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WalesFilm Studies

American and British Film

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you study American film since 2005, comparing a mainstream and an independent film through spectatorship and ideology?

American film since 2005: studying one mainstream and one independent American film, comparing their form and meaning through the specialist areas of spectatorship and ideology.
How to study the WJEC Component 1 American film since 2005 topic: comparing one mainstream and one contemporary independent American film, with spectatorship and ideology as the specialist study areas, and how institutional context shapes each film.
13 min answer →

How do you study British film since 1995, comparing two films through narrative and ideology?

British film since 1995: studying two British films, comparing their form and meaning through the specialist areas of narrative and ideology, and the character of British national cinema.
How to study the WJEC Component 1 British film since 1995 topic: comparing two British films through the specialist study areas of narrative and ideology, and understanding British national cinema, social realism and its institutional context.
13 min answer →

What is ideology in film, and how do you analyse the values a film conveys for the WJEC exam?

Ideology in film: the values and beliefs a film conveys about society, how form and resolution construct them, and whether a film affirms or challenges dominant ideology.
The WJEC specialist study area of ideology. What ideology means in film, how it is embedded in form, narrative and resolution, the difference between dominant and oppositional ideology, and how to analyse the values a film conveys about society.
13 min answer →

What is spectatorship, and how do you analyse how a film positions and shapes its audience for the WJEC exam?

Spectatorship: how a film positions its audience through point of view, identification, alignment, allegiance and emotional cueing, and how spectators bring their own context.
The WJEC specialist study area of spectatorship. How films position and shape their audiences through point of view, identification, alignment and allegiance, and how spectators actively make meaning, with the active and preferred reading distinction.
13 min answer →