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Film and Visual Culture

What You Need

SQA Highers BBBB
A Levels BBB

Click here for more detailed information on 'Entry Requirements'

Single Honours Programme In

Joint Honours Programmes With

Anthropology, Divinity, English, French, Gaelic Studies, German, Hispanic Studies, History, History of Art, International Relations, Literature in a World Context, Philosophy, Politics, Religious Studies, Sociology

Related Honours Programmes In

English, History of Art, Sociology

UCAS Course Codes

Can We Help?

Email us: sras@abdn.ac.uk

Call Us: +44 (0)1224 272090/91

Course Information: www.abdn.ac.uk/film

General Information: www.abdn.ac.uk/sras

Study abroad information

See the Financial Support section for more information

The opportunity to take Enhanced Study options as part of your degree and participate in co-curricular activities. See www.abdn.ac.uk/thedifference for more information.

Why Choose Aberdeen?

Film and Visual Culture at Aberdeen is in a period of exciting expansion, and the focus is now on global cinema in respect to other art forms and visual culture, and film production courses at Honours level.

The study of cinema explores the most vital medium of the twentieth century, taking account both of the nature of film as an art-form, and of the cultural contexts in which films are produced. By making connections between global communications, new technologies, international politics, and aesthetic practices, Film and Visual Culture aims to develop an awareness of how media affect pressing questions of contemporary life.
What distinguishes this programme is its interdisciplinary focus. Rather than compartmentalize the study of media and film in terms of form, genre, history, theory or area studies, we believe it is essential to engage all of these issues in a way that fosters an awareness of the historical culture and aesthetic politics.
As befits a 500-year old institution, Aberdeen has excellent library facilities and collections, well-equipped screening facilities, and lecture and seminar rooms adapted for specialist film teaching. Our new Media Lab contains video editing suites and a range of new high definition cameras and other production equipment.

Degree Programme Structure & Content

Film and Visual Culture Courses are available from first to fourth year. Students complete one semester of Film in their first year for Joint Honours, and a History of Art core course for single Honours, and two semesters of Film in their second year, before proceeding to the Honours years, during which they will be able to choose from a wide range of elective modules.

First Year

Introduction to Film and the Cinematic Experience looks at film form in relation to the other arts from which it sprang. The course introduces students to the primary visual, sound and narrative conventions of visual media to create and comment upon significant social experiences and historical events. We discuss issues of framing, mise-en-scène, montage, sound, narrative structure, cinematography, cinematic style and ideology. It features a range of films made since the birth of cinema.

Second Year

The second year core courses Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life, and Cinema and Crisis examine an exceptionally rich and diverse choice of films from around the world.

Students are introduced to various national cinemas and movements covering the last 100 years of cinema history; and consider the principal aesthetic, cultural and institutional factors influencing their distinguishing features. With an emphasis upon making both connections and disconnections between global cinemas and Hollywood, these courses encourage students to understand and appreciate the film text as both individualistic art form and intertextual product of an increasingly globalised world.

Third & Fourth Year (Honours)

Students select from a variety of Honours course options. Depending on the particular year offerings, which draw on staff research expertise, these may include modules on such areas as Femmes Fatales, Cinematic Cities, God at the Movies, Road Movies, The Real Thing, The Contemporary Feel-Bad Film, Catharsis Culture and Bodies on Screen. Courses are also offered on French, Hispanic and German cinema. In addition, different types of production courses are available on Documentary and Experimental Film, and Panoptic Digital Culture, and students may write their Dissertation in some area of Film and Visual Culture, and include a practical element.

Teaching & Assessment

Film is a popular subject, and first and second year courses therefore involve large lecture classes. However, weekly tutorials enable closer work with the tutor and with other students. Marks for the course are normally based in part on participation in these tutorials, and involve research, essays, exams and Web CT written submissions, depending on individual course requirements.

Honours courses are based on seminars which encourage active participation.

The Honours degree requires you to write a dissertation in your final year, which can also include a practical film-making component.

Your Future

The Film and Visual Culture degree is designed to specialise your knowledge in the academic study of cinema, placing an emphasis on enhancing your analytical skills in research and critical writing. In addition, students have an opportunity to develop skills in digital video production and web design. This focus should provide a useful platform for further study or for a career in film industry, broadcasting, new media, journalism, teaching and other related fields. New opportunities in Scottish broadcasting are available through our joint degree in Film and Visual Culture and Gaelic Studies.

Student Recruitment & Admissions Service
University of Aberdeen · University Office · King's College · ABERDEEN AB24 3FX

Tel: (UK) 01224 272090 / 1 · (International) +44 1224 272090 / 1
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e-mail: sras@abdn.ac.uk

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