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Melodrama, Ideology and the Cinema (SCRN40005)
HonoursPoints: 12.5Not available in 2020
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
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This subject analyses the history, aesthetics and critical discourse of cinematic melodrama across global art cinema and Hollywood filmmaking traditions and contemporary practices. It addresses melodrama’s origins in, and continued engagement with, other visual and performing art forms, especially those heavily reliant upon musical expression. Melodrama represents the social and political world in domestic and personal terms. Students will consider the way cinematic melodrama addresses questions of ideology in terms of audience, emotion, embodiment, identity, psychology, gender and sexuality. Extrapolating on melodrama’s concern with the local, this subject focuses on the work of the filmmaking ensemble itself and considers melodrama as a mode of aesthetic address relying on specific creative practices and performative traditions.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- understand the central critical considerations of the representation of class and ideological conflict in cinema melodramas from the early silent to contemporary cinema; and
- understand the way in which issues of film form, gender, sexuality and psychoanalysis inform melodramas representation of class in the cinema.
Generic skills
At the completion of this subject, students should gain the following generic skills:
- skills in research;
- possess advanced skills of critical thinking and analysis;
- possess an ability to communicate knowledge intelligibly, economically and effectively; and
- have an understanding of social, ethical and cultural context.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
A research essay
| During the examination period | 100% |
Hurdle requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
Not available in 2020
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
A subject reader will be available.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Specialisation (formal) Gender Studies Specialisation (formal) Gender Studies Specialisation (formal) Screen and Cultural Studies Specialisation (formal) Screen Studies Specialisation (formal) Screen Studies Specialisation (formal) Screen and Cultural Studies Specialisation (formal) Gender Studies - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
Subject coordinator approval required
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022