Postgraduate Course: Film Aesthetics: Art and the Moving Image (CLLC11207)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Since the invention of cinema, scholars and practitioners alike have considered how the medium functions as an art form. Film Aesthetics will focus on the history of film's form and style to address issues such as narrative, tone, affect, point of view, ideology, and technology. Through engagement with philosophies and theories of aesthetics and detailed and sustained analyses, students will gain a deepened appreciation of the meaning, effects, and construction of individual films, as well as an enriched understanding of the aesthetic possibilities of cinema. |
| Course description |
This course examines vital issues in film aesthetics by putting theory, philosophy, criticism, and contexts (industrial, historical, social, and cultural) in productive dialogue. The course will engage with some of the following questions: What is film aesthetics? What are the key issues and debates in the subject? What is the relationship between film aesthetics and film theory, film-philosophy, and film history? How do we analyse individual films from an aesthetic perspective?
Each week, students will study an exemplary filmmaker (e.g., a director, a performer, or a scriptwriter) or form (e.g., in the case of comedy: the slapstick or the screwball comedy; satire or parody), and explore this through a broader critical lens. Potential topics may include the tension between spectacle and narrative, the relationship between form and affect, the role of technology in film style, the dynamics between creative convention and constraint, as well as the issue of tone.
Two films will be assigned as required viewings per teaching week to enrich students' understanding of the topic and extensive further viewing lists will encourage further exploration. Through class activities and discussions, students are given opportunities to critically engage with the distinctive aesthetic strategies of each film and to reflect on how they address a conceptual question in film aesthetics.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment 1: 1 x 1000-word short essay (30%)
Assessment 2: 1 x 3000-word essay (70%) |
| Feedback |
Both student assignments will receive detailed written feedback. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge in key issues and debates in film aesthetics.
- Examine questions of film aesthetics in individual films and in relation to film genre and film authorship.
- Reflect on film aesthetics in relation to film history, film theory, and film philosophy.
- Develop insightful claims about the aesthetic possibilities of the filmic medium.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Upon completing the course, students will be able to:
- Engage with critical debates thoughtfully
- Communicate ideas coherently and effectively
- Examine, challenge, and reflect on analytical assumptions carefully
- Conduct scholarly research independently and systematically
- Appreciate and understand artworks from diverse perspectives |
| Keywords | film studies,film aesthetics,film style,film form,film genre,film philosophy,film theory |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Hoi Lun Law
Tel:
Email: Hoilun.Law@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: hope.hamilton@ed.ac.uk |
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