WJEC - A2 Film Studies FM4 specimen exam questions

GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 15

WELSH JOINT EDUCATION COMMITTEE General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced

CYD-BWYLLGOR ADDYSG CYMRU Tystysgrif Addysg Gyffredinol

Uwch Gyfrannol/Uwch

FILM STUDIES

FM4 Varieties of Film: Issues and Debates

SPECIMEN PAPER

(2¾ hours)

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS In addition to this examination paper, you will need:

• a 12 page answer book.

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Answer three questions, one from each section. Write your answers in the separate answer book provided. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES Questions in Sections A and B carry 35 marks. Questions in Section C carry 30 marks. The number of marks is given in brackets at the end of each question. You are reminded that assessment will take into account the quality of written communication

used in your answers. No certificate will be awarded to a candidate detected in any unfair practice during the

examination. You are reminded that this paper is synoptic and so will test understanding of all aspects of AS

and A level Film Studies.


FM4 – Varieties of Film Experience: Issues and Debates

Answer three questions – one from each section

Section A: World Cinema Topics Choose one question from this section.

Aspects of a National Cinema Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films appropriate to one of the following topics:

• Japanese Cinema 1950 – 1970 • Mexican Cinema 1990 – present

• Iranian Cinema 1990 – present • Bollywood 1990 – present

Either 1. To what extent do the films you have studied explore tensions within society as opposed to

being simply stories about individuals? [35] or 2. Compare some of the stylistic features in the films you have studied discussing how far they

make for a distinctive kind of cinema. [35] International Film Styles Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films appropriate to one of the following topics:

• German and/or Soviet Film of the 1920s • Surrealism

• Neo-Realism • New Waves

Either 3. Discuss characteristic features of casting and/or performance, exploring how far these features

contribute the overall effect of the films you have studied. [35] or 4. What is the relationship between visual style and the subject matter of the films you have

studied? [35] Specialist Study: Urban Stories − Power, Poverty and Conflict Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films. Either 5. To what extent do you think the films you have studied present either clear or ambiguous

messages about the worlds they represent? [35] or 6. What is the importance of mise-en-scène and/or sound in creating meaning and generating

response in the films you have studied? [35]


Specialist Study: Empowering Women Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films. Either 7. How far do the films you have studied depend on dramatic moments of confrontation within

the narrative and how far on tracing a more subtle change over time? [35] or 8. Compare and contrast the ways in which the audience is encouraged to identify with

particular characters in the films you have studied. [35]

Section B: Spectatorship Topics

Choose one question from this section. Spectatorship and Early Film (1895 – 1917) Your answer should refer to a range of examples, though you may concentrate on films from one part of the period. Either 9. Discuss the significance of two or three key aspects of film form in Early Cinema (such as

narrative and editing) in developing film spectatorship. [35] or 10. How has your study of Early Cinema shaped your broader understanding of film

spectatorship? [35] Spectatorship and Documentary Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films. Either 11. Compare different documentary techniques employed to present the 'real', discussing their

impact on the spectator. Refer to at least two documentaries you have studied. [35] or 12. Do you agree that as spectators we are more likely to accept at face value what we see and

hear in documentary films? [35] Spectatorship: Experimental and Expanded Film/Video Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films. Either 13. 'Experimental films are often designed to make us see and experience the world differently.'

Has this been your experience as a spectator of the films you have studied for this topic? [35] or 14. 'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience? [35]


Spectatorship: Popular Film and Emotional Response Your answer should be based on a minimum of two films. Either 15. Explore possible reasons to explain why a second or third viewing of a film can actually

increase the emotional response rather than lessen it. [35] or 16. How far is the emotional response to mainstream films triggered by specific techniques used

by the filmmakers? [35]

Section C: Single Film: Close Critical Study

Choose one question from this section.

Your answer should make detailed reference to your chosen film. General Questions 17. What does your chosen film reveal about the usefulness of one or more critical approaches

you have applied? [30] 18. Consider debates that have arisen in the critical reception of your chosen film, either at the

time of its initial release or now or both. [30] Questions on single films 19. In Modern Times, discuss the view that Chaplin is too sentimental in his approach to be able

to offer any valuable insight into the world. [30] 20. How far is Les Enfants du Paradis limited as a film by its theatricality? [30] 21. Film scholars have argued that Vertigo is a film about cinema and about spectatorship. How

far do you think this is true? [30] 22. The Battle of Algiers offers multiple characters for the spectator to identify with. Critically

discuss the strengths and limitations of this approach in relation to the film's subject. [30] 23. What is the importance of movement and soundtrack in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss

Song? [30] 24. In Solaris, what themes do you believe Tarkovsky is exploring through Kelvin's relationship

with the 'second' Khari? [30] 25. What is significant about the visual style of Happy Together in relation to the themes it

explores? [30] 26. 'Despite the gesture of destroying symbols of corporate power at the end, Fight Club is a film

about power and control, not liberation.' How far do you agree? [30] 27. How successful is Talk to Her in undermining conventional gender stereotypes? [30] 28. 'After repeated viewings, Morvern Callar remains a strange, unknowable film, more dream-

like than a narrative realist film'. How useful and accurate do you find this comment? [30]