BA Film Studies

About this course

Film Studies takes seriously what many people do casually: it asks you to look at films with genuine rigour, to understand not just what they show but how they show it, and to situate them within the aesthetic, historical and cultural contexts that shaped them. Cinema is one of the defining art forms of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and film studies gives you the theoretical and critical tools to analyse it properly, from early silent cinema to contemporary global filmmaking. At the University of the West of England, Bristol, the programme develops your skills in film analysis, film history and film theory. You will study the formal elements of cinema including cinematography, editing, sound and narrative structure, learn to apply a range of critical and theoretical perspectives to films you encounter, and consider the industrial and economic conditions that shape which films get made and how they reach audiences. The part-time mode of the programme makes it accessible to students who cannot commit to full-time study, and the inclusion of a sandwich year and a work placement gives you the opportunity to build professional experience in the screen industries, film exhibition, education, journalism or a related field alongside your academic study. Bristol is an appropriate city in which to study film: the city has a distinctive creative industries sector and strong connections to film, television, animation and documentary production. Its proximity to the UK screen industries enriches the programme. Graduates of film studies move into careers in the screen industries, including production, development, distribution, programming and exhibition. Journalism, criticism and arts writing are strong paths, as are roles in education, cultural organisations and marketing within the creative sector. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in film, cultural studies, media or creative writing.

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