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Film and Television History (AA310) |
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many assignments will I be writing? There are six tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) for this course. TMAs 01-04 are 2,000 to 2,500 word essay questions, one set on each of the first four books. TMAs 05 and 06 consist of a project pertaining to Book 5, Television Genres. TMA 05 is a short project proposal and TMA 06 is a double-length 4,000 word essay. Yes, there is a three-hour exam that covers all the material studied, which you will sit in October. What subject can I write about for the project? The project must be on some aspect of television. You might choose to focus on a British soap opera such as Coronation Street or EastEnders or on an American mini-series such as Roots. Note though that whatever television episodes you choose to write on, you will need access to suitable resources and you should discuss your project proposal with your tutor. Why have the films not been provided on DVD? When the course was in the planning stages only two of the set films were available on DVD in the United Kingdom. Even now some of the set films are only available on video and we are assuming that VCRs will be around for some time to come. Of course there is nothing to stop DVD owners from buying or renting some films on DVD. But you will need access to a VCR to watch the feature films and videos that you will receive with the course materials. Do I have to buy many films or books? Most of the films you will study are supplied either as full-length films or as extracts. However, you will need to rent or buy five feature films, and in order to complete the project (TMAs 05 and 06) you will also need to have access to a selection of episodes from your chosen television programmes. There is one set book for the course which you will have to buy: Richard Maltby, Hollywood Cinema (2nd edition 2003), Blackwell Publishing. The first chapter of this is available online from Blackwell's website (PDF file, 295 KB). Will AA310 Film and Television History count towards a degree in a named subject? AA310 can count towards BA (Hons) History, BA (Hons) Humanities, BA (Hons) Humanities with History, BA (Hons) Humanities with Media Studies and BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) Social Sciences with Media Studies. I love watching films but I've never studied history before. Is this the course for me? This is a film history course and not a film studies course. And it is at level 3 so a certain degree of competence will be expected of students. If you have never studied history before, the Arts Faculty offers a multi-disciplinary foundation course and a number of level 2 history courses. Follow this link to find out more about choosing your course. If you are already an Open University student, follow this link to read more about planning your studies (you will need your OU computer username and password). I've studied DA204 Understanding media. What differences will I notice? There will be a small amount of overlap in the subject matter as both courses deal with the Media. DA204 is a Level 2 course and AA310 is at Level 3. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably at the OU. However, the major difference you will notice is in approach, as AA310 is a History course. This affects both how the subject is taught and the way in which your essay-writing skills are assessed. Which films should I be watching before the course starts? There is no need to watch the films that are being studied before the course starts. Sufficient time has been built in to the workload to allow the films to be viewed in conjunction with the written teaching material. However, many other films are discussed in the units and the wider your viewing the better. You might find it useful and enjoyable to watch a selection of 'classic' films before the course begins, such as Gone With the Wind (USA, Victor Fleming, 1939) or Casablanca (USA, Michael Curtiz, 1942). Look out especially for other examples of the genres, directors and national cinemas discussed in the course, for example westerns, other films by Alfred Hitchcock, and examples of contemporary French, Italian and West German cinema. A good television listings magazine such as Radio Times will provide you with the necessary information about countries, dates and directors. Can you recommend some books I can read before the start of the course? The set text for the course is the second edition of Richard Maltby's Hollywood Cinema (Oxford, Blackwell, 2003). The first chapter of this is available online from Blackwell's website (PDF file, 295 KB). If you would like to read a book before the course starts you might enjoy Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind (London, Bloomsbury, 1999) or A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930–1980 by Robert B. Ray (Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1985). Does the course cover the early history of film? AA310 is not a comprehensive history of the cinema from its origins to the present day. You'll find that silent cinema (up until the end of the 1920s) is not included here. That's partly because far fewer films from the early history of cinema have survived and partly because the study of 'early cinema', as it has become known, is quite a specialist area of research that requires a different methodological approach. Therefore, the period covered in AA310 starts with Hollywood's so-called 'golden age' of the 1930s and 1940s and finishes with the end of the twentieth century. I'm particularly interested in television history. Why is only one book devoted to it? AA310 does not deal equally with film and television and there are several reasons for this. In practical terms it is not possible to do justice to both subjects in one course as there would simply be too much material to cover. However, this does not mean that television history is of less worth than film history. While it may have been neglected in the past, partly because of its status as a low-brow or popular medium and partly because of the lack of source material, television history as a subject is now gaining recognition within academic circles. This means that television history today is at about the same developmental stage as film history was some twenty-five to thirty years ago. The little that has been written on television history to date tends to be in one of three categories: institutional history; the nature of the television audience; and close analysis of television texts. This means that our book, Television Genres, is at the 'cutting edge' of television studies at university level – a good reason to include it in the course. Is there a residential school? No. But you will have contact with fellow students and tutors through regular tutorials and you can also participate in the student conference online. Does the course require knowledge of film theory? No, some film theory will be introduced but the course will focus mainly on film and television history. This means you will look in particular at the social role and cultural influence of film in America, Britain and Western Europe. You will be introduced to various methods involved in the study of film and television history and you will learn to place films and television programmes in their historical contexts. Will the course involve an understanding of the technical processes involved in film and TV production? No. All you need to know about the technical processes etc. will be introduced and explained in Book 1. And a glossary of film terminology is provided in the Course Guide. Will I need a command of German, French or Italian in order to study the units on European cinemas? No. All the written supporting material is in English. Can this course be successfully completed if I'm not based in the UK? To register for this course you will need an address in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland or in one of the European OU study areas. The exam will be held at a designated centre in the UK or Europe. For more information see the course description. |
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