Assessment (C2C)

The 30 minute exam: exam technique

All the teaching and learning for this topic will come down to a question (from a choice of two) which must be answered in approximately 30 minutes. Your students need to be able to identify, describe and analyse relevant detail from the film very efficiently. Contextual knowledge needs to be used only when contributing directly to an answer to the given question. All references need to be precise and to the point. A ‘position’ in relation to any critical debate (for example in response to a “How far is …” type question) needs to be established immediately in a brief acknowledgment of the question and this position needs to be consciously refined through the discussion and accompanying examples that follow. Practice will be essential to ensure your students not only complete their answer in the time allocated but feel satisfied that they have used their (considerable) learning to maximum effect.

The questions on the sample exam paper are:

(a) Discuss how far your chosen film or films reflect aesthetic qualities associated with a particular film movement.

Or

(b) Discuss how far your chosen film or films reflect cultural contexts associated with a particular film movement.

Assessment of understanding in this section may also require you to:

- relate the chosen film to the realist / expressionist critical debate.

- explore the significance of a particular key element of film, such as editing, in the film and how far this reflects the film movement more generally.

- consider how far specific issues relating to silent cinema, such as the absence of recorded speech, are significant in explaining particular creative practices in the chosen film / film movement.

If A Man with a Movie Camera is chosen, then clearly it, not A Propos de Nice must be the principle film. A reasonable expectation is that in using A Propos de Nice as a supplementary film, at least one detailed example from that film will be used either to reinforce a point being made about Man With a Movie Camera or to provide a contrast with that film.

What is the examiner looking for?

For these questions you would be expected to discuss Constructivism and Modernism, as well as an understanding of characteristic aesthetic qualities associated with the relevant film movement, applying these to the two films.

The examiner will also be looking for...

• a discussion of aesthetic qualities which, depending on the film movement, may relate to cinematography, editing, mise-en-scène or performance or a combination of all four
• a recognition that the aesthetic qualities of the relevant films are integral to the film movement associated with them
• some discussion of the wider context of the film movement and its aesthetic characteristics.
• an understanding of characteristic features associated with the relevant film movement, including the cultural context of the film movement
• depending on the film movement, discussion may involve a specific art movement (e.g. Expressionism, Constructivism) or a broader cultural shift (Modernism)
• a consideration of the challenge and modernity represented by each film movement to varying degrees
• some understanding of the relationship between cultural contexts and the chosen films.
• Band 5 responses may recognise that aesthetic qualities associated with film movements are ideological.