Eduqas A-Level Film Studies Varieties of film and filmmaking overview quiz quiz

One Classical Hollywood film (1930 to 1960) and one New Hollywood film (1961 to 1990)

Two Classical Hollywood films, both drawn from the studio era of 1930 to 1960, compared together

Two contemporary American films released from 1995 to the present day, compared as a recent pairing

Two films drawn entirely from the silent era, before synchronous sound, studied side by side

Spectatorship

Auteur

Narrative

Critical debates

The modern age-ratings system run by the Motion Picture Association, which classifies films by audience

The British Board of Film Classification, which certificated films for release in cinemas in the United Kingdom

The Production Code (Hays Code)

No censorship system existed at all during this period, so studios faced no restrictions on content

The invention of synchronous sound, which suddenly made the established silent studios unworkable

The strengthening of the Production Code, which tightened censorship and drove audiences away from cinema

A sudden shortage of directors, leaving the major studios without the talent to keep making films

The rise of television and the Paramount antitrust ruling

Spectatorship and ideology

Auteur and narrative

Critical debates and filmmakers' theories

Genre and realism

The moral and emotional bond a film builds, leading us to approve or disapprove of a character's actions

Attaching us to a character's experience, often through restricted narration and point of view

The total running time of the finished film and how its length is distributed across the acts

The order in which the opening and closing credits are arranged and the prominence given to each name

Auteur and spectatorship

Critical debates and aesthetics

Narrative and ideology

Genre and performance

They are the same thing, two interchangeable words for the events depicted in a film

Story is the written script of the film, while plot is the budget and resources allocated to it

Story is the genre the film belongs to, while plot is the underlying theme or message it conveys

Story is everything that happens in order; plot is what the film shows and in what order

One essay from a choice of two

Two full essays per section, with both compulsory and no choice of question offered to candidates

Three short structured answers per section rather than a single extended essay response

No essays at all, with each section assessed only by a series of brief short-answer questions

Describing each film separately in turn, devoting one half of the essay to each without comparison

Comparing the two films directly and reaching a judgement

Listing the full cast and crew of both films to demonstrate detailed knowledge of the productions

Retelling the plots of both films in full to show the examiner a thorough grasp of the narratives