FT3ADV: Advanced Film/TV Project

Module code: FT3ADV

Module provider: Film, Theatre and TV; School of Arts and Comm Design

Credits: 40

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Mr James Kenward-Abdollahyan, email: j.kenward-abdollahyan@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE FT2CSP OR TAKE FT2CSPSA (Compulsory)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded: IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE FT3DISS OR TAKE FT3ATMP OR TAKE FT3CRP (Compulsory)

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 27 June 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

In this major creative project, you will collaborate in groups to produce a piece of film or television work, building upon your understanding of film and/or television theory and practice in earlier parts of the degree. From pre- to post-production, each group will devise, produce and deliver the screen work alongside supervision, culminating in screenings at the end of year festival.  

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate the ability to collaboratively plan a coherent practical project in film or television which draws convincingly on critical and theoretical debates and practices encountered elsewhere on the course;  
2. Articulate a clear set of aims, expressed both in terms of creative and critical objectives;  
3. Demonstrate levels of technical skill and achievement appropriate to their project, including the delegation of tasks and briefing of crew member;  
4. Realise a practical project that is internally coherent, systematic and imaginative in its decision making and that is informed by an appropriate critical and conceptual agenda; 
5. Evaluate their project self-critically, analysing both local and systemic levels of decision making undertaken by them and their group members, in the light both of independent reading and research and selected examples of practice;  
6. Establish how their project is guided by professional and industry contexts through the realisation of their project and its overall delivery as an event (in terms of organisational skills related to programming, marketing, technical co-ordination and box-office) within a student-led festival.  

Assessment is based on the outcomes of production and documentation. The processes of production and documentation will encourage a range of other outcomes.  

Module content

Students will work to produce either:   

• a practical film/ video project (short fiction or non-fiction) with accompanying documentation through development blogs  
• a practical television project with accompanying documentation through development blogs  

Students will form filmmaking crews to collaborate on the above projects. Each member of the team must have a role that is creative, involves research, and is an integral critical decision-making role. Written documentation will be completed individually.  

During Semester 1 students will meet regularly with their supervisors, identify the nature of their intended project and under supervision will develop detailed plans (including, as relevant, a storyboard and shooting script) for a project which is appropriate in scale, can be achieved within available resources and is informed by a clear and explicit critical agenda. Students will give a short presentation on their research-in-progress. Satisfactory completion of this phase of work will lead to approval of a production schedule.  

During the Semester 2 students will undertake their shooting and editing on a schedule agreed by the co-ordinator, and completed work will be submitted (and/or presented) by specified dates towards the end of the semester. Supervisors will view rushes during this period to provide formative feedback.   

At the end of Semester 2, the final reflective elements of the documentation will then be submitted and the projects will be screened alongside other FTT department work at the end of year festival. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching is mainly by small-group supervisory tutorial. Larger gatherings with all students will be held to co-ordinate schedules and allocate practical resources, as well as for specialist guidance on particular skills (e.g. editing, colour correction). 

Study hours

At least 32 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Ongoing oral feedback provided by the supervisor throughout the development of the project. 

Reassessment

Additional costs