Units
Australian Film and TV
Unit code: KPB212
Contact hours: 4 per week
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
This unit includes the following: study of Australian film and television productions within their cultural and institutional contexts; issues facing the film and television industry today; the construction and circulation of cultural discourses such as national identity, nationalism, gender, ethnicity and class; experimental film and television; indigenous productions; new technological and global challenges.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 2 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
Australian film and television is internationally renowned as a diverse, creative and culturally unique national screen industry. Increasingly integrated into a global production system, the local industry and its cultural texts are shaped by both national and international forces. This unit provides a framework for understanding key themes and genres, the policy settings and production systems which shape local screen content, and the ways in which technological change challenge traditional notions of screen content.
Aims
The aim of this unit is to introduce the historical, cultural and industrial contexts of Australian film and television. The unit will provide you with the critical literacy to evaluate and assess how industry developments and policy frameworks shape the nature of local content. It will also demonstrate how the notion of a 'national cinema' is increasingly challenged by technological change, globalisation, and the growth of digital media.
Objectives
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
1. Evaluate and discuss aspects of the historical, economic, and cultural contexts of Australian film and television.
2. Synthesise and evaluate key popular Australian film and television texts in terms of key themes, genres and discourses.
3. Describe the production systems of contemporary Australian film and television, and how technological change challenges traditional notions of screen content.
4. Analyse and discuss Australian screen industries in terms of their national and international contexts, particularly in terms of their relations to Hollywood.
5. Research and critique selected aspects of Australian screen industries.
Content
This unit explores issues such as: the history of Australian screen; cultural, social and thematic contexts; contemporary Australian film and television production systems; multi-platform distribution; Australian cinema's relationship with Hollywood; and contemporary popular genres and audiences.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
This unit is delivered through an integrated series of lectures and tutorials. Key concepts and approaches will be introduced and illustrated in formal lectures. These will be supplemented with discussion in smaller weekly tutorials that will also be directed at deeper understanding of content, and supporting student work-in-progress on assessment tasks. There will be occasional screenings over the semester, the timing of which will be negotiated with students, and may include weekend screenings.
Assessment
LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.
Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information see the Blackboard site for this unit.FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Description: You will receive formative feedback on your progress in this unit during tutorials and discussions throughout the semester.
Weight 0%
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
You will be awarded a final grade on a 1 to 7 scale.
Assessment name:
Exhibition Catalogue
Description:
You will assemble, annotate and justify a collection of Australian films or television programmes intended for an exhibition (1500-2000 words). You will also complete a tutorial exercise prior to the exhibition (500 words).
Relates to objectives:
1,2
Weight:
60%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
End Semester
Assessment name:
Essay
Description:
You will investigate and critically analyse a selected aspect of the Australian screen industries. (1500 -2000 words).
Relates to objectives:
1, 3, 4 & 5
Weight:
40%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Mid Semester
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Required Text(s): NIL
Recommended References
McKee, Alan. (2001). Australian television: a genealogy of great moments. South Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press.
Moran, Albert & Vieth, Errol. (2006). Film in Australia: an introduction. Port Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press.
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation (documentary). 2008. Directed by Mark Hartley, City Films Worldwide/Madman Entertainment.
O'Regan, Tom. (1996). Australian national cinema. London: Routledge.
Ryan, Mark David. (2010). Towards an understanding of Australian genre cinema and entertainment: beyond the limitations of 'Ozploitation' discourse. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol 24 (6): 843-854.
Turner, Graeme & Cunningham, Stuart. Eds. (2000). The Australian TV book. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Risk assessment statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks in this unit.
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 28-Mar-2013
