Modules

• Year 1

  Core Modules

  Introduction to Film Practice (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Film Practice

  Overview

  A 12 week introduction to the fundamental principles of film practice. The course seeks to follow the contours of the film production cycle from development, through pre-production, to production/shooting and post-production/editing. Students acquire, via workshop and studio activity, a range of basic skills appropriate to each stage in the production process.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this modules students will:
  have a critical understanding of the basic language and form of film production\have acquired expertise in a key set of film production skills\become familiar with a range of film production equipment\have developed a familiarity with a range of filmic genres and approaches and their respective conventions.

  Skills

  Instruction will be provided in the following key skill areas:
  basic cinematography\basic editing (Final Cut Pro)\basic scripting, story boarding and mise-en-scene.\basic sound recording techniques (on location)\basic lighting for location

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM1004

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Introduction to Theatre: The Material Stage (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Theatre: The Material Stage

  Overview

  This module is about theatre and performance as live events taking place on the material stage. This module will examine theatre and live performance by drawing on a wide historical and geographical range of theatre practices: from ancient Greece to the contemporary stage; from Ireland to South Africa and Japan. You will explore several key themes concerned with theatre’s role and relation to myth, ritual, conflict, memory, space and the body. Where relevant you will also attend a number of live performance which will be part of the curriculum.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module, you should:
  • be able to interpret and analyse theatre events as a complex matrix of relationships between texts, participants (spectators, performers), spaces, and the material, historical and cultural contexts of their production and reception.
  • be able to identify and interpret the cultural frameworks that surround performance events, and with which these events engage and interact.
  • be able to analyse, evaluate and interpret theatre and performance from a range of critical perspectives using a variety of theoretical frameworks.
  • have developed critical, analytical and written skills through the submission of assignments.
  • have developed essay writing skills and deepened their understanding of how written work is assessed.

  Skills

  Textual analysis; application of theory to practice in theatre-making; essay-writing skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA1001

  Teaching Period

  Full Year

  Duration

  24 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Theatre Now: Contemporary Performance (20 credits)

  ×

  Theatre Now: Contemporary Performance

  Overview

  This module offers Level 1 Students an introduction to major contemporary theatre practices and is intended to dovetail with the students’ work on DRA1001. The course will explore emerging and challenging strands of theory and practice from the early Twentieth Century to present day. Themes include Poststructuralist discourse, Gender and Queer Theory, Installation as Theatre and Hyperreality.
  
  Teaching delivery:
  - asynchronous lectures through powerpoint or voice thread with comment function
  - combination of asynchronous screenings and synchronous screenings, synchronous responses to screenings in live chat or online teams class
  - essay writing tutorials x4 delivered synchronously in weeks 4, 5, 6, 7
  - small group seminars in person, recorded/broadcast for students who cannot be present

  Learning Outcomes

  Describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and events from a range of critical perspectives
  
  Reading the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary sources.
  
  The capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of performative discourse and their effects on representation in the arts, media and public life
  
  Information retrieval skills, involving the ability to gather, sift, synthesise and organise material independently and critically evaluate its significance.

  Skills

  Critical evaluation, Research-led inquiry, Writing Skills, Teamwork

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA1005

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Introduction to Film Studies 1 (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Film Studies 1

  Overview

  The module will introduce students to the principles of film form, narrative, styles and methodologies of film criticism. It will concentrate on American and British cinema and the examples drawn from these two very different cinematic industries will help increase and broaden knowledge of film and cinema, audiences and industries.

  Learning Outcomes

  The objectives of the module are to introduce students to key ideas and approaches in film history and criticism.

  Skills

  Reading, film analysis.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM1001

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Editing for Film and Television (20 credits)

  ×

  Editing for Film and Television

  Overview

  An introduction to the fundamental principles of film editing and critical approaches to montage. The course seeks to give students the necessary core skills to develop both their technical ability in non-linear editing and in tandem their critical approach to theorising film practice. On completion of the module the student will have achieved intermediate competence in digital postproduction techniques and in critical approaches to picture and story editing for film and television. The course provides a springboard for more advanced practical projects in subsequent years. The module seeks to deepen students’ appreciation of the critical context of their work. Students can explore film theory creatively; demonstrating how conceptual language can help them classify and clarify the production workflow and offer a greater understanding on how certain effects/meanings are generated by their practice.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of this module students should be able to:
  
  1. Demonstrate a fluency in the terminology/parlance of film post production and an ability to use a range of specialised communication skills in support of established practices within film and video production
  
  2. Engage critically and practically with approaches to editing/montage and their effect on ‘meaning’.
  
  3. Produce work that demonstrates a strong working knowledge of editing techniques for film and television.
  
  4. Demonstrate the intelligent creation, manipulation and theorisation of the moving image.
  
  5. Work in a flexible, creative and independent environment, showing self-discipline, self-direction, good communication and good team working skills.
  
  6. Demonstrate intermediate knowledge of post production workflows and digital file handling using Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer.
  
  7. Be ready to take Apple certified professional end user exam FCP101 to become an Apple Certified Professional user of Final Cut Pro.

  Skills

  Significant new skills students’ will acquire include:
  
  1. Proficiency at nonlinear film and television editing
  
  2. Intermediate knowledge of codecs, acquisition formats and broadcast delivery
  
  3. A greater understanding of the parlance used for film production
  
  4. Familiarisation with multiplatform delivery of visual content; Web, BlueRay DVD,
  
  5. An enhanced critical understanding of montage and film editing

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM1007

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Optional Modules

  Production Practices (20 credits)

  ×

  Production Practices

  Overview

  Production Practices is a core module designed to provide single-honours Drama students with an appropriate degree of expertise in the use of various technical apparatus necessary to realise the demands of production in live performance and/or recorded media.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module students should:
  
  Have achieved an appropriate degree of expertise in the use of various technical apparatus necessary to realise the demands of production in live performance and/or recorded media;
  Be able to engage creatively and critically with the skills and processes of production, design and rehearsal by which performance is created, and have an ability to select, refine and present these in performance;
  Be able to work creatively and imaginatively in a group and to have developed the creative skills needed for the realisation of practice based work.

  Skills

  Technical skills pertinent to the production of a live performance and/or recorded media.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA1006

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Introduction to Acting for Stage and Screen (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Acting for Stage and Screen

  Overview

  This module will build on performance and production skills in the context of a performance project.

  Learning Outcomes

  To enhance practical theatre skills and further deepen student awareness of the processes of production and techniques of performance.

  Skills

  Application of theory to practice; collaborative skills, critical analysis of performance (self and others).

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA1004

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Introduction to Performing (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Performing

  Overview

  Introduction to practical theatre skills within a theoretical context.

  Learning Outcomes

  To develop practical theatre skills, deepen student awareness of the processes of production and techniques of performance.

  Skills

  Application of theory to practice; collaborative skills, critical analysis of performance (self and others).

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  1

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA1003

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

• Year 2

  Core Modules

  Optional Modules

  Radio Drama (20 credits)

  ×

  Radio Drama

  Overview

  An introduction to the theory and practice of directing, writing and performing for radio and podcasting. Seminars will introduce key theoretical and practical principles linked to selected case studies. Students will apply these skills in their own short radio dramas as writers, script editors, SFX Spot/Foley Operators, directors or actors. We will work closely with students on the Broadcast production degree on the technical aspects of this module. The module is open to students on all drama and Broadcast Production programmes and on the Creative Writing programme in the Seamus Heaney Centre.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module students should:
  Have an understanding of the distinctive demands of acting, writing and directing for radio
  Have a critical appreciation of radio drama as a genre and be familiar with a range of relevant examples

  Skills

  Oral communication, team-working and specialist technical skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2014

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Directing and Design for Stage and Screen (20 credits)

  ×

  Directing and Design for Stage and Screen

  Overview

  An introduction to the theory and practice of directing and stage and costume design for both stage and screen. Seminars will introduce key theoretical and practical principles linked to selected case studies. Student will apply these skills in their own projects which can be within other Semester 2 modules or on an extra-curricular basis (e.g. student films, Players etc.). Student will choose to specialise in either directing or design in either film of theatre for the project part of this module.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module students should:
  Have an understanding of the theoretical principles underpinning the crafts of directing in design for both stage and screen and the distinctions between each
  Be able to critically evaluate their own practice and those of others
  Be familiar with a range of relevant case studies

  Skills

  Oral communication, team-working and specialist directing and/or design skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2013

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Popular Genres (20 credits)

  ×

  Popular Genres

  Overview

  This module presents key theories and concepts in the study and analysis of popular genres in the media. Students will examine a range of factual and fictional genres, interrogating the ways that they have been defined, interpreted and used by producers, broadcasters and distributors, audiences and academics.
  
  This will support students in developing their skills in analysing media productions, as well as when taking genre into consideration for their own practical work in other modules.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completing this module, students should be able to:
  • Identify popular genres
  • Understand and apply the basic concepts of genre analysis
  • Understand key interpretations of popular broadcast genres
  • Assess, interrogate and challenge such interpretations in relation to specific texts and / or groups of texts
  • Analyse broadcast texts through the lens of genre theory

  Skills

  • Textual analysis of audio-visual material.
  • Applying critical concepts to texts.
  • Critiquing critical concepts.
  • Oral communication and argumentation (seminars).
  • Written communication (assessed work).
  • Time management.
  • Independent research.
  • Group work (seminars).

  Coursework

  80%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  20%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  BCP2004

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Broadcast Journalism (20 credits)

  ×

  Broadcast Journalism

  Overview

  This course aims to introduce students to the theories around producing broadcast factual and documentary stories, both for television and radio. It will build on the practical skills students have already acquired and will allow those interested in specialising in factual, documentary and journalism to incorporate factual and documentary values, approaches, story and editorial decision-making into their work at every level. It will examine the differences between styles and genres and commercial and public service broadcasters. It will introduce students to the law and broadcasting codes as they apply to factual and documentary programme making. The practical skills will give students a deeper ability to research, develop, write and create structured and creative factual and documentary stories for TV and radio.

  Learning Outcomes

  At the end of this module students will be able to identify what makes successful factual or documentary content for broadcast and identify a target audience for their piece. They will demonstrate how to write for broadcast, and how to combine a script, sound clips, effects, and/or moving images into their story effectively. They will show a competence in audio and video recording, story for broadcast and project management from concept to final delivery.

  Skills

  Devise, research, write and produce a factual or documentary story for TV or radio.
  
  Includes: Carrying out a broadcast interview; recording with audio or video recording equipment; writing for broadcast; structuring a factual or documentary story for broadcast; audio and or video editing; reflecting on your own work.

  Coursework

  20%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  80%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  BCP2001

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Acting for Musical Theatre (20 credits)

  ×

  Acting for Musical Theatre

  Overview

  This module introduces Level 2 undergraduate students to the distinctive challenges of acting for musical theatre: namely, sustaining a character, sustaining relationships between characters, and sustaining the overall dramatic narrative while singing. Through a combination of studio-based practice, rehearsal, performance and critique, students will learn how the core tasks of dramatic acting can be integrated with vocal technique to produce the unique performance genre of musical theatre, In so doing, students will gain practical knowledge of the history of musical theatre and its formal evolution over time. Key works of musical theatre to be studied will likely include West Side Story (Bernstein/Sondheim, Oklahoma (Rodgers/Hammerstein), Guys and Dolls (Loesser) and She Loves Me (Bock/Harnick).

  Learning Outcomes

  • to acquire knowledge of major types of musical theatre across a range of periods and styles (eg, quasi-operatic, naturalistic)
  • to perform scenes and songs from canonical works in the musical theatre repertoire
  • to enhance skills in performance analysis, peer-to-peer discussion, and self-reflection
  • to enhance skills in research-informed theatrical performance

  Skills

  Collaborative and practical work, leadership, team-building, giving formative feedback to peers, responding appropriately and creatively to formative feedback from peers and module convenor, research and analysis, written communication, oral presentation.

  Coursework

  90%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  10%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2060

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Drama and Mental Health (20 credits)

  ×

  Drama and Mental Health

  Overview

  This module will explore the relationship between Drama and mental health regarding the historical development of both subjects and their interrelationship in contemporary healthcare practice. Students will analyse key theories and practices in Drama by variously engaging with both canonical and contemporary plays that engage with mental health and its vicissitudes. Students will be trained in key aspects of acting that pertain to the on-stage performance of the interior life of characters constructed for performance. Students will have the opportunity to work with staff who engage with mental health in various subject areas across QUB and local health and social care trusts. Students will engage with the intersection between aesthetic performance and professional training in health and social care to gain a unique insight into how dramatic art can impact positively on mental health.

  Learning Outcomes

  In completing this module, students should be able to demonstrate, where appropriate, knowledge and understanding in a range of the following areas:
  
  • critical awareness of research methodologies and methods used to investigate Drama and mental health;
  • a range of key components of performance within Drama to include: ideational sources, body, space, image, sound, text, movement, environment;
  • applications of performance in educational, community and social contexts and pedagogical perspectives as appropriate to Drama education;
  • the use of group processes in the creation of work including working collectively, co-creation and hierarchical and non-hierarchical structures;
  • the interdisciplinary elements of drama and how to apply appropriate knowledge, concepts and skills from other disciplines.

  Skills

  Students will be able to demonstrate the following:
  
  • engaging in performance and production, based on acquisition and understanding of appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills, structures, working methods and research paradigms;
  • describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and events from a range of critical and technical perspectives and using appropriate subject-specific vocabularies;
  • analysing the role which drama may play in contributing to debates on mental health;
  • questioning the ethical implications and appropriateness of performance work to ensure activities are undertaken in safe and supported environments for specific audiences and participants.
  
  Students will have the ability to:
  
  • work in planned and improvisatory ways, to anticipate and accommodate change, ambiguity, creative risk-taking, uncertainty and unfamiliarity;
  • operate and think reflexively, creatively, critically and technically to develop ideas and construct arguments;
  • effectively lead, facilitate, participate, and problem solve within team working contexts;
  • recognise situational and interpersonal factors and how these can be effectively accommodated to facilitate productive working relationships;
  • articulate ideas and communicate information comprehensibly in visual, physical, oral and textual forms;
  • critically use information retrieval skills, involving the ability to gather, sift, manipulate, synthesise, evaluate and organise material.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2064

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Adaptation as Interdisciplinary Practice (20 credits)

  ×

  Adaptation as Interdisciplinary Practice

  Overview

  This module asks students to examine the process and challenges of adapting works, either within the same medium in a different time or place, or between different media, with staff from across the school collaborating to offer students an understanding of how different media work, and how the differences between those media impact the process of adaptation. The class will also examine how adaptation plays an integral role in the process of translation. Each week students will examine several versions of a play, novel, and/or film script (or watch them), looking at originals from the Greeks forward to see how adaptors have grappled with great works of different eras and cultures in an attempt to make them more accessible to contemporary audiences, while at the same time (in most cases) attempting to preserve something of their original context. The class will also look at theoretical models of adaptation. Ultimately, students will be asked to examine the adaptation history of a single original work in an academic essay, and will try their own hand at adaptation in presenting a treatment for a work of fiction, drama, film, or any other form, adapted from a prior work.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module, you should:
  
  Understand the history of adaptation in drama and other forms.
  Be able to analyse translations and adaptations
  Be able to identify the rationale behind what is altered and what is kept.
  Become adapters on their own.

  Skills

  Research and analytical skills
  Performance skills
  Communication and speech
  Interacting with others (both in interactions between performer and director, as well as performer and audience)
  Technical proficiency

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  AEL2002

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Gender, Culture, and Representation – Backwards & in Heels (20 credits)

  ×

  Gender, Culture, and Representation – Backwards & in Heels

  Overview

  This interdisciplinary module introduces students to the central ideas of gender theory and to a wide variety of representations of gender across a range of media, including theatre, performance, literature, visual art, film and television. Using key texts and cultural works students are encouraged to examine critically the representation of gender across media, and the political, legal, and ethical dimensions of gender within our culture. The module involves a critical engagement with the relationship between identity, representation and culture and explores theories concerning the social construction of the masculine and feminine body. The module engages with several key issues, including the representation of femininity and masculinity, gender in the literary and theatrical canon of Western culture, the spatiality and temporality of gender, and its intersections with issues of race/ethnicity, class, and labour. Students will be asked to think about these issues and ideas across disciplines but also within their areas of study through seminars.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module, you should:
  
  * have engaged with a variety of representations of gender, the body and sexual identities within socio-historical, theoretical and representational frameworks and across multiple forms of media,
  
  * have cultivated an understanding of the theoretical and practical movements that have shaped the construction and representation of gender, sexuality and the body in culture,
  
  * have developed a critical understanding of the relationship between representation and identity.

  Skills

  Having completed this module, you should:
  
  * have developed reflexive thinking and independent critical and analytical skills.
  
  * have developed imaginative and communicative skills based on the application of reading materials to class presentations
  
  * have developed research and writing skills

  Coursework

  60%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  40%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  AEL2001

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Dramaturgy (20 credits)

  ×

  Dramaturgy

  Overview

  This module – delivered in conjunction with the Lyric Theatre’s new writing programme - introduces students to the concept of dramaturgy as a critical tool in interrogating the connection between the playtext and performance. With the input and insight of professional dramaturgs, this module will explore the historical development of dramaturgy alongside the critical role of the dramaturg in the contemporary theatre. This module will involve play/performance analysis of a diverse range of theatre forms, genres, and practices and will explore both canonical and contemporary artists, including the work produced under the Lyric Theatre’s new writing programme. Students will consider the dramaturgical process of selection, construction and framing in relation to the work produced by the Lyric’s annual showcase of new work, as well as a dramaturgical analysis of select live performances. Students will also create a range of short projects using writing, research, art, with the option of devising a live short performance as part of a diverse portfolio of assessment. Completion of this module will be required for all students who wish to submit a creative writing dissertation for DRA3025 Dissertation in the form of a playscript.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of this module students will be able to:
  
  - Engage with the contested and problematic term ‘dramaturgy’ and understand the role of the dramaturg in the devising/new writing process;
  
  - Demonstrate a critical and creative understanding of dramatic structure and style, including non-realistic performance (post-dramatic theatre, puppetry, dance etc.)
  
  - Use dramaturgical tools of play analysis and creative research to interrogate playtexts as well as the process and performance of live theatre;
  
  - Conduct background research (written/visual) on the world of the play or performance text;
  
  - Demonstrate an understanding of the principles and practices of dramaturgy as they relate to plays from other cultures.
  
  - Think differently about theatre – how it is made and its relationship to wider culture and society.

  Skills

  By the end of this module students will have:
  
  - Enhanced their ability to work independently and interpersonally by creatively researching and critically reflecting on the process of developing work from page to stage;
  
  - Developed their analytical, research, and practical skills;
  
  - Developed their collective, individual, and interdisciplinary modes of working;
  
  - Enhanced their potential to make theatre and to become reflective theatre practitioners.

  Coursework

  10%

  Examination

  90%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2068

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  International Theatre Collaboration (20 credits)

  ×

  International Theatre Collaboration

  Overview

  This module is a collaboration between Drama at Queen’s and several international universities (currently the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and National Universities Ireland-Galway) where students will be taught in person by Queen’s staff and digitally by staff at the partner universities. The module will present students with key concerns currently facing theatre makers around the world and different ways of responding to those issues. The module will draw upon the expertise of a broad range of staff across the partners to allow students to see the issues facing the field from all possible angles. The module will also give students the opportunity to interact and collaborate with students from the partner universities on presentations and potentially performances.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module, you should:
  
  Be able to collaborate with colleagues over long distances using online tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
  
  Understand some of the key issues facing theatre makers across the world today.
  
  Be able to cogently present issues facing local artists to an international group of students.

  Skills

  Research and analytical skills
  
  Performance skills
  
  Communication and speech
  
  Interacting with others (both in interactions between performer and director, as well as performer and audience)
  
  Technical proficiency

  Coursework

  70%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  30%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2065

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Non-Fiction Film Practice (20 credits)

  ×

  Non-Fiction Film Practice

  Overview

  Students will explore documentary methods and structures though practical exercises, film analyses, and film production so as to develop a systematic knowledge of production within the non-fiction genre. They will engage in analysis of selected documentary practices and outputs and gain a comprehensive overview of key concepts in non-fiction production, in particular narrative, address, point of view, and montage through discussion and making. Advanced skills in research, planning, scripting, shooting and editing will be applied to self-initiated projects.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module students should:
  
  • understand practices of non-fiction film production in relation to their social, cultural, economic, political and technological contexts;
  
  • reflect critically on the uses of relevant production techniques in the use of image and sound in non-fiction film production;
  
  • employ models of analysis in order to consider, discuss, and evaluate contemporary documentary films and their significance
  
  learn new production skills and apply these in group collaboration.

  Skills

  Research and analytical skills in creative practice
  
  Communication and presentation
  
  Combining methodologies from film practice with its institutional, intellectual, and societal contexts

  Coursework

  40%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  60%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2028

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  Yes

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Acting Shakespeare (20 credits)

  ×

  Acting Shakespeare

  Overview

  This module focuses on Shakespearean drama as a theatrical script: that is, words intended to be spoken in performance before an audience and not as dramatic poetry to be read or studied as such. In both its workshop format and its critical writing assignment, this module is centred on Shakespeare in performance.

  Learning Outcomes

  Learning outcomes for this module include: knowledge of the key components of Shakespearean performance and the processes by which it is created and realised; an understanding of how to read Shakespearean texts and how transitions from page to stage may be effected; the ability to contribute to the creation of Shakespearean performance through an understanding of appropriate performance vocabularies, techniques, crafts, structures and working methods; the ability to engage in appropriate independent research, whether investigating past or present Shakespearean performances or as part of the process of creating new performance.

  Skills

  To aid closer reading of both text and performance; to aid interpretive abilities; to encourage creative interpretations in the student; to aid directorial and performance abilities.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2022

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Documentary Film Studies (20 credits)

  ×

  Documentary Film Studies

  Overview

  The module examines key critical issues in so-called “non-fiction” filmmaking. Many major filmmakers, periods and movements which have come to constitute the documentary tradition as we know it today will be identified, and discussed, examining how the formation of the various modes of documentary filmmaking are partly historical but more importantly, conceptual. In particular, the module will interrogate the commonplace notion of documentary as a specific kind of film preoccupied with truth and social reality. And yet, every representation has within it elements of the subjective, the fantastic, the unconscious and the imaginary just as every fiction has elements of the document within it. The module will study films that play at the border of fiction and non-fiction rather than assume a distinct category like ‘documentary’ to be elaborated.

  Learning Outcomes

  1. Advanced skills in the critical analysis of documentary forms, genres and contexts
  2. An understanding of critical approaches to the study of documentary film, particularly in relation to the role of documentary in other artistic practices;
  3. An understanding of the interplay between notions of fiction and documentary;
  4. An understanding of the visual, audio and verbal conventions through which images, sounds and words make meaning;
  5. Advanced skills in written, oral and visual communication.

  Skills

  Organising and synthesising of a range of formal and historical materials

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2012

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  The Art of the Actor (20 credits)

  ×

  The Art of the Actor

  Overview

  This module aims to build on foundational skills developed at Level 1, placing these within the wider context of performance and theatre production. Lectures and workshops will be themed around a menu of key skill areas and students will select from these according to their specialist interests. The module will provide an understanding of the evolution of the philosophy and practice of actor training in terms of the cardinal figures in the field.

  Learning Outcomes

  During the course of this module you will develop an understanding of the theory and practice of selected modern acting techniques and an overview of approaches to acting from Stanislavsky and Meisner. You will also explore a practical interaction with another actor in performance.

  Skills

  You should have developed your teamworking, communication and problem-solving skills to a high level.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2003

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Introduction to Screenwriting (20 credits)

  ×

  Introduction to Screenwriting

  Overview

  The module provides a 12 week introduction to screenwriting. Students will develop original or adapted screen ideas through participation in a series of workshops which involve input from industry professionals. In these they become familiar with a range of screen writing approaches and work on an individual writing project from initial concept and research via the drafting of prose treatments and the delivery of verbal pitches to producing a draft script. Students will be offered a thorough grounding in narrative concerns within film and will explore a range of techniques for developing character and dialogue. Writing for experimental and documentary forms will also be discussed.

  Learning Outcomes

  The module culminates with each student producing a short film screenplay as well as presenting workshop exercises for assessment.

  Skills

  By the end of the module students should have a good grasp of script formats and to have developed their presentational skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2019

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Devising Theatre (20 credits)

  ×

  Devising Theatre

  Overview

  Practical theatre skills; lighting design; scenic design; movement.

  Learning Outcomes

  To build upon practical skills developed at Stage 1; to deepen students' awareness of the processes of production and techniques of performance.

  Skills

  Application of theory to practice; collaborative skills; critical analysis of performance (self and others).

  Coursework

  60%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  40%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2005

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  World Cinema (20 credits)

  ×

  World Cinema

  Overview

  This module will introduce and explore a number of films drawn from a range of global production contexts, in particular those outside of Europe and North America. Students will consider films in relation to theoretical issues of national identity, ethnicity, globalisation and hybridity, alongside more pragmatic issues of production, distribution and exhibition. Films studied may include examples from Brazil, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Senegal, Algeria, and Israel/Palestine.

  Learning Outcomes

  Upon successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate:
  
  1) a broad knowledge of a range of film production contexts outside of Europe and North America
  
  2) an understanding of the various critical and theoretical approaches to world cinema/s
  
  3) an understanding of the relationships between cinema, identity, and globalisation
  
  4) the ability to analyse and evaluate films produced outside of Europe and North America

  Skills

  1) Critical thinking skills
  
  2) Analytical skills
  
  3) Skills of rhetoric and argumentation
  
  4) Presentation skills
  
  5) Written, verbal, and visual communication skills

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2013

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  British Cinema: Nation, Identity and Industry (20 credits)

  ×

  British Cinema: Nation, Identity and Industry

  Overview

  This module will introduce a number of British films from a range of different historical periods. Students will consider films in relation to theoretical issues of national identity, representation, class and gender and will also explore British film culture to examine issues of production, film funding, censorship and reception.
  
  Films studied may include well-known examples from British cinema such as Passport to Pimlico (Cornelius, 1949), Room with a View (Ivory, 1985), or Elizabeth (Kapur, 1998) but will also consider a range of less well-studied texts to explore the breadth and range of ‘national cinema.’ One of the key objectives of the module will be to use film examples to address complex issues relating to national identity, shared history and popular taste. It will also consider how film can be a useful vehicle for understanding and addressing such issues.

  Learning Outcomes

  Upon successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate:
  
  1) an understanding of the film culture of Britain and a knowledge of British film production and reception
  
  2) an understanding of the various critical and theoretical approaches to British cinema
  
  3) an understanding of the relationships between cinema, history and national identity
  
  4) the ability to analyse and evaluate films produced within Britain

  Skills

  1) Critical thinking skills
  
  2) Analytical skills
  
  3) Skills of rhetoric and argument
  
  4) Presentation skills
  
  5) Written, verbal, and visual communication skills

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2026

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Educational Drama (20 credits)

  ×

  Educational Drama

  Overview

  This is a skills based course, which looks at how theatre and drama techniques may be used in an educational setting as both an aesthetic encounter and a learning tool. In experiencing the key techniques of the practice, students will also examine its history as a form and the theoretical principles on which it is based. Students will work in groups to devise and deliver a drama workshop in a real school setting targeted at Primary, Key Stage 3 or GCSE Levels.

  Learning Outcomes

  Students will acquire an understanding of the practice of theatre-in-education in a national and international context
  Students will acquire a basic competency in the practices and techniques of theatre-in-education
  Students will acquire an understanding of the history and techniques of process drama.
  Students will acquire a basic competency in some of the techniques used in process drama

  Skills

  Drama Workshop Skills

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA2007

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Principles of Business in Arts, Cultural and Creative Industries (20 credits)

  ×

  Principles of Business in Arts, Cultural and Creative Industries

  Overview

  This course is designed for Stage 2 students in all Creative Arts disciplines (Drama, Film & Broadcast, Music & Sonic Arts) to introduce and explore key elements in the ‘business’ of creative work: the planning, management and delivery of cultural and creative projects, events and/or activities. As part of an interdisciplinary class and with elements of independent group work throughout, students will share their knowledge from their own programmes and gain new insights to the crossover of skills and opportunities and the benefits of multidisciplinary teams.
  
  The course runs in two parts. The first half of the course will introduce students to the unique planning and delivery challenges of cultural and creative work with students’ active engagement in observing or putting the theory into real-life practice. In the second half, students will work through one of two options (subject to availability): to work in teams to enhance, deliver and evaluate a programmed event or activity with a cultural business; or to undertake independent field research in the development of an event or activity proposal for a cultural business.
  
  Assessment will be principally based on reflexive journaling and some practical assessment of their participation (the production of a short-form report or plan).
  
  Part 1 will be delivered mainly through classroom lectures, seminars and discussions on the different functions of management and planning in the arts, cultural and creative industries.
  
  Part 2
  Subject to availability in any given year, students will choose one of two strands for Part 2 of the programme. Activities offered in these strands each year will be selected in discussion between Subject Leads of Creative Arts and relevant staff in creative centres on campus, enabling students to access contemporary events and knowledge relevant to their studies.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:
  1. Recognise common features and approaches to planning and delivery of arts, cultural and creative activities, events or projects
  2. Express improved understanding of the industry context of their chosen discipline, recognising influences, norms and constraints on creative and cultural business
  3. Articulate how increased understanding of creative business might influence their own creative or industry practice, their future study and professional development.
  4. Understand the collaborative and team-based nature of arts, cultural and creative industries planning and delivery.

  Skills

  The completion of this course will support the following skills:
  • Reflective & reflexive thinking
  • Evaluation and observation
  • Report and/or proposal writing
  • Practical skills in event/project management/planning
  • Teamwork and collaborative working

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  SCA2002

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Experimental Practice (20 credits)

  ×

  Experimental Practice

  Overview

  This is a level 2 module exploring creative practice in experimental and alternative forms of film. We will focus on a particular form or forms of experimental filmmaking which may include: the autobiographical or portrait film; the city symphony; and/or the essay film.
  
  The class will help students to produce alternative, personal work that, by demonstating a personal voice or style, will prove a valuable addition to their portfolios. Students will gain skills in cinematography, sound design, and editing.
  
  The class will focus on originating and refining project ideas, developing structure, and creating visual and audio aesthetics for films in these modes, along with exploring critical concepts through creative practice. This will be supported by appropriate technical instruction and some critical-historical exploration of the experimental forms explored.
  
  It is advantageous for students to take FLM2015 Cinema and Modernism, and/or FLM2012 Documentary Film Studies prior to or alongside this class.

  Learning Outcomes

  On successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate:
  1. An increased ability to design creative practice to explore critical concepts.
  2. An increased ability to conceive and control concept, structure and visual/ aural stylistics in alternative production.
  3. A heightened awareness of their own personal approaches, themes, and production style in creative practice.
  4. A critical and historical understanding of the alternative forms of practice featured in the class, including some key figures and concepts involved in each.
  5. An increased understanding of and dexterity with production tools including cameras and editing software.

  Skills

  1. Analytical skills are developed during project development, production, editing, and evaluation. Students must assess the sophistication and coherence of their creative ideas in all of these stages and find appropriate ways to develop them in light of this.
  2. Critical thinking skills are developed through the design of production work to explore or interrogate critical concepts.
  3. Skills of rhetoric and argumentation are developed through the proposal and evaluation, and non-assessed presentations.
  4. Oral communication skills are developed through production process and in the non-assessed presentation
  5. Technical skills in the use of cameras and editing software are developed during the production process and in training workshops
  6. Organisation skills and problem-solving abilities are developed during planning and production periods.

  Coursework

  40%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  60%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2027

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Film and Sound: History and Theory (20 credits)

  ×

  Film and Sound: History and Theory

  Overview

  This module will explore the relationships between film and sound, examining how the aesthetic, historical and cultural significance of film sound practices have been understood in the context of evolving technologies.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of the of module, students should be able to demonstrate:
  1) The ability to undertake the close critical analysis of sound in film.
  2) The ability to link sound practice to sound theory.
  3) An understanding of the ways in which sound technology affects film aesthetics.
  4) An awareness of the social and cultural significance of sound in film.

  Skills

  1) Critical thinking skills
  2) Analytical skills
  3) Skills of rhetoric and argumentation
  4) Presentation skills
  5) Written, verbal, and visual communication skills

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  2

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM2014

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

• Year 3

  Core Modules

  Optional Modules

  Work-based Learning (20 credits)

  ×

  Work-based Learning

  Overview

  This module provides an opportunity for student to utilise disciplinary skills in a work-based environment within the context of reflective practice. Students will negotiate suitable placements in consultation with their academic supervisor and participate in a programme of related classes and events. Simulated work-based projects in which students work in groups with the support of the university’s Enterprise Unit in the Students’ Union are also possible.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this module, students should have:
  Increased ability to relate academic theory to the work environment
  A developed understanding of the organisational culture, policies and processes
  The ability to reflexively and critically evaluate their own learning from the placement
  An appreciation of enterprise and innnovation
  Enhanced career knowledge

  Skills

  Employability skills, including effective communication, teamworking and problem-solving.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  AEL3001

  Teaching Period

  Full Year

  Duration

  24 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Gender and Media (20 credits)

  ×

  Gender and Media

  Overview

  The module aims to introduce students to exploring broadcasting through the lens of gender. Students will analyse the representation of women and women’s lives in fiction, and the extent to which women are represented in factual programming; they will examine the roles women play in the media industries and to what extent women are involved in producing television; and they will analyse how broadcasting serves women. The practical element of the assignment, and practical presentation exercises throughout the module will also allow participants to develop presentation and debating skills.

  Learning Outcomes

  At the end of this module students will be familiar with the issues around the roles women play in the broadcasting industries, the research on inequalities and the campaigns to address those inequalities; they will be able to recognise and analyse gendered programming; they will be able to apply theories around broadcasting and gender to programming examples and deconstruct them; in addition, they will be able to evaluate their own work, and how it can challenge the broadcasting landscape.

  Skills

  Analysis and critical thinking; analysing broadcasting; understanding theories around gender; broadcasting presentation skills; structuring an argument for presentation.

  Coursework

  90%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  10%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  BCP3004

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  The Theatre of Brian Friel (20 credits)

  ×

  The Theatre of Brian Friel

  Overview

  Brian Friel was the most acclaimed playwright from Northern Ireland and one of the most internationally acclaimed playwrights of his generation. Students taking this module will learn how Friel wrote plays that proved to be popular with audiences around the world and gained such approval from leading critics and scholars. In addition, students will gain an understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community and social contexts. Students may also have the opportunity to engage with local hard-to-reach communities with Friel’s work to help them develop personal, social and interactive skills.

  Learning Outcomes

  • Understanding historical, contemporary and international contexts of production, circulation and reception of Friel's plays.
  • Developing ideas and constructing arguments on Friel's plays and the capacity to present them in appropriate ways.
  • Understanding the public and community nature of performance practice, with particular emphasis on collaborative learning and heuristic principles, on 'learning through doing' in group contexts in relation to Friel’s plays and related paratheatrical material
  • Understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community and social contexts and pedagogical perspectives as appropriate to drama
  • Understanding of the use of group processes in the creation of work including, for example, working collectively, ensemble, co-creation and hierarchical and non-hierarchical structures
  • Questioning the ethical implications and appropriateness of performance work to ensure activities are undertaken in safe and supported environments for specific audiences/participants.

  Skills

  • Describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and performance events from a range of critical perspectives;
  • Reading the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary sources;
  • Realising a script, score and other textual or documentary sources in the engagement with hard-to-reach communities;
  • Planning, facilitating, delivering and evaluating projects that apply drama, participatory and performance subject expertise in social, educational, community and other socially engaged settings
  • Development of creative and imaginative skills as shown through the realisation of practical research projects on Friel's plays.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3010

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Places of Performance (20 credits)

  ×

  Places of Performance

  Overview

  This seminar examines a range of performance sites (traditional and non-traditional, historical and contemporary, permanent and temporary, purpose-built and appropriated, indoor and outdoor, élite and popular) to explore the diverse ways in which the site of a performance can be read for the values it communicates about the social function of performance This seminar investigates how place matters in performance, and how performance engages the environments in which it takes place. Students will explore a range of issues related to performance space, including: theatre buildings and architecture, site-specific or environmental performance, the role of theatre sites within urban environments, and the representation of place in plays. Students will also be introduced to current critical debates about theatre and place, and consider how analysing places of performance might prompt important questions about theatrical geography, politics, and history.

  Learning Outcomes

  Upon completing the module students will have:
  
  • Gained experience critically analysing performance texts (written, visual, and cultural) and performance theory and criticism in an integrated way;
  • Developed analytical categories and a theoretical vocabulary for studying places of performance
  • Worked in an interdisciplinary fashion—including through fieldwork—with concepts and practices crossing both theatre and cultural studies;
  • Gained experience giving oral presentations;
  • Gained experience in conceiving and executing a research project, the latter in written form.

  Skills

  Collaborative work, leadership, giving feedback to peers, historica research and analysis, written communication, oral presentation.

  Coursework

  80%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  20%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3023

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Contemporary Performing Practices (20 credits)

  ×

  Contemporary Performing Practices

  Overview

  This practice-as-research module will provide insight into contemporary performing practices through approaches to movement and text that foreground experimental, improvisatory, body-based work. Students will be encouraged to develop a broader sense of performance in terms of physical and vocal sculpture and non-naturalistic use of performance phenomena. Workshops will introduce students to exercises developed from contemporary performance methodologies (e.g. Bogart and Landau’s Viewpoints), and will also include guest workshops with professional theatre and dance practitioners working in Belfast. The workshops will prepare students for the creation of their own, studio-based, group performance.
  This module examines contemporary performing practices from both a practical and theoretical perspective. In seminars, students will engage in a consideration of bodily realities (corporealities) through the lens of performance practices such as physical theatre, contemporary dance, and performance art. The module provides students with the opportunity to interweave philosophical and practical research through an interrogation of theories of subjectivity/identity and embodiment in relation to the moving body in performance.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this module students should have developed:
  - an experiential and theoretical awareness of some contemporary performing techniques
  - an awareness of some key theatre and movement practitioners and their methodologies for performer training
  - the ability to present practice research in the form of performance, and both oral and written presentation
  - the ability to work creatively and imaginatively in a group

  Skills

  - an awareness of the creative skills necessary for the realisation of studio-based work that interweaves research and practice
  - skills of observation and the ability to critically evaluate their own and others’ practice
  - visual, aural and spatial awareness

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Media and Time (20 credits)

  ×

  Media and Time

  Overview

  The media are time-based; they have a narrative flow from line to line and scene to scene and episode to episode, with each programme fitting into the wider flow of its schedule or platform, and into the wider schedule of the audience’s day and life. The media are also key mechanisms for communicating ideas and information about history and about potential futures, through fact and fiction. This module explores the ways that the media engage with time, drawing mainly on television and film. This will include the presentation of history and possible futures through both fact and fiction, including consideration of the political and cultural role of history and historical drama. It will include engagement with key concepts such as heritage drama, nostalgia and authenticity. It will also include consideration of the temporal nature of the media themselves, such as in their narrative construction and scheduling, and how that plays into the lives of the audience.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of this module, students should be able to:
  
  Analyse media texts in relation to key ideas relating to time, history, memory and nostalgia;
  
  Analyse the social and cultural role of history as related through the media;
  
  Analyse media narratives in relation to their temporal construction.

  Skills

  Students will practice and develop core academic skills of research, analysis and communication through class work, independent research and assessed work.
  
  Analysis and interpretation of media texts in relation to specific theoretical concepts.
  
  Understanding of the social and cultural significance of the representation of history and potential futures in the media.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  BCP3003

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Participatory performance practices (20 credits)

  ×

  Participatory performance practices

  Overview

  This practice-as-research module will introduce students to the different methods employed by contemporary theatre makers to position the audience as participants in performance. The module provides students with the opportunity to explore the political effects of audience participation, and to examine audience relationship and the use of space, including non-traditional performance spaces.
  
  Examples of methods that will be explored include: site-specific work, audio performance/tours, artivism, digital dances. Consideration will be given to how these participatory methods move us individually, but also socially and collectively.
  In weekly workshops and seminars students will explore these practices through discussion and practical experimentation. Seminar discussions will explore relevant critical and theoretical texts, and consider socio-political, cultural and historical contexts. Workshop group exercises will introduce students to the methodologies of key practitioners and will prepare students for the creation of their own studio-based participatory performance. Workshop discussions will connect relevant critical and theoretical texts to practice and will consider developments in participatory theatre within their socio-political and historical contexts.
  
  In one session, there will be a guest lecture/ workshop by a Northern Ireland-based practitioner.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this module students should have developed:
  
  - an experiential and theoretical comprehension of participatory methodologies
  
  - an awareness of key practitioners that engage with participatory methodologies and the cultural and historical contexts of their work
  
  - the ability to present research in the form of devised participatory performance and both oral and written presentation - the ability to work creatively and imaginatively in a group

  Skills

  - the ability to present research in the form of devised participatory performance and both oral and written presentation
  
  - the ability to work creatively and imaginatively in a group
  
  - the creative skills necessary for the realisation of studio-based work that interweaves theory and practice
  
  - skills of observation and the ability to critically evaluate their own and others’ practice
  
  - visual, aural and spatial awareness

  Coursework

  90%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  10%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3067

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  International Theatre Collaboration (20 credits)

  ×

  International Theatre Collaboration

  Overview

  This module is a collaboration between Drama at Queen’s and several international universities (currently the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and National Universities Ireland-Galway) where students will be taught in person by Queen’s staff and digitally by staff at the partner universities. The module will present students with key concerns currently facing theatre makers around the world and different ways of responding to those issues. The module will draw upon the expertise of a broad range of staff across the partners to allow students to see the issues facing the field from all possible angles. The module will also give students the opportunity to interact and collaborate with students from the partner universities on presentations and potentially performances.
  
  The Level 3 version of the module will be taught in lectures alongside Level 2 students, but Level 3 students will attend separate seminars with more advanced students at the partner institutions. In addition, Level 3 students will have different essay questions and will write a longer essay (3000 words vs 2500), and will have a different prompt for the presentation/performance.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module, you should:
  
  Be able to collaborate with colleagues over long distances using online tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
  Understand some of the key issues facing theatre makers across the world today.
  Be able to cogently present issues facing local artists to an international group of students.

  Skills

  Research and analytical skills
  Performance skills
  Communication and speech
  Interacting with others (both in interactions between performer and director, as well as performer and audience)
  Technical proficiency

  Coursework

  70%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  30%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3066

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Cinema, Realism, and Modernism (20 credits)

  ×

  Cinema, Realism, and Modernism

  Overview

  This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the historical and formal relations between cinema, realism and the culture of modernism in the twentieth century, with reference to both the history of cinema and its creative interactions with other arts (painting, music, literature, architecture). The module will interrogate categories such as ‘realism’, ‘modernism’, ‘modernist cinema’, ‘avant-garde film’, and assess the intellectual relevance and institutional function of such categories and interpretative structures. Although the issues and films selected relate primarily to European cinema, the module will also examine some work by experimental filmmakers in the US.
  
  The module will consolidate work covered in FLM2012, and FLM2027, and providing relevant knowledge and skills for the study of FLM3019, and FLM3007.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of the module students should be able to:
  
  1. demonstrate skills in the critical analysis of the modernist forms and structures with particular reference to film and visual culture;
  
  2. develop an understanding of the relationship between film-making and wider intellectual and cultural contexts;
  
  3. display an understanding of critical approaches to the relations between European and US cinema;
  
  4. develop an understanding of the visual, audio and verbal conventions through which images, sounds and words make meaning;
  
  5. develop skills in written, oral and visual communication.

  Skills

  By the end of the module students will have developed skills in:
  
  * Critical thinking
  * Analysis
  * Research
  * Written and oral presentation

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3034

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  British Film: Mainstream and Fringe (20 credits)

  ×

  British Film: Mainstream and Fringe

  Overview

  This course will explore British film and cinema by focusing on regional, marginal and minority cinemas of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As well as examining the visual culture of British and Northern Irish cinema, this module will also examine the industrial contexts and aesthetic strategies of the UK’s regional cinemas. It will engage with such issues as the relationship between national, transnational and regional cultural identities; the representation of and engagement with ethnic minorities and immigrants; and the emergence of alternative ‘regional’ identities among disenfranchised populations.
  
  The module will also explore audience reception, looking at how the national and regional contexts influence popular and critical judgments, as well as at the formal and thematic elements of the films which guide viewer response.
  
  Films studied may include I Know Where I’m Going (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1945), Blue Scar (Jill Craigie, 1949), A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961), Above Us the Earth (Karl Francis, 1977), Local Hero (Bill Forsyth, 1983), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989), Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992), Brassed Off (Mark Herman, 1996), Divorcing Jack (David Caffrey, 1997), Orphans (Peter Mullan, 1998), Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002), In This World (Michael Winterbottom, 2002), Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008).

  Learning Outcomes

  • To demonstrate advanced skills in the critical analysis of various aspects of film culture
  • To explore notions of film and cinema and how these link to cultural and social change
  • To plan and conduct an original research project which engages with the topics covered on this module and to present written work of a high quality
  • To demonstrate enhanced generic skills in written and oral communication, the process of research, the organisation of material, and the presentation of informed critical arguments that relate to relevant issues and debates.

  Skills

  - skills of analysis and critical engagement
  - advanced level research skills
  - ability to explore conceptual debates
  - specific knowledge of the processes of censorship and regulation

  Coursework

  90%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  10%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3032

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Dance Theatre (20 credits)

  ×

  Dance Theatre

  Overview

  This course serves as an introduction to dance theatre practice and related dance theory. In weekly workshops and seminars, students will engage in an interrogation of this interdisciplinary art form through discussion and practical experimentation. Workshops will introduce students to the choreographic methods of key practitioners and will prepare students for the creation of their own dance theatre performance project. In support of the practical workshops, seminar discussions will explore relevant critical and theoretical texts and will consider developments in dance theatre practice within a socio-political and historical context. No previous dance training or experience is required.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of this module students will have:
  - an understanding of the history of dance theatre in Ireland and Germany
  - the ability to describe, theorise, interpret and evaluate the work of key dance theatre practictioners from a range of critical perspectives
  - the ability to create original work using the skills and crafts of a choreographer
  - the ability to engage with physical skills and use them effectively to communicate with an audience.

  Skills

  - The ability to present research in the form of dance theatre performance and both oral and written presentation.
  - The ability to work creatively and imaginatively in a group and have developed the
  creative skills needed for the realisation of practice-based work.
  - Have developed observational skills and visual, aural and spatial awareness.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3060

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Postconflict Drama: Performing the NI Peace Process (20 credits)

  ×

  Postconflict Drama: Performing the NI Peace Process

  Overview

  This module will investigate the role of the arts, and specifically theatre and performance, in contributing to processes of conflict transformation, the politics of reconciliation, and the modes through which a post-conflict society deals with the past. It will examine different approaches various practitioners and performances have adopted in dealing with the legacies of political violence and it considers how theatre/performance is being used to assimilate traumatic history into public memory.

  Learning Outcomes

  On the completion of this module, students will:
  • have a critical understanding of how theatre/performance engages with questions of memory, history, testimony, witnessing, conflict transformation, commemoration and politics of reconciliation.
  • be able to evaluate how contemporary theatre/performance is responding to – and influencing – the post-conflict experiences of Belfast and beyond.
  • Be able to identify and evaluate different dramaturgical strategies employed by playwrights to deal with the past and the violent legacies of the Troubles.
  • Have improved their critical and intellectual understanding of the relationships between theatre, politics and performance;
  • Have improved their oral communication, time-management and essay writing skills through the submission of an essay abstract and the provision of formative feedback by peers & tutor.

  Skills

  Reflexive and independent thinking; awareness of interdisciplinary approaches to study. Writing of essays, seminar papers, presentations, use of library bibliographies and databases.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3042

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Dissertation (20 credits)

  ×

  Dissertation

  Overview

  A dissertation to enable students to pursue a topic in depth and show their understanding of the area in general.

  Learning Outcomes

  Knowledge and understanding of a specialised area of study\n\nability to analyse and compare films and film sequences\n\nability to engage in independent research.

  Skills

  Skills in visual analysis, writing and scholarly presentation. Project planning and general communication skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3010

  Teaching Period

  Full Year

  Duration

  24 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Dissertation (20 credits)

  ×

  Dissertation

  Overview

  General introductory seminars and individual tutorials leading to a dissertation which may be linked to a performance project or existing performance.
  8000 word length (or combination of practical output + 6000 words)

  Learning Outcomes

  To develop research skills (including performance research).

  Skills

  Research skills.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3025

  Teaching Period

  Full Year

  Duration

  24 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Hollywood Cinema 2 (20 credits)

  ×

  Hollywood Cinema 2

  Overview

  Hollywood Cinema has arguably become the dominant mode of film exhibition, functioning as the yardstick by which other forms of cinema are defined and measured. By overtly considering the spectacularism inherent to Hollywood Cinema in the wake of the Paramount decree of 1948, this module offers a critical overview of its history, production and exhibition processes, aesthetics and key theoretical approaches of contemporary Hollywood Cinema in order to elucidate its spectacular potential. In addition to delineating the notion of spectacle, it explores how cinema has used spectacle since the collapse of the studio system to seduce audiences with the promise of an experience unique to the film theatre.

  Learning Outcomes

  Ability to demonstrate in written and oral form an appropriate level of critical engagement with the institutional history and aesthetic tendencies of post-war American cinema;
  
  Ability to apply appropriate historical understanding and critical approaches in the analysis of specific films and their social and economic contexts
  
  Demonstrate an understanding of how contemporary Hollywood Cinema positions itself as a spectacular form of entertainment.

  Skills

  Skills in the written and oral presentation of analytical study of images, sounds and written word, working in a flexible, creative and independent way, showing self-discipline and organisational competence (time-management, etc.), relating general historical issues and theoretical debates to other related issues and debates.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3019

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Advanced Film Practice 2 (40 credits)

  ×

  Advanced Film Practice 2

  Overview

  Production of final year film piece.

  Learning Outcomes

  On completion of the module the student will have experience of crewing a short documenary film from development through to completion.

  Skills

  On completion of the module the student will have experience of crewing a short fiction or documentary film from development through to completion.

  Coursework

  60%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  40%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  40

  Module Code

  FLM3011

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Film and Music: Theory and Criticism (20 credits)

  ×

  Film and Music: Theory and Criticism

  Overview

  This module considers how music and image interact in film, and the social and cultural aspects of these associations. Students will be introduced to a range of key theories, in particular those surrounding music in classical cinema, and will obtain a precise understanding of the ways in which music ‘works’ in film, achieved via the close analysis of a range of filmic texts.
  
  The module also considers ways of discussing film music in non-specialist terms, and as such no formal training in music is required to enrol on this module.

  Learning Outcomes

  Upon successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate:
  
  1) the ability to analyse the associations between music and film in a sophisticated manner
  
  2) a broad understanding of the various critical and theoretical approaches to film music
  
  3) an understanding of scoring practices in film, including how they have developed over time
  
  4) an understanding of the sociological and cultural aspects of film music

  Skills

  1) Critical thinking skills
  
  2) Analytical skills
  
  3) Skills of rhetoric and argumentation
  
  4) Presentation skills
  
  5) Written, verbal, and visual communication skills

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3024

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  The Art of Interaction (20 credits)

  ×

  The Art of Interaction

  Overview

  This module aims to provide an understanding of the complexities involved when people interact in challenging situations involving life-changing decisions. The module is delivered in collaboration with healthcare and social care staff and students in QUB and local NHS services. Students will engage with various models of interaction including acting for the stage, the sociology of symbolic interaction, simulation-based education in healthcare and social care, and applied behaviour analysis. Students will learn how to draw upon these different models as they analyse their own performance and that of their peers in Drama and other subject areas as they perform in complex and challenging interactive scenarios. Students will be able to demonstrate leadership as part of their continuous assessment by analysing and providing feedback on the interactive skills of other students. By completing the learning outcomes students will gain a more nuanced understanding of human interaction as it is manifest on stage in theatrical performance and in other professional contexts.
  
  (Convenor: Dr Paul Murphy, p.murphy@qub.ac.uk)

  Learning Outcomes

  Creative and imaginative skills as shown through the realisation of research projects on theatre and social justice.
  Communication in a variety of oral, written, visual and performance media.
  Developing ideas and constructing arguments and the capacity to present them in appropriate ways.
  Understanding of group dynamics and an ability to implement them in research projects.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3057

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Advanced Theatre Practice (20 credits)

  ×

  Advanced Theatre Practice

  Overview

  To hone student skillsets in one of three distinct strands: Acting, Directing and Production Skills.

  Learning Outcomes

  Having completed this module you should have:
  1. Significant command of fundamental skills in and approaches to acting, directing or production.
  2. An understanding of the rigours and commitment required in mounting a full production.

  Skills

  1. Have a developed command of at least one key production or performance skillset and an understanding of related skillsets.
  2. Have developed your team-working and problem solving skills.
  3. Have developed your capacity for reflective review.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  DRA3005

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Advanced Film Practice 1 (20 credits)

  ×

  Advanced Film Practice 1

  Overview

  An examination of film project development exploring the generation and researching of film ideas from initial concept through to script development and testing of creative approaches.

  Learning Outcomes

  Reading, writing, visual analysis, image/sound/filmmaking, interpersonal skills and experience of new technologies.

  Skills

  On completion of this module students will:
  
  1. Have advanced their interpersonal skills through groupwork
  
  2. Advanced their film production skills including experiencing new technologies
  
  3. Increased their understanding of how film projects develop and the various tasks involved in the pre-production stage
  
  4. Advanced their ability to write a range of key production documents (such as treatments, scripts, talent and location release and ethics forms)

  Coursework

  60%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  40%

  Stage/Level

  3

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  FLM3001

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional