Film & Media Studies

The course offers a detailed study of one or more media genres, such as film noir, science fiction, horror, or the musical. It introduces theories of genre and methods of genre analysis. 

This course examines the relationship between the film and their directors regarding their creativity, aesthetics and influences. It focus on different directors from different eras, origin and countries. The emphasis of the director's effort and beliefs together with their professionalism and techniques will also be discussed.

This course focuses on creation of films that allow experimentation in various stages of filmmaking processes, including the development of various alternate forms of (non) narrative story structures. Students are exposed to a range of conceptual and production strategies in experimental film using key historical and contemporary examples and then put those ideas into practice through exercises and projects to develop their own experimental film practice. Experience and knowledge gained in this module provide a basis for more developed experimental film production, as well as complementing research into this field. By the end of the course, students can conceptualize, film, edit, and present their own short experimental films.

This course introduces narrative and storytelling in the context of visual design. It draws on a range of traditional and contemporary examples, including Māori storytelling practices, and examples from film, animation, digital and physical games, and comics. 

Students complete an internship with a local organization or company. Each placement includes oversight and regular check-ins with an internship supervisor from the company or organization. The Internship Methodology Seminar accompanies the internship placement and offers a platform for reflection, enhancement of skills, and development of cultural competence. It focuses on practical skill application, cultural understanding, and adaptability within professional environments to provide a bridge between academic learning and real-world experience.

This course explores the dynamics of social media as a key element of the current media landscape. It discusses mediation processes between audiences and media content, as well as the changes derived from digitalization.

This course takes a thematic approach to significant historical film movements, with attention to the contexts in which they operate and the influence they continue to have on global film culture. It begins by examining the development of narrative, aesthetic, and industrial strategies in the dominant film industry of the twentieth century—Hollywood—and then explores several movements that offer alternative or complementary approaches to filmmaking, including the French New Wave, Third Cinema, Fourth Cinema, Italian Neorealism, German Expressionism, Surrealism, and Soviet Montage. The course provides historical background to these movements and introduces key theoretical and aesthetic concepts related to film history. It fosters critical awareness of the cultural, political, and artistic contexts of these periods and situates them in relation to one another.

This course introduces the fundamental skills required for 3D computer modeling and animation. Students are introduced to industry standard digital tools and gain creative and technical competence with modeling, character design, movement, environment and rendering. Emphasis is placed on learning techniques, principles and strategies to enable on-going independent learning of the specialist 3D software used. A wide variety of processes are reviewed to provide an overall awareness of the complete 3D animation production process. Technical processes include modeling, texturing, simple rigging, keyframe animation, lighting and rendering. By the end of the course, students can produce a short animation.

This course offers a range of approaches to contemporary conversations around embodiment and ideas of normativity. In particular, it familiarizes students with representations of physical and mental difference in film, social media, and literature within and beyond European and North American contexts. Featured themes include disability and identity, health and constructions of the self, mental difference, and the quest for political recognition.