About Film Studies, BA - at Trinity College Dublin
Course Outline The course covers the history and critical framework of film production and consumption from the 1890s to the present day. Lectures and seminars are combined with film screenings to provide the student with a starting point for further investigation. Oral presentations, essays and examinations contribute to this process. At every stage of their study students are actively encouraged to develop the skills of critical analysis, self-expression, and independent research which will ensure an enduring engagement with the subject.
In the first two years, students are introduced to key aspects of American, European and world cinema. These are situated within a theoretical and historical context.
Film Studies courses during the first two years may include:American Cinema from the 1890s to the1950sThe first part of this course introduces aspects of American cinema in the first half of the 20th century by considering classical narrative structures, important industrial developments and key generic texts. The second part of this course will introduce the student to influential examples of film criticism that American films from this period have generated. In this way, students will begin to experience the compelling relationship between history, context and a film’s detail.
Introduction to European and World CinemasThis course will serve as an introduction to a variety of national cinemas from around the world. This course also examines the relationship between nations and the cinemas that they produce, or through which their national identities, societies and cultures are projected. This course then extends into the second year of the degree and here students will be given the opportunity for a more detailed consideration of some of the issues raised.
Film Theory and Criticism I and IIThis course will begin by studying the evolution of film as a visual language with its own specific codes and conventions. In the second year students will build upon the issues raised by Film Theory and Criticism I and further strengthen their engagement with the subject by examining the various approaches to reading, understanding and evaluating films that have developed over the course of film history.
National cinemas studied may include: Irish cinemaThis course reads the evolution of Irish national cinema production and the representation of Ireland on screen as a paradigm for the development of a minor cinema within an international framework.
British cinemaBritish cinema has undergone extensive re-evaluation in recent years and this course aims to continue this process by encouraging fresh discussion of films taken from across the entire history of this national cinema.
French cinemaBy putting French cinema into different cultural, historical and political contexts, this course will explore the development of that national cinema through a number of creative movements.
Japanese cinemaThis course will explore developments in Japanese cinema from 1945 onwards. The course will examine contributions made by individual directors, developments in the film industry and the broader questions that these contributions and developments have generated.
In the final two years of the degree students can choose from the wide range of optional courses available to them in Film Studies and the School of Drama. In addition, students are introduced to the principles of script-writing and digital video production. This allows students to become familiar with the practical issues involved in film production, including writing a script and producing short videos. This demonstrates how ideas are converted from page to screen. Film Studies courses for the final two years may include:
The Horror Film: Traditions and TendenciesFrom the early expressions of cinematic horror to the recent developments in Asian cinema, this course will consider the history of one of the medium's most enduring genres.
Hollywood CinemaThis course will examine the forces and influences that shaped the Hollywood film industry since the late 1960s.
Cinema GenresThis course will evaluate the developing conventions of the crime, conspiracy and corruption genres in mainstream American cinema within given historical periods. It will then reconsider comic alternatives from the same moments by looking at genre re-negotiation and parody.
Film Studies can be combined with one of the following subjects for the BA degree:
Biblical and Theological Studies, Drama Studies, English Literature, French, Germanic Studies, Italian, Modern Irish, Russian or Spanish & Portuguese. 
