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Film Studies
A-Level Film Studies is the academic study of film as the major art form and cultural industry of the last hundred years - watched closely, analysed rigorously and made practically. It is delivered here through the WJEC Eduqas A-Level Film Studies specification, the principal awarding body for the subject in England, and set against the Ofqual subject-level conditions and requirements for GCE Film Studies. Every film on the course is studied through three connected strands: the key elements of FILM FORM (cinematography including lighting, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance); the CONTEXTS in which a film was made and is received (social, cultural, political, historical, institutional and technological); and a set of SPECIALIST CRITICAL APPROACHES (spectatorship, narrative, ideology, auteur and aesthetics), together with critical debates and filmmakers' theories. Its three components carry the whole subject: Component 1 Varieties of film and filmmaking is a written examination covering a Hollywood 1930-1990 comparative study, a study of contemporary American film (one mainstream and one independent) and a study of British film since 1995; Component 2 Global filmmaking perspectives is a written examination covering global film (one European and one non-European), documentary film, silent cinema and experimental film; and Component 3 Production is a non-exam assessment in which the candidate creates either a short film or a screenplay with a storyboard, together with an evaluative analysis relating the production to professionally produced work. Because the set films are chosen by Eduqas and ROTATE across specification cycles, these notes teach the analytical and practical METHOD of the subject - how to read film form closely, how to place a film in its contexts, how to apply each critical approach, and how to plan, make and evaluate a production - rather than committing to particular set titles; widely known films are used only as neutral illustrations of technique. Because these notes cannot screen a film, they teach the language, the method and the process of studying and making film.
0/82 Texts16 Chapters~394 min total
Eduqas A-level Film Studies (key elements of film form)Ofqual GCE Film Studies subject contentEduqas A-level Film Studies (cinematography including lighting)Eduqas A-level Film Studies (mise-en-scene)Eduqas A-level Film Studies (editing)Eduqas A-level Film Studies (sound)+76 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 16 ChaptersT·16
- Key elements of film form
- Meaning and response
- The contexts of film
- Specialist critical approaches
- Representation and identity
- Aesthetics and auteur
- The digital revolution in film
- Hollywood 1930-1990 (comparative study)
- American film since 2012
- British film since 1995
- Global film
- Documentary film
- Film movements: silent cinema
- Film movements: experimental film (1960-2001)
- Production: short film or screenplay
- Evaluative analysis
- Component 1 - Varieties of film and filmmaking (written exam)
- A written examination of 2 hours 30 minutes, worth 35% of the A-level. It is built on films studied in depth and answered through the core study areas (film form, meaning and response, and contexts) and named specialist critical approaches. It has three sections. Section A is a Hollywood 1930-1990 comparative study: one film from the Classical Hollywood period and one from the New Hollywood period, studied through the specialist approaches of AUTEUR and CONTEXT, with an extended comparative response. Section B is a study of contemporary American film - one mainstream and one independent US film - studied through the specialist approaches of SPECTATORSHIP and IDEOLOGY. Section C is a study of British film since 1995 - two contemporary British films - studied through the specialist approaches of NARRATIVE and IDEOLOGY. Questions require close analysis of film form supported by specific detail from the studied films and, where set, comparison across two films.
- Component 2 - Global filmmaking perspectives (written exam)
- A written examination of 2 hours 30 minutes, worth 35% of the A-level. It covers four areas of global and non-mainstream filmmaking. Section A is a global film two-film study - one European and one non-European film - studied through their REPRESENTATIONS of cultures and societies. Section B is documentary film - a set documentary studied through a documentary filmmaker's THEORY and the impact of digital technology. Section C is film movements - silent cinema - a film from the silent era studied through a critical DEBATE about its artistic and historical significance. Section D is film movements - experimental film (1960-2001) - an experimental film studied through the specialist approaches of NARRATIVE and AUTEUR. As in Component 1, answers rest on close analysis of film form applied to the studied films, with the named specialist approach shaping each section's questions.
- Component 3 - Production (non-exam assessment)
- A non-exam assessment worth 30% of the A-level, marked by the centre and moderated by Eduqas. The candidate creates a PRODUCTION - either a short film of about four to five minutes, OR a screenplay of about 1600-1800 words for a short film together with a digitally photographed storyboard of a key section - applying knowledge of the key elements of film form to communicate meaning to an audience. The production is accompanied by an EVALUATIVE ANALYSIS of about 1600-1800 words in which the candidate analyses and evaluates their own production in relation to two professionally produced short films (or screenplay extracts), showing how their work applies and compares with professional practice. The production carries the larger share of the marks; the evaluative analysis the remainder. Together they assess the application of film-form knowledge to creative work and the ability to reflect critically on it.
- The three-strand study of every film: form, contexts and critical approaches
- Whatever section it belongs to, every film on the course is studied in the same way, through three connected strands. The KEY ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM - cinematography (including lighting), mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance - are the raw materials of cinema and the basis of all close analysis. The CONTEXTS of a film - social, cultural, political, historical, institutional and technological - shape what it says and how it was made and received. The SPECIALIST CRITICAL APPROACHES - spectatorship, narrative, ideology, auteur and aesthetics - are lenses that focus analysis in a particular direction, and each exam section names which approaches apply. Underpinning all three is the idea of MEANING AND RESPONSE: film as a medium of representation and an aesthetic medium, and the spectator who makes meaning from it. These notes teach this method so that a candidate can analyse whichever set films their own specification cycle names.
- Assessment objectives and the nature of the qualification
- The A-level assesses three objectives. AO1 rewards knowledge and understanding of film. AO2 rewards applying that knowledge and understanding to analyse and compare films (including through the specialist critical approaches) and to evaluate the significance of those approaches. AO3 rewards applying knowledge and understanding of film to a production and its evaluative analysis - the non-exam assessment. The qualification combines two written examinations (Component 1, 35%, and Component 2, 35%) with one non-exam production (Component 3, 30%), so most of the marks reward close film analysis in the exam alongside a substantial piece of creative and reflective work. It is a linear A-level, graded A*-E. Because Eduqas chooses and rotates the set films across specification cycles, these notes teach the transferable analytical and practical method rather than committing to particular titles, and candidates should confirm the current set films against the live Eduqas Film Studies specification.