You can choose to study Film Studies as a single subject degree, or in combination with another subject as a joint honours award.
We also offer exciting postgraduate opportunities for full or part-time study with our Master's and PhD programmes.
Follow the links below for a brief summary of each Film Studies award, including information on the aims of various courses and their entry requirements:
Film Studies at the University of Wolverhampton will give you the confidence to examine filmic texts, using the appropriate terminology and the language of film. You will acquire essential skills in research, analysis and referencing and gain an in-depth knowledge of how the film industry works and an insight into the culture of other nations through their use of cinema.
You will study a wide range of modules including popular film genres such as The Western, Gangster, Science Fiction and Film Noir; French, Italian, British, Indian, and Iranian national cinema; as well as director studies including Hitchcock, Scorsese, Fellini, Truffaut, Kieślowski and Kiarostami. You will also explore critical approaches to film, such as visual stylistics, narrative theory, storytelling and plot construction and script writing, and the theory behind editing and camera work.
Film Studies at Wolverhampton is one of the only courses of its kind in the UK to hold lectures in a working public cinema, the Light House Media Centre (LHMC). You will be taught by academics with a wealth of expertise across a variety of film forms, from British and European Cinema to Hollywood and Bollywood.
The Film Studies course will equip you with a number of transferrable skills for employment, including the research and analytical skills that are highly desirable in a variety of careers.
You will also have plenty of support to gradually enable you to undertake independent research, while the course also offers a variety of assessment forms designed to equip you with a wide range of skills.
You will gain a unique perspective on the cultures of other nations through their use of cinema, along with an in-depth knowledge of how the film industry works. The course will also give you confidence in dealing with visual texts, terminology and the language of film, along with vital research, bibliography, analysis and referencing skills.
Film Studies students have gone on to work in a diverse range of disciplines from media to the creative industries, including broadcasting corporations such as the BBC and Pathe News.
Career examples of past Film Studies Graduates include journalism, media roles, teaching, film production and television.
"My Film Studies course was not only really interesting but invaluable in terms of the skills I learned. I developed sharp analytical abilities, a wider use of language, confidence in public speaking and presentations, and, through a varied range of assignments, excellent writing skills.
The tutors were always friendly, helpful and thorough, while the course content was kept fresh, lively and engaging, delving into every aspect of film from the aesthetics of European cinema to the production of big-budget Hollywood blockbusters.
The skills I developed on this course were really helpful when I started as an Editorial Assistant with a local magazine, and I was able to quickly progress to Features Editor. I am now an Online Features Journalist with the country's largest regional newspaper." Lara Page, Online Features Journalist - Express & Star
"The Film Studies Degree at the University of Wolverhampton was a great experience. Learning about different aspects and trends of cinema around the world, including European and British Cinema to Holllywood and Indian Cinema, the course provided an excellent structure to cover the wide range of subjects covered. Furthermore, viewing the films shown on each module in a real cinema environment ensured the films were seen as the fillmmaker intended with a true cinema reel print.
Special praise must go to the staff and lecturers who were always available to help with projects and coursework, especially leading up to exams and dissertations. Their dedication and enthusiasm in delivering such a great Degree course has to be commended. In short, the Film Studies degree programme at the University of Wolverhampton is highly recommended to anyone with a serious interest of cinema." Charnjit Mann, Co-Owner - Nexus Digital
Read more testimonials here.
Each course at the University of Wolverhampton is externally assessed by an examiner from another Higher Education institution in the country. These are the most recent comments from external examiners about the Film Studies programme:
"I was very pleased with the work being done here on the work practice module (Community Link). These can be both problematic to assess and to monitor. The tutor is handling this with skill. I very much like the idea of the student setting their criteria for assessment on the module. The use of the Pebble Pad to track the performance of the student and provide an on-going diary of the work is very good practice indeed".
Dr. Eleanor V Whitcombe Andrews Course Leader
Room: MC333 Email: E.Andrews@wlv.ac.uk
Italian Cinema, French Cinema, Spaghetti Westerns, films of Nanni Moretti
Favourite Films: Don't Look Now (1973), La Strada (1954), Les 400 coups (1959), La messa è finita (1985), Now Voyager (1942)
Senior Lecturer
Room: MC333 Email: S.Hockenhull@wlv.ac.uk
Research Interests: British Cinema, Aesthetics, films of Powell & Pressburger.
Favourite Films: Cinema Paradiso (1988), Psycho (1960), The Passenger (1975), Goodfellas (1990)
Course Leader: MA Film Studies
Room: MC333 Email: F.E.Pheasant-kelly@wlv.ac.uk
Research Interests: American Cinema, Space & Abjection, Masculinity, Science & Film.
Favourite Films: One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975), Some Like It Hot (1959), Psycho (1960), Terminator 2 (1991) and Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Room: MC333 Email: P.Sembi@wlv.ac.uk
Research Interests: Technology Supported Learning, Placement learning pedagogy, Iranian Cinema, Bollywood, African Cinema, Latin American Cinema.
Favourite Films: Nema-ye Nazdik [Close Up] (1990), Memento (2000), Bad Taste (1987), Alien (1979), Mother India (1957)
Dr Mark Jones
Tel: 01902 323482 Room: MC406 Email: markjones@wlv.ac.uk
Research Interests: Animation, Popular Genres, Adaptation
Favourite Films: The Apartment (1960), Brief Metropolis (1927), Some Like it Hot (1959), The Odd Couple (1968), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
Tel: 01902 323484 Room: MC334 Email: J.M.Pieterick@wlv.ac.uk
Research Interests: screenwriting, film noir, visual anthropology, and food in film.
Favourite Films: The Big Lebowski (1998), Touch of Evil (1958), The Host (2006), Ladri di biciclette (1948), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Bladerunner (1982)
