Your degree recognises cinema's role as a major cultural form and investigates film through a variety of approaches. You'll examine cinemas aesthetic, social and political importance in the context of an increasingly visual and media-orientated culture, while also investigating the intersections between contemporary art, theatre, dance, music, sound and film. Film at Lancaster is a stimulating and intellectually engaging course which provides a framework for the close analysis of individual films. You will study cinema history and the social significance of films and will develop a detailed understanding of the techniques of film production. While Film Studies is primarily an academic programme, students have the opportunity to make their own digital film in all three years of the course. We have excellent technical resources, including state-of-the-art digital editing equipment housed in our Television Unit. You can choose from a range of specialist courses and will develop skills that can lead to postgraduate study and careers in the media, advertising and marketing. You begin your degree with the module Introduction to Film Studies, which introduces you to a range of key critical approaches with an explicit focus on the meaning-making structures and techniques of film. You will expand your knowledge and understanding of a wide range of filmmaking traditions and be introduced to fundamental terms and concepts such as mise-en-scne, editing, narrative, acting, stardom, film sound and genre. In addition, you’ll explore the key areas of cinema history, encompassing silent films, classical Hollywood cinema, French, German, Italian and Chinese cinema. In the third term, you will work in a small group to produce a short digital video. You will also take a LICA-wide module on modernism in the arts, and a third module from another LICA discipline or from a range of subjects offered across the University. In your second year, you’ll take the core modules Global Cinema and Critical Reflections (Contemporary Arts Theory). You can also choose from a range of optional modules including Silent Cinema, Film Modernism and the Avant-garde, and Documentary Cultures, which uniquely combines the academic study of documentary cinema with the production of a short documentary video. You will have the opportunity to spend Year 3 on placement with a public, private or voluntary organisation in the UK or overseas. This experience will boost your employment prospects and will help you to decide on your career direction and the kind of organisation in which you want to work once you graduate. You will be doing a real, responsible job with all the satisfaction that brings. Our Placements Team will support you in finding and applying for a suitable placement that will support your professional development. Applying for a placement is a competitive process and the preparatory modules you will complete in years one and two are designed to give you the best chance of success in your placement applications. You will also be provided with dedicated workshops, 1:1 appointments with careers professionals as well as opportunities to speak with employers here on campus. During the placement year you will remain a Lancaster University student which means that you will still be eligible for a student loan, have access to facilities such as the library and receive discounts on transport and council tax. Your tuition fee will be reduced to 20% during the placement year. The placement will enhance your understanding of the connections between theory and practice and this will benefit your final year of study. This is an exciting opportunity to build up experience and transferable skills, as well as to make contacts with potential employers which will place you a s