Film and History module (HY42049)

This is a joint History and Film Studies Module, taught by Dr John M. Regan (History) and Dr Brian Hoyle (English).

You begin reflecting on questions such as: who are the most influential historians today? Do they work in universities writing history books and articles or are they to be found on film sets directing blockbusters? Is Spielberg a more influential historian than Schama?

Many people develop their interest in history and derive their wider historical awareness (i.e., our understanding of the past we have not directly experienced), through the medium of feature and other kinds film. You will learn to critique films, contextualising them within related academic historiographies.

In this module you will begin to appreciate how film directors represent and construct the past and how this differs from the work and ambitions of academic historians. You will consider the limitations and possibilities of film media, learn about different approaches to interpreting the past on screen and on the page, and develop a keen appreciation of how film influences the popular historical imagination. You will also be introduced to creative methods and techniques film-makers employ when telling the past.

What you will learn

In this module you will:

• study the differences between written history and on screen history
• examine the potential and shortfalls of filmic interpretations of the past
• study how academic historians engage with film production
• consider film as a form of public history
• reflect on how political, social, and cultural contexts shape the history films present
• study the grammar and technical aspects of film-making and how these influence the  narratives film-directors project
• examine the relationship between the commercial demands of film-making and the stories film directors tell

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• critically examine the historical content of films
• better understand the relationships between academic history and history produced in films
• appreciate the film director as a non-academic historian
• better understand alternative approaches to communicating historical information and ideas to wide audiences and the problems involved in relating complex information through reductive media on the page and on screen

Assignments / assessment

• film review essay 1,500 words (30%)
• extended essay 3,500 words (70%)

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

• Weekly lectures
• Weekly seminars divided between discussion of films supported by prescribed readings and viewings
• Independent study (including pre-viewing set films)