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Film Studies

We are very excited to be offering Film Studies for the first time this year.  If you have a passion for film, and are keen to watch a wider range of films from different cultural perspectives - films from the Silent Era to the present day, and different forms of film, including documentary, shorts and experimental - then you will really enjoy this course. 

OCR A Level Film Studies H410

Course content

As you progress through the course, you will become familiar with the language and syntax of film, and learn to interrogate how concepts such as narrative, genre, representation, spectatorship and aesthetics are used to create meaning by deconstructing and creating film. You will also develop an understanding of the contexts in which films are made.

There are three components to the Film Studies syllabus:

Component 1: Film History

Paper One - Film History - 2 hour paper - 35% of total A Level

  • The Silent Period
  • 1930-1960
  • 1961-1990
  • Experimental Film (European surrealist film) and either 
  • German expressionism or
  • French new wave

Component 2: Comparative and Contextual Study

Paper Two - Critical Approaches to Film - 2 hour paper - 35% of total A Level

Learners must study at least one set film from each of the categories below:

  • Contemporary British
  • Contemporary US
  • Documentary
  • Non-European non-English Language
  • English language (non-US)
  • US Independent 

Component 3: Non Exam Assessment/Making Short Film

Making Short Film (Non-examined Assessment)

30% of total A Level

  • Learners must study one compilation of short British fiction films
  • Production of a five minute short film or a ten minute screenplay for a short film( incorporating a digitally photographed storyboard)
  • Evaluative analysis of the production in relation to professionally produced set short films

Beyond the classroom

  • We are keen to make use of the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse and its excellent range of films. 

  • The BFI in London is an amazing facility and we aim to make use of the wide range of activities and screenings it has on offer.

‘’We're face-to-face with images all the time in a way that we never have been before. Young people need to understand that not all images are out there to be consumed like, you know, fast food and then forgotten. We need to educate them to understand the difference between moving images that engage their humanity and their intelligence, and moving images that are just selling them something."  Martin Scorsese.

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