Media and film studies

Film Musicals

Module code: P4105B
Level 5
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Film, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

This module will examine the musical, tracing the development and ideological implications of this Hollywood genre.

The module is divided into two sections. The first section will analyse the Hollywood musical through a specific focus on genre: the show/backstage musical, the fairy tale musical, the folk musical, the ‘new’ musical and recent developments in the genre such as the ‘karaoke’ musical.

The second section of the module will focus on the cultural debates raised by the musical text. Topics may include: race and ethnicity in the musical; camp and the musical; (hetero)sexuality and the musical and subcultural identification and the musical.

Module learning outcomes

• Analyse how the musical as a genre functions ideologically.
• Display an understanding of the specific, technological, ideological and aesthetic factors that have influenced the shape and character of certain musical subgenres.
• Show critical awareness of the implication of genre as a social contract between filmmaker and audience.
• Analyse film musicals within a range of historical, technological, aesthetic, social, cultural, economic and theoretical contexts, and demonstrate skills in the critical evaluation of theoretical approaches to film.
• Demonstrate skills in the critical evaluation of theoretical approaches to film.