Film & Media Studies

The audio-visual essay (or video essay or videographic criticism of videographic film and moving image studies) is a prominent 21st Century methodology and form of pedagogy and research in film and media studies. With its roots in a variety of moving image practices, from video installation to fan vids, the audio-visual essay has emerged to occupy a range of forms (supercuts, desktop documentaries, deformative, poetic, explanatory, to name a few) and is produced by a range of practitioners in differing contexts. This course explores this variety while foregrounding what the audio-visual essay offers the film and media scholar, in both theory and practice. Students engage with key audio-visual essays and scholarship in the field as well as creating their own audio-visual work in a series of practice-based workshops. No prior experience with video editing or video essay making is necessary.

This course explores Italian cinema and the evolution of Italy’s film industry through the critical analysis of key genre categories and filmmaking modes (neorealism, auteur cinema, comedy, spaghetti western, the thriller, political film, migration cinema). These genre categories are represented by a series of films that span from the post-war period to today. Students are introduced to the critical concepts that underpin film analysis, while also developing a strong understanding of genre theory. Through close readings of individual films the course explores how genre categories and conventions can be used to discuss issues of social change and progress throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In particular, it examines questions of national identity, gender representation and the reception of popular genres.

This course explores how creative advertising can be engaging, exhilarating, and even world changing. Combining conceptual thinking with practical approaches, students will focus on developing the creative dimensions for advertising campaigns related to contemporary problems ranging from low product awareness through to public social issues. Students will engage imaginatively with client briefs and develop advertising concepts all the while exploring the history of creative theory and practice, as well as the storytelling, art direction, copywriting, and pitching aspects of creative advertising.

The course follows the emergence of the modern media environment from the middle of the 19th century up to the 1940s. The thematic focus is on the interwoven development of various media, nations, and nationalisms. For example, telegraphy's infrastructures, the changes in the late 19th century press, how the newspaper staff were transformed from litterateurs to journalists, advertising and consumption in mass society, how sound media such as the radio, the telephone and the phonograph were developed from public to private listening, early film and media, and propaganda during the two world wars are examined.

The role of media in shaping everyday life is paramount, and understanding it requires consideration of historical, political, economic, and other factors. This course explores the various ways people consume media content in their daily lives, seeking to understand the influence of media on society and culture. It also provides a historical perspective on how media became a crucial component of the human condition. 

This course examines the basics of making music for film and animation. Aspects of the function and crafting of music in film and animation including film scoring and the music dramatic narrative will be explored. 

This course adheres to the educational philosophy of "cultivating character before artistry," constructing a film curriculum system that emphasizes "ideological depth, holistic thinking, and creativity." It uses technical skills as a bridge, prioritizes human-centered values, and places artistic integrity at the forefront. Through three stages—film appreciation, film deconstruction, and film creation—the course aims to truly approach the artistic essence of cinema and immerse students in the world of film. It seeks to break conventional thinking patterns by guiding students from "theory to practice," "skills to concepts," "understanding to experience," and "appreciation to creation." The course strives to harmonize "ideological depth and artistic expression," "emotional experience and logical thinking," and "knowledge and individuality," ultimately fostering outstanding high-level innovative talents.

This course explores the transformative power of media. Through critical analysis and hands-on media design, students examine how media artifacts construct national identities, deploy soft power, challenge gender norms, and transform digital spaces into sites of justice. Bridging theory and practice, students develop ethically grounded media interventions, such as storyboards, TikTok campaigns, and justice-oriented projects, etc. that engage with the tensions between cultural specificity, global algorithms, and neoliberal platforms. 

This course considers how stories are told in an age of digital media. For the first half of the semester, we focus on key terms and concepts in narrative theory and practice, applying these terms to different narratives. We look at some good examples from various media and explore their narrative structures with each application. Additionally, we analyze how traditional narratives can be transformed into new forms suitable for digital media, where stories are increasingly told, mediated, and experienced via spaces. Traditional emphases on plot and characters are increasingly shifting toward the significance of ambience and spatial arrangements in digital and interactive media, marking a shift toward what is often called “spatial storytelling.” In the latter half of the semester, we learn about narrative genres. We explore formal patterns and storytelling strategies in each genre and observe the kinds of similar or different patterns that arise in genre-based digital stories. Eventually, we move beyond mere criticism and theoretical understanding by applying our narrative skillsets to creating actual digital content, albeit at a very basic level suitable for those inexperienced with content creation. In the process, students acquire some basic skills to work within new media technologies—especially very basic content creation skills using AI tools.

In this course, students detect and enhance the creative resources that contribute to the writing process, and acquire from the reading and writing practice, the basic methodological skills of written narration, from the short story to dramatic writing. Students link the abstract world, ideas and concepts, with concrete reality.