LT121-4-FY-CO:
Approaches to Film and Media

The details
2026/27
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 4
Current
Thursday 08 October 2026
Friday 02 July 2027
30
09 April 2026

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

LT122, LT833, LT834

Key module for

BA PW38 Film and Creative Writing,
BA PW39 Film and Creative Writing (Including Placement Year),
BA PW88 Film and Creative Writing (Including Foundation Year),
BA PWH8 Film and Creative Writing (Including Year Abroad),
BA P303 Film Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA W620 Film Studies,
BA W623 Film Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA W628 Film Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA VW36 Film Studies and Art History,
BA PQ32 Film Studies and Literature (Including Year Abroad),
BA PQ38 Film Studies and Literature (Including Foundation Year),
BA QW26 Film Studies and Literature,
BA QW27 Film Studies and Literature (Including Placement Year),
BA V1W6 History with Film Studies,
BA V1W7 History with Film Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA V1W8 History with Film Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA V1WP History with Film Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA W350 Art History, Visual Culture and Media Studies,
BA W351 Art History, Visual Culture and Media Studies (including Year Abroad),
BA W352 Art History, Visual Culture and Media Studies (including Placement Year),
BA W353 Art History, Visual Culture and Media Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA P400 Film and Drama,
BA P401 Film and Drama (Including Year Abroad),
BA P402 Film and Drama (Including Placement Year),
BA P403 Film and Drama (Including Foundation Year),
BA P565 Film and Journalism,
BA P566 Film and Journalism (Including Foundation Year),
BA P567 Film and Journalism (including Placement Year),
BA P568 Film and Journalism(including Year Abroad)

Module description

This is an extensive survey of cinema which foregrounds its historical and international diversity. The module is designed to engage with three key areas: cinema as an art-form; film history; and film and media theory. It examines cinematic media, from celluloid to digital, both as cultural productions and texts received and consumed by audiences.


In the first term, key elements of cinematic form will be explored, such as mise-en-scène, editing, classical narrative, sound, and cinematography. The second term will delve more deeply into issues of representation (gender, class, race, sexuality) and theoretical issues, including genre, authorship, and alternative types of narration.


The module features an extensive lecture programme over the year, delivered by Film Studies staff. Each week, students are required to attend both the lecture and seminar. A background in writing for the humanities and/or media studies is recommended

Module aims

The aims of the module are:



  • To provide understanding of forms of communication in film and media as they have emerged historically

  • To promote an appreciation of the processes through which film media come into being, with reference to social, cultural, and technological change

  • To explore the forces and contexts that influence film and media , and support means to understand and explain these forces

  • To encourage critical understanding of a diverse and international range of film and media texts

  • To explore the role of changing technology in film and media production, distribution, access, participation, and diverse modes of reception

  • To introduce established conceptual frameworks and theoretical models for approaching film and media analysis

  • To enhance skills in written and verbal communication


Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:



  1. Analyse communication systems, modes of representation, and systems of meaning in film and media.

  2. Evaluate the ways in which of a range of media form and organise understandings, meanings, and affects within popular culture.

  3. Research and explain aspects of the production and consumption of film and media products within their cultural contexts.

  4. Understand the historical development of a range of film and media texts and their impact within and upon their cultural contexts.

  5. Have improved skills in written and verbal communication.

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

  • A weekly 1-hour lecture and 1-hour class

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Autumn Term Moodle quiz    5% 
Coursework   Summer Term Moodle quiz    5% 
Coursework   Interview    20% 
Coursework   Essay Plan (500 words)    0% 
Coursework   Autumn Term Essay - Scene Analysis (2,000 words)     25% 
Coursework   Spring Term Essay (2,500 words) OR Video Essay (5 mins video plus 500 word written commentary)    30% 
Coursework   Personal Statement 1,000 words    10% 
Practical   Participation Mark    5% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Shohini Chaudhuri, email: schaudh@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Daniel O'Brien, email: d.obrien@essex.ac.uk.
Various
LiFTS General Office - email liftstt@essex.ac.uk. Telephone 01206 872626

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

No external examiner information available for this module.
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 1 hours, 1 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies

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