WJEC Eduqas GCSE Film Studies sample

Contents How to use this book 5 Knowledge and understanding 5 Part 1: Exploring film 5 Part 2: Film form 6 The case studies 6 Part 3: Component 1: US film 7 Part 4: Component 2: Global film 7 Part 5: Component 3: Production 7 Filmmaking and screenwriting 7 Part 6: Exam skills 7 Part 1: Exploring Film 8 Studying film 8 Why do we study film? 8 What do we study and why do we study it? 9 Part 2: Film form 10 Introduction 10 How films communicate: the key elements of film form 11 Cinematography 12 The close-up 13 Basic 4-point lighting 17 Bird’s-eye view 18 Point-of-view shot 18 Camera movement 19 Sound 21 Soundtrack 23 Dialogue 24 Sound effects 24 Music 25 Musical motifs 26 Editing 27 Types of edit 27 Mise-en-scène 32 Setting 33 Props, costume and make-up 35 Framing and body language 38 How film form is used: the structural elements of film form 41 Genre 42 Why is genre important? 42 Tracking typicality: investigating genre 43 Typical settings 45 Characters 46 Style 47 Genre narratives 49 Genre – a dynamic paradigm 50 Writing about genre 52 Narrative 53 Story and plot 53 Narrative structure 54 Narrative viewpoint 56 Voice-over narration 56 Narrative time and space 59 Narrative theory 61 Alternative narratives 64 Planning a narrative analysis 64 How is film form used? 65 Representation 65 The representation of gender 68 The representation of ethnicity and culture 72 The representation of age 74 The aesthetic qualities of film 76 Aesthetics and popular culture 77 Style and aesthetics 79 Sound and aesthetics 83 How we make sense of film 84 Context 84 Context – films made in the US 85 Context – US independent films 88 Context – global films 90 Context – global non-English language films 93 The two-point study plan 94 Context – contemporary UK films 98 Specialist writing on film, including film criticism 100 Thinking, talking and writing about film 100 Film form and specialist writing 102 Cinematography source: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl 102 Film review source 103 Indie cinema source 104 Part 3: Component 1: Films made in the USA 106 Sections A & B: The comparative study and key developments in film and film technology 106 Content 106 Why study mainstream American film? 107 Introduction – mainstream Hollywood 108 Introducing the industry and its context 110 Film timeline – Part 1 110 Film in the 1950s 113 Film after the 1950s 114 Film timeline – Part 2 114 Film in the 1980s 117 Film after the 1980s 120 Film timeline – Part 3 120 Two decades and beyond Hollywood in the 21st century 124 The wider social, political and economic context 126 America in the 1950s 126 America in the 1980s 128 Context – a brief comparison 130 Case study: Invasion of the Body Snatchers and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 131 Introduction 132 The key elements of film form 132 Cinematography in Invasion of the Body Snatchers 133 Cinematography in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 135 Mise-en-scène in Invasion of the Body Snatchers 137 Mise-en-scène in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 138 Editing in Invasion of the Body Snatchers 139 Editing in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 140 Sound in Invasion of the Body Snatchers 141 Sound in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 142 Concluding aesthetics 144 The structural elements of film form 146 Genre and science fiction 146 Representation 151 Invasion of the Body Snatchers and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 151 Further reading 154 Section C: US independent films 1 Introduction 155 Why study American independent film? 155 Case study: The Hurt Locker 156 What do we understand by US indie film? 157 Applying this to The Hurt Locker 158 3