Film and Television

Why Study Film & Television?

Visual communication is becoming the dominant means of expression in the modern world. Not since the invention of the printing press over 500 years ago, which led to the spread of mass literacy, has any other form of communication had such a profound impact on society.

What we see on the screen is not a presentation of reality but a re-presentation of reality. The screen media are not simply windows on the world, but are instead a selective construction of the world.

Hence, students need a film and television literacy that will allow them to

• act upon the representational systems of the screen,
• to think about them,
• question them, and
• to create their own, through mastery of production skills.

The units of study throughout the two year course are based on a developmental understanding of five core concepts and the relationships between them.

Meaning in film and television texts is created through

• the technologies that enable their production and communication;
• the representations of reality that emerge from mainstream or alternative modes of production;
• the audiences that engage in the communication process;
• the institutions that influence their production; and
• the languages that enable texts to be communicated.

Technologies, Representations, Audiences, Institutions, and Languages are therefore the key areas that underpin the general objectives of Production Design, Production Practice and Critique.

Through a range of processes, from the generation and analysis of ideas through to the creation of a new film or television product, or the critique of film and television texts, students should develop knowledge, understanding, technical and group skills, critical thinking and aesthetic appreciation.

Mrs Maria Lourundos

Coordinator of Film, Television and New Media