students wearing traditional drama masks

A very warm welcome to all new students joining Communications, Drama and Film (CDF) at the University of Exeter, and congratulations on making it here!

Communications

In Communications, you’ll be joining a rich and diverse field of study that draws on different traditions of scholarly research across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Among many other things, you’ll learn about the history and development of different communications technologies, how to critically analyse media texts, and how different audiences engage with them. You’ll also learn practical skills and how best to target specific audiences with different tools. We’ll train you to become critical thinkers and help you prepare for your future career. 

Drama

In Drama, we have a strong ethos of practice-led teaching and research, which was established when the Department of Drama began over 50 years ago. Learning and researching together in the studio and seminar room is the heart of what we do, and we look forward to the new opportunities such student-engaged learning brings with it each year. Drama is regularly placed at the top of disciplinary UK league tables, and in the Top 100 worldwide for Performing Arts in the QS World University Subject Rankings. We look forward to welcoming you into our academic community and growing those critical and creative skills needed to face the challenges of the future. 

Film

In Film, our discipline is run by a team of staff who work across the various fields of film and television studies – theory, history, aesthetics, filmmaking, production, industry, art, archives and curation. From a strong foundation across these areas of study and research, you will develop an understanding of how film and television have been popular in their appeal and radical in their practises. Our programme aims to build on your individual passions and interests while broadening your horizons about the possibilities offered working with film and television. We are also fortunate enough to have the unique Bill Douglas Cinema Museum on campus and you will have the opportunity to work with the diverse collection of material related to the moving image during your studies with us. 

In all three disciplines we have some brilliant scholars with research expertise in a range of areas that will feed directly into classroom teaching, and we’re all passionate about helping our students have a great university experience. We all look forward to meeting you in September, and hope you have an enjoyable and fruitful time in your studies at Exeter. 

Key Contacts

  • Professor Jane Milling, Head of Department - Communications, Drama and Film

Deputy Heads of Department
Directors of Education

Preparing for your degree


Communications

If you’ll be studying communications, the best thing you can do is to start asking some questions about your use of communications technologies and the media texts that you consume and/or produce. For example, think about how, when, and why you use your smartphone. How long could you go without it? How’s your life as a young adult different to the lives of previous generations? 

You should also get into the habit of watching/reading/listening to the news every day. Communications as an academic subject is very much about what’s going on in the world around you! The texts listed below would be of use to you in preparation for beginning your degree and throughout your studies. 

  • Hodkinson, P. (2016). Media, Culture and Society: An Introduction. London: SAGE.
  • Siapera, E. (2018). Understanding New Media, 2nd ed. London: SAGE.

You can also follow the Communications programme via our social media channels available at our @exetercomms LinkTree.

You might also want to think about whether you would like to get involved running our social media platforms as part of our Social Media Committee! 

Drama

If you’ll be studying drama, try to see as wide a variety of live theatre and performances as you can - not only plays but also popular and experimental theatre forms: street theatre, performance art, magic shows, digital performance, music theatre, dance, Punch and Judy, etc. We also recommend you listen to radio plays and scripted podcasts to consider how the dramaturgy, acting choices, vocal delivery and production value contribute to the overall experience of these audio-drama formats. We want you to think about how performances are constructed technically but also how you make meaning from them and how that meaning connects to broader historical, cultural and social experiences. 

The texts listed below would be of use to you in preparation for beginning your degree - these books are available in the university library, but you may wish to buy a copy for yourself. 

  • Mangan, Michael. The Drama, Theatre and Performance Companion. London: Palgrave, 2014.
  • Schechner, Richard, Performance Studies: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2006.

Additionally, you might find inspiration and welcome challenges to our current industry in these two books by award-winning and influential actor-creators: 

  • Coel, Michaela. Misfits: A Personal Memoir. London: Ebury Press, 2023. 
  • Deavere Smith, Anna. Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-Up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts. Anchor Books, 2006. 

Read a welcome message from our current Director of Education and follow us on Social Media @Uofedrama. You might also want to consider whether you would like to get involved running our social media platforms as part of our Social Media and Events Committee. 

A note on how to dress for practical modules:

During Welcome Week you will be provided with blacks. These are our preferred working clothes for studio modules. They are part of a long tradition of training actors primarily from the French school of training that the initial Drama degree was inspired by and rooted in. We recognise that these blacks do not always fit individual bodies in the ways that make students feel creatively their best. In this case, please speak to your module convenor and consider alternative clothing that will provide you with the most ability to move while not being distracting to the eye (solid, darker colours preferable with no logos or images on them). 

Please consult this reading by Stephen Wangh as a guide to how you want to approach your clothing for studio work.

Film

If you’ll be studying film and television, the best thing is to watch as widely as possible to get a taste of the depth and variety of screen cultures. Here are our suggested top 10:

  • Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 
  • Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov,1929) 
  • Touki Bouki (Mambéty, 1973) 
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Sciamma, 2019) 
  • A Matter of Life and Death (Powell and Pressburger, 1946) 
  • When Harry met Sally (Reiner, 1989) 
  • The Headless Woman (Martel, 2008) 
  • Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989) 
  • The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1929) 
  • A Brighter Summer Day (Yang, 1991) 
(You might also want to look at this on why lists are such a feature of writing about films and TV and why they are a bad idea!: Against Lists by Elena Gorfinkel)


The following are excellent books to serve as an introduction to the study of film:

  • David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (McGraw-Hill, 2010) 
  • Pam Cook, ed. The Cinema Book (BFI, 2007).

Resources

Alongside our sprung-floor studios and our evolving state-of-the-art digital screen equipment, Exeter University is home to the wonderful Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, where you will be able to research and learn more about film archives. Find out more about the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.

Each subject works closely with our Library Liaison Officer to maintain specialist resource pages. You can view the Communications Subject Guide, Drama Subject Guide and Film Subject Guide.  You will also be shown this information and how to access it during Welcome Week.

You can also check out the Communications, Drama and Film sections on the HASS Student Gateway. These are a great source of information about your studies, the university and much more.

Our Community

The Department Officer for the department is Amelia Bubb (Communications). Her role is to represent the views and needs of the student community in the department, so please do contact her if you have ideas or concerns about this!

The department also has a range of opportunities which we encourage you to sign up for. You can find more information here:

We also host a regular series of Film Talks, which are advertised via the Film X (Twitter) account.

Final Thoughts

Please do double-check all the skills, training, and seminar information that has been timetabled for you. We really hope that by Week 1 that you will be up and running and have all the information you need to start the term.


Once you have finished reading about your department(s), you can skip to end of this section rather than clicking next and reading through all department pages.


Última atualização: quinta-feira, 5 set. 2024, 09:04