Examination Board | WJEC

Specification Code | A670QS 

Subject Content

Film Studies is an academic, analytical, and creative course. You will explore the key elements of film form, including cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, sound, and performance, discovering how these elements combine to create meaning and generate emotional responses in audiences. Students develop an advanced understanding of narrative structure, genre conventions, contextual analysis, and critical theories.

Throughout the course, you will analyse film as an aesthetic medium and a powerful tool for representation. Beyond the screen, you will examine the socio-political, cultural, historical, and institutional contexts that influence how films are made and received.

Over the two years, you will closely study a diverse range of cinema, including:

• Hollywood Cinema (both Classic and Contemporary)
• British, European, and Global Cinema
• Documentaries, Silent Era, Experimental, and Short Films

Assessment Details

Components 1 & 2 (Written Examinations) – 70% of A-Level

• Component 1: Varieties of Film and Film-making (35%) – Focuses on Hollywood, American Independent, and British cinema.

• Component 2: Global Filmmaking Perspectives (35%) – Focuses on Global film, Documentary, Silent cinema, and Experimental film.

Component 3: Production (Coursework) – 30% of A-Level

• A creative practical project consisting of either a short film (4–5 minutes) or a screenplay with a storyboard, accompanied by an evaluative analysis.

What can I do to support my child at home?

Actively watch a variety of films together, go beyond asking if they enjoyed it, challenge them to critique what they have watched, e.g. the camera shots, lighting, music score. Compare different films such as Hollywood classics to  French Drama. Record details of all the films they have watched, themes, distinctive features or moments. Support their understanding of specialist subject terminology prior to starting the course, for example mise-en-scene, cinematography, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, editing, montage.  Read film reviews to appreciate a critic’s evaluation of film-making choices, evaluate how the writing is constructed.

Prior to the coursework component, encourage them to experiment with making their own films, using editing software and creative decision-making. Maintain their curiosity through wider reading, podcasts and film reviews to deepen their appreciation of the film-making process. 

Teacher of Film Studies

Mr Toon - atoon@cottesloe.bucks.sch.uk