StudyQA — Master: Film Aesthetics

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The MSt in Film Aesthetics equips you with the skills and knowledge necessary for analysing film as an art form. It concentrates on film criticism, detailed film analysis, film theory and film-philosophy and teaches the history and the contemporary developments in the scholarly literature relating to these aspects. It encourages thoughtful and imaginative engagement with film as a medium and with individual films.

The MSt in Film Aesthetics is degree in the humanities run jointly by the faculties of Modern Languages, English, and Philosophy.

The course concentrates on film from the point of view of aesthetics, including:

the detailed study of film style and form, and the articulation of it in writing - for example, narrative structure, use of camera, colour, performance, sound, music, editing and composition;
matters of philosophical aesthetics, and their particular application to film such as value and evaluation, appreciation, ontology, medium, intention, expression, meaning/interpretation, creativity, beauty, metaphor, symbolism, fiction, storytelling, convention, stylistic groupings and histories, emotion, imagination, and the relation between ethics, morality and aesthetics; and
classic and contemporary film theory and film-philosophy as they relate to film aesthetics: film specificity, spectatorship, modernism, phenomenology, affect, and the work of film philosophers such as Hugo Munsterberg, Rudolph Arnheim, Gilles Deleuze and Stanley Cavell.

Many master's programmes concentrate on historical, cultural, geographical, or political approaches to film and may only contain an aesthetic component. This programme is dedicated to the specialist study of film aesthetics.

The course runs from late September to June, from two weeks before the first term to the end of the last term.

Two weeks before term officially begins, you will attend a practical film workshop for one week. Although the degree itself is not practical, this week acts as an introduction to film techniques and allows the group to work with each other before the degree begins. This part of the course is not assessed.

In the first two terms the course is taught by seminar only, although there will be individual meetings with tutors to discuss essay preparation and feedback. In the third term the course is taught by individual supervision.

The first term of the course will look at the analysis of film style and film form, train techniques of film analysis and look at key concepts in film form, film criticism, film theory and film-philosophy.

The second term consists of four short segments, each covering a particular aesthetic topic. This part of the course provides you with the opportunity to engage with four different areas of specialisation.

The topics for the second term change from year to year but may include:

film and phenomenology
aesthetics of Italian cinema
spaces of American cinema (eg the invaded home)
film and modernism
contemporary theories of spectatorship - embodiment, ethics and politics
cinema of the non-human
the film-philosophy of Stanley Cavell
contemporary Chinese cinema

In both the first two terms there will be four different modules each lasting four seminars (eight modules in total across the terms). In both these terms there will be two seminars per week. Seminars vary in length depending on the module (90 minutes to three hours). In the third term there will be individual tutorial supervision of the dissertation. You will be expected to read quite extensively for seminars and supervisions, and also view films. All the staff involved in delivering the course have doctoral degrees (most are at professorial or associate professorial level), in many cases are leaders in their fields and have extensive experience of teaching their area of film studies.

Assessment is by two 6,000-word essays, one 3,000-word essay and a 10, 000-word dissertation. The dissertation, written in the final term, provides an opportunity to work with a tutor in your chosen area of specialisation.

Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualifications), as a minimum, in the humanities, fine art or social sciences.

However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

If you hold non-UK qualifications and wish to check how your qualifications match these requirements, you can contact the National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC).

A formal background in film studies is not a requirement, and many successful applicants do not have a film studies degree; however, high achievement in the field of film studies is desirable. You should also show an interest in, and if possible a knowledge of, aesthetics, and more specifically the aesthetics of film.

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other appropriate indicators will include:

Official transcript(s)
CV/résumé
Statement of purpose/personal statement:500 words
References/letters of recommendation:Three overall, of which at least two must be academic