MFC6582 - Computational Film Analysis

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate a systematic understanding of quantitative approaches to analysing film form and film style;
Confidently employ appropriate software in the quantitative analysis of film form and film style;
Analyse the use of film form and film style in specific texts using the results of quantitative analyses;
Demonstrate effective team-working skills;
Demonstrate effective skills in presenting original research in a range of formats.

Content:

This project-based module provides students with a grounding in computational approaches to the analysis of film form and film style. Working on a defined research project, students acquire an understanding of the application of computational methods to motion picture aesthetics.

The first semester introduces students to the methods and software they will use in the project through a series of lectures and workshops. Using these approaches they produce and analyse a data set and present the results. In the second semester, students work in small groups to produce a group-authored research article based on the work produced in semester one in which they contextualise and explain the results presented in the first half of the module.

Learning and Teaching Information:

The scheduled learning and teaching activities include lectures, workshops, and supervisions.
The lectures provide the necessary background to computational approaches to film style, the specific uses of film form and/or film style the research project addresses, and the methods of presenting empirical research.
Workshops provide the necessary instruction in the appropriate methods and software for the quantitative analysis of film style.
Regular supervisions monitor and support the progress of students working independently in small groups to produce a group-authored article.
The module runs over the course both semesters to include both tuition in the computational methods for film analysis and independent collaborative research using those methods with a view to publication of the final assessment output.
Student numbers are capped at a maximum of 15 to accommodate the project-based nature of the module and to limit the number of small groups working on projects to a maximum of five.

Lecture
Hours: 14
Intended Group size: 15

Workshops
Hours: 28
Intended group size: 15

Supervision
Hours: 8
Intended Group size: 3

Guided independent study
Hours: 150

Further details relating to assessment:
Students permitted to take a half-module for the award of 10 credits in semester 1 will be assessed on the basis of the poster and a reflective report of 1,000 words.
Not available as a half-module in semester 2.
Poster: students will present the results of their data analysis in semester 1 as a research poster. Assessment of the poster provides formative feedback for the research part of the module in semester 2.

Group-authored article: students will collectively produce a piece of research in which they link their own data analysis with that of others in the class working on similar texts, linking data analysis to a wider understanding of film form and film style and demonstrating an ability to theorise about to the functions of formal/stylistic devices. It is intended that articles of sufficient quality be submitted for publication in a journal of undergraduate research.

Reflective report: students will reflect on their confidence and ability to analyse film aesthetics using appropriate software and their participation in group work.

Assessment:

001 Poster end of semester 1 25%
002 Group-authorised article 2000 words end of semester 2 50%
003 Reflective report 1000 words end of semester 2 25%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Nicholas Redfern
Level - 6
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered -

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