ATS2538 · Film and television industries and technologies: Key contexts

Overview

The meaning of a film or television series comes not just from what is represented on screen but from the contexts in which this representation takes place. This unit examines some of the key industrial and technological contexts that frame, support and mediate our understanding of film and television. These contexts, both official and public, include: industry publicity and marketing; advertising and commercial tie-ins; media coverage of stars and celebrities; censorship and studio self-regulation; and reviewing and criticism. Taking a longer, historical view the unit also considers the impact of cinematic and televisual technologies over time, such as: wide-screen formats in the fifties and sixties; home video and suburban multiplexes in the seventies and eighties; and the development and evolution of digital technologies, media franchising and streaming platforms through the nineties and into the present day.

Areas of study: Film and screen studies Communications and media studies Media Screen

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Recognise that meaning is not simply an intra-textual property of a particular text but an effect of historically specific extra-textual, material technologies or institutions;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of historically specific material technologies of production, distribution, exhibition and reception, in relation to a range of contemporary and historical film and television examples;
3. Develop a methodology for investigating the material - social, historical and political - difference of specific national film and television texts and industries.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.