Film Studies

Ms Katy Kirk, Head of Film & Media

Accreditations

Our Head of Film and Media holds a degree in English and American Literature & Film from Brunel University and completed her PGCE at Goldsmith’s College, University of London in 2009. Before entering teaching, she worked as an Arts Administrator for a music charity, coordinating concerts at prestigious venues including BBC Maida Vale, Tate Liverpool, and Wigmore Hall, while running projects enabling young people to create music for professional musicians.

Since 2009, she has taught in secondary schools across London, Buckinghamshire, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. An avid film enthusiast, she brings genuine passion to her teaching and celebrates the diverse texts that engage students in meaningful learning. She has served as an examiner for both AQA in English Language and Eduqas in Film Studies since 2018.

Outside the classroom, she plays the trumpet in the Hitchin Light Orchestra; enjoys spending time outdoors; and exploring art and culture in cities around the world.

Film Studies

Subject Overview

A Level Film Studies
Examination Board: OCR

A Level Film Studies focuses on analytical and critical approaches to film. It also examines how we can use these techniques in our own cinematography/videography.

The aims of this qualification are to enable students to:

  • gain a full appreciation and understanding of the mechanisms that make films communicate meaning and ideas.
  • research different movements within film and analyse different approaches to:
    • cinematography
    • mise-en-scene
    • editing
    • sound
    • performance
  • produce their own content informed by the above skills.

Course Content:

You will have two examinations of a 2 hour duration along with a Non-Examination Assessment piece.

Paper 1: Film History 105 marks 35%
This focuses on three eras of US film history, spanning from silent films up to the 1990s. There will also be a focus on European film movements or stylistic schools.

Paper 2: Critical Approaches to Film 105 marks 35%
In this component, you will understand and apply different critical approaches to film. There is also a focus on narrative, genre, representations and spectatorship. Learners must study a set film from a broad choice of categories.

NEA: Short Film and evaluative analysis 90 marks 30%
Learners will study a compilation of short British fiction films and will produce one of their own. There is an accompanying evaluative analysis to complete along with the product in order to justify production choices in relation to the set short films.

Extra-curricular:

Attendance of film events as well as the customary screenings of the set pieces being shown at the college.

Open Events

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