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What follows is merely a broad overview of the demands of the WJEC and the possible order of our coming to grips with it.

The syllabus is a new one for this students taking As.Of course the WJEC have the full spec on PDF and it can be down loaded from here. Students will find it most useful when clarifying exact word lengths and precise technical demands. We would hope to incorporate these fine details elsewhere on the site. This is all part of work in progress.....

AS LEVEL

Unit 1: FM1  (40%) Internal Assessment.

Exploring Film Form

• One analysis of how the micro aspects of a chosen extract from a film of

candidate's choice produce meanings and responses

(1500 words) (30)

• One creative project based on a film sequence or short film

(50: sequence or short film [40]/reflective analysis [10])

raw mark total: 80

Unit 2: FM2  (60%) External Assessment

2½ hours Written Paper

British and American Film

Three questions, one from each section:

Section A: Response to stimulus material set by Awarding Body based on

producers and audiences of film (40)

Section B: Topics in British Film (40)

Section C: US Film - Comparative study of two films (40)

Paper raw mark total: 120

The aims of AS are:

(a) to develop students' interest in, appreciation and knowledge of film,

specifically through studying

• the film - the way film as an audio-visual form of creative expression

constructs meaning, provokes varieties of spectator response and

raises issues of personal, social, cultural, political and ethical

significance;

and through studying

• the film's producers and audiences - the relationship between the

production and consumption of films, with particular reference to

Hollywood and British film;

(b) to provide students with a foundation in the analysis of film, together with

subject specialist language, and to introduce them to creative and production

skills.

Which is grand! and just as it should be...

The board set out the aims of the syllabus with admirable clarity below.

The highlightings are ours.

The new Advanced level specs which will come into use in September 2009

A LEVEL

Unit 3: FM3   25 % Internal Assessment

Film Research and Creative Projects

• a small-scale research project (40)

• creative project (60 - 45 product/15 reflective analysis)

Paper raw mark total: 100

Unit 4: FM4   25 % External Assessment:

2 ¾ hour Written Paper

Varieties of Film Experience: Issues and Debates

Three questions, one from each section:

Section A: World Cinema topics (35)

Section B: Spectatorship topics (35)

Section C: Single Film - Critical Study (30)

Paper raw mark total: 100

Small-Scale Research Project

Candidates will be required to carry out a small-scale research project.

The project is designed to develop research skills.

It will be based on one focus film, making appropriate reference to at least two other related films.

Candidates will establish an area of investigation that relates the chosen

focus film to one of the following frameworks:

• star/performer

• genre

• auteur (in its broadest sense)

• social, political and cultural studies

• gender issues

• ethnicity

• institution

• technology

Candidates may not choose as a focus film any film they have specialised in

elsewhere in the specification.

The research project is completed in two parts:

• an annotated catalogue (approximately 10-15 items) and

• a presentation script (approximately 1500 words)

Candidates should submit:

(a) a small-scale research project comprising:

(i) an annotated catalogue of key items of the candidate's research -

approximately 1000 words in total (15 marks)

The catalogue will contain approximately 10 to 15 items selected

from the candidate's total primary and secondary research.

Each catalogue item should be appropriately referenced and be accompanied by a brief note (approximately 70 words),

Which explains how the particular item is relevant to the area of investigation and what it contributes to the overall research.

The catalogue must conclude with a short paragraph which lists

significant items (e.g. between 3 and 5) not selected for inclusion in the catalogue, offering brief reasons why (up to 200 words).

(ii) a presentation script - approximately 1500 words (25 marks)

The presentation script must take the form of notes for a presentation

and could combine (for example)

subheadings, bullet points, short

pieces of connected prose and reference to visual extracts to illustrate the presentation.

Candidates are encouraged to devise a presentation format appropriate to their needs and may, for example, employ digital

forms such as powerpoint.

Reference to key items of research from the catalogue must be made explicitly in the presentation.

Short credited quotations may be used

but care must be taken that the words of the presentation are the candidate's own.

Credited quotations are excluded from the wordcount.