FORUM
CIFE
the sixth-form experts
Call us now for advice
0208 767 8666
  • Home
  • About CIFE
    • Close
    • menu-about-image
    • About CIFE
      • About CIFE
      • CIFE news
      • FAQs about CIFE colleges
      • Choose the right CIFE college
      • Why colleges join CIFE
      • Links to good sites for sixth formers
      • CIFE Featured Students
      • CIFE Student Profiles
      • University Destinations
      • cife is the professional association for independent sixth-form colleges

        All CIFE colleges share the belief that students come first and that education should adapt to the individual rather than the other way round. That belief is made real by staff who have the time to get to know students fast and to tailor their approach to each individual. This makes CIFE colleges particularly good at helping students change school successfully.

        GET IN TOUCH

  • Choose a college
    • Close
        • Bath
          Bath Academy
        • Birmingham
          MPW Birmingham
        • Cambridge
          CATS College Cambridge
          MPW Cambridge
        • Canterbury
          CATS College Canterbury
        • Market Harborough
          Brooke House College
        • Northampton
          Bosworth Independent College
        • Oxford
          Carfax College
          Cherwell College
          Oxford International College
          Oxford Sixth Form College
        • Reading
          Padworth College
        • Rochester
          Rochester Independent College

        SEE ALL COLLEGES

        • London
          Ashbourne Independent Sixth-form College
          Bales College
          Cambridge Tutors College
          CATS College London
          Collingham Independent College
          David Game College
          LSI Independent College
          MPW London
          Regent Independent College
          Westminster Tutors
      • Read our questions to ask cife colleges for advice on making the best choice.

        Find out more about cife colleges' approach to sixth-form education.

        For help and advice on choosing the right college for you please get in touch.

        GET IN TOUCH

  • Fees & Scholarships
    • Close
    • menu-fees-image
    • Fees at CIFE Colleges
      • Fees at CIFE Colleges
      • Scholarships
      • Each cife college sets its own fees. Comparing fees at sixth form colleges isn’t always straightforward because many charge a fee that depends upon the number and level of the subjects you take. View the links on our cife college fees page to quickly find individual college fees.

        If you need financial help in order to study at a cife college, do have a look at Help with Fees at CIFE colleges as many colleges offer scholarships for talented students.

        GET IN TOUCH

  • Advice
    • Close
    • menu-advice-image
    • All Sixth-form advice articles
      • Choose the right A levels
      • A guide to individual A level subjects
      • How to choose your CIFE college
      • The EPQ – Extended Project Qualification
      • How to revise
      • FAQs about A level retakes
      • FAQs for international students
      • CIFE intercollegiate articles
      • We have a library of over 60 free advice articles ranging from how to pick the right A levels, through how to revise effectively, to how to get the best out of university open days. Browse our full sixth form advice library, or if you need further help please get in touch and we will do our best to help you.

        • Sixth-form advice articles about study skills...
        • Advice articles about sixth-form choices...
        • Sixth-form advice articles about university entrance...

        GET FREE ADVICE

  • Courses
    • Close
    • menu-courses-image
    • All courses
      • Two-year A-level
      • A-level retakes
      • One-year A-level courses
      • Final-year A-level
      • University Foundation courses
      • GCSE courses
      • Easter Revision Courses
      • With their long experience of helping students settle in quickly, wide subject choice and flexible course structures, courses at cife colleges make it easy to move school and they provide an excellent environment for a new start.

        For free, independent advice on the course options available to you please get in touch.

        GET IN TOUCH

  • Contact us
logo

All about A level Film Studies

Home » Sixth-form advice articles » Guide to individual A level subjects » All about A level Film Studies

What's A Level Film Studies about?

This course is ideal for students who want to explore how and why films are made. A level Film Studies focuses on the analysis and deconstruction of film over a wide historical time frame. It allows you to engage with films from early silent cinema to 1930s Hollywood films to contemporary and experimental cinema.

Film Studies A level (from EDUQAS exam board) involves studying 12 different films. These are separated into set categories, which are; American, British, Independent, Global, Documentary, Experimental and Silent Film. These are analyzed via a number of different study area frameworks, including: film form, meaning and response, context, spectatorship, narrative, ideology, authorship, critical debates and theoretical debates. You work with your peers to debate and pull apart the set film texts and to develop a sophisticated contextual understanding of the world at the time these films were made. Film Studies requires that you develop an inquisitive mind and consider the deeper social, political and economic contexts of those films.

You also explore the work of a wide range of influential film directors, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers. Film Studies A level also takes in the forefathers of cinema by evaluating the impact of key pioneers on the film industry including The Lumiere Brothers, DW Griffiths, Charlie Chaplin, and Sergei Eisenstein.

What sort of work is involved?

Film Studies A level will introduce you to a wide range of film-making processes so that you develop, through discussion, analysis and debate, a wide range of technical skills for both constructing and deconstructing film. This will give you the ability to develop your own creative skills as you explore these film-making techniques from different times and places. The coursework element allows you to experiment with a variety of film-making technology and film-editing software to develop your creative skills.

You will be expected to think independently and to develop your own 'voice', and you will be expected to expand your knowledge outside of the classroom through reading about and watching film.  This is likely to involve going to film festivals and exhibitions. In essence you will need to live and breathe the cinema!

What background do I need?

A passion for a wide range of cinema is essential for success in Film Studies A level but it is not necessary to have studied either Film or Media at GCSE. It is an academic subject and suits students who have flourished in essay-based subjects like English Literature or History. As a rule, students who have achieved a minimum of 5 GCSE’s 9-4 (equivalent to A*-C) will fare better in this subject.

Where can it lead?

A level Film Studies students can go onto study Film, TV or Media at University. Students have the option to study a practical degree, theoretical degree or a combination of the two. This can lead to a very broad range of professions with many students able to develop skills that will enable them to apply for production roles within the Film, TV and Media industries. Some students opt for careers within Journalism and photojournalism.

A good degree in a creative arts subject like Film Studies can also develop a wide range of transferable skills including analysis, visual communication, problem solving, as well as communication, presentation and organizational skills.

One year course?

Due to the range of key film texts that you are required to cover, and the range of theoretical perspectives, it is very hard to take this course in one year and expect to get a good grade. The coursework requirement is particularly difficult to compress.

Assessment

For the Eduqas board (WJEC) 70% of your mark is assessed through two 150-minute exams at the end of the two-year course. One focuses on American and British Film, whilst the other focuses on global, documentary, silent and experimental film.

Coursework makes up the remaining 30% of the Film Studies A Level. You can choose to create a either short film (4-5 minutes) or produce a screenplay for a short film of between 1600-1800 words. The screenplay must also be accompanied with a digitally photographed storyboard of a 2-minute section of the screenplay. and you must write an evaluation of your production, of between 1600-1800 words.

 

Article written by Gareth Evans, Director of Studies at DLD College

Return to the list of A level subjects

Free advice on A level subject choice
Please feel free to get in touch by
calling 0208 767 8666
emailing us at enquiries@cife.org.uk
or filling in the contact form below.

    Your Name (required):

    Your Email (required):

    Your contact phone number:

    Tell us how we can help:


    The data entered on this form will be used only for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. It will not be used for sales/marketing, nor shared with any third party unless required to respond to your query (i.e. with one of our partner colleges).


     



    Return to the list of A level subjects

    Our Advice page links to more cife articles.  

     
     
    [testimonials_slider refresh_interval=3 random="true" show_start_stop="false" hide_source="true" adaptive_height="false"]

    Further advice articles

    • Sixth-form advice articles about study skills...
    • Advice articles about sixth-form choices...
    • Sixth-form advice articles about university entrance...

    Need any help?

    Please feel free to contact us for no-obligation, independent advice; either by calling us on 0208 767 8666 or by filling in the form below. We look forward to hearing from you.

     

      Your Name (required):

      Your Email (required):

      Your contact phone number:

      Tell us how we can help:


      The data entered on this form will be used only for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. It will not be used for sales/marketing, nor shared with any third party unless required to respond to your query (i.e. with one of our partner colleges).


       

      Share:
      Paul Redhead On 11th June 2019   /    

      Courses at cife colleges

      GCSE courses
      Two-year A level courses
      Final-year A level courses
      One-year A level courses
      A level retake courses
      University Foundation courses
      Easter A level & GCSE revision courses

      Advice articles

      FAQs about retakes
      Revision
      UCAS personal statement
      Tips for a top UCAS application
      For international students
      Choosing the right A levels
      Oxbridge and medicine interviews
      All advice articles

      cife

      More about cife
      FAQ about colleges
      News
      Why colleges join cife
      Useful links
      Fees at cife colleges
      Contact us

      Sitemap
      Privacy policy
      Website Terms & Conditions
      Copyright © 2017 - 2021 cife
       
      Web Design by WebSanity
       
      BACK TO TOP
      Back to Top