy through the development of a focused piece of research.
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Examine essential research approaches and techniques and apply those techniques in the development of a research proposal portfolio.
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Develop and successfully manage a collaborative project relating to Film, Culture & Industry, which demonstrates a proficiency in oral, written, performance and/or digital skills as appropriate.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 50 |
| Groupwork | 50 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 50 |
| Essay/coursework | 50 |
Module feedback
- You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your tutor or your supervisor, during their Open Office Hours
- For more information about the feedback you will receive for your work, see the department's Guide to Assessment
Indicative reading
Refer to mini-syllabus for ‘deep dive’ research topics