Course Resources Archive

Cannot be counted with RAP303

Available only to Radio Production, Popular Music, Creative Media, and Journalism students

This module provides an introduction to students with regard to understanding film as a commodity. The module will examine the various commercial functions film has served particularly in relation to concepts such as entertainment, the leisure industry, and film's commercial aesthetic. Simultaneously, it establishes assignment skills required for progression through the degree.

This module equips students with the key skills for understanding and critiquing the commodity status of film. It is therefore the principal module that underpins the rest of the course and establishes how sometimes seemingly disparate areas of industry, business and analysis combine within the film industry as a whole. Attention is directed towards the investigation of film as an entertainment form and through this students study the relations between the entertainment function of films and their commercial aesthetic as manifested in production values and marketing hooks. The contemporary synergistic networks of the entertainment industries are also investigated, with students examining film's dual function as a commodity form and promotional vehicle for other ancillary products and tie-ins, as well as establishing it place within the wider field of the media industries. Of equal importance are the essential academic skills that underscore the module, as students are taught the vital academic skills of research, assignment planning and delivery, as well as the regulations that underpin academic practice.

On successful completion of the module the student should be able to:

1. describe film as a commodity in relation to concepts of entertainment, leisure, and exchange value

2. explain a film's specific commercial aesthetic

3. explain the significance of the Hollywood business model in relation to film

4. understand the synergistic relations within the contemporary entertainment industries and situate film within these relations

5. demonstrate independent research abilities

6. communicate ideas clearly

7. apply proper referencing conventions to written assignments

8. demonstrate good team skills when working in a group

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.