Hi there!
I'm new to this forum and I saw that the Lobby was a place for introductions, so here I am introducing myself, a 21 year old aspiring writer and/or director from the UK.
But I also have some questions that I hope some people will be able to help me with:
I'm just finished university, I've now got a degree in History with Film Studies and I am considering continuing my education by doing a Masters course (Master of Arts/MA) next year. I most likely going to do one in one subject or another, at one uni or another, but I would like to one in Film.
So my first question is, has anyone here done an MA in film (at any uni in the world)?
And if so, what was it like? A good experience? Useful in any way?
And also - what topic did you do? (that is, for your dissertation, I'm looking at both taught and research courses but they all seem to involve a dissertation at some point, 20,000 words seems the standard)
See, the applications tend to ask for the topic you intend to research for your dissertation so I'm going to have to settle on that before I go any further. I'm looking for any suggestions - anything that is fruitful to research, any area that has hardly been touched, an area that has perhaps been overly explored and needs an objective account of the material available, or something where not much has been written for a long time and the thinking could be brought up to date.
Another way to approach it is to pick a theme, such as masculinity, violence, race, sexuality etc. in film, or to examine, say, independent films, or the films of a particular writer/director/etc.
So any thoughts on a topic would be great. Here's what I have so far:
Adaptation - as well as being a movie buff, I'm also an avid reader and have been my whole life (even longer than I've been into film). I've always made a point of watching the movie adaptation of books I've read (or vice versa, reading the novel that a movie I've watched was based on) and I've thought much about the adaptation process - what needs to be kept, dropped, changed etc., what works in books that does or doesn't work in film, and it's a topic I'd much like to explore
Violence - or to be specific: killing. I've always noticed how often people die in films. There are very few films I've watched where someone hasn't died for some reason or another. I put it down to human nature having an impulse for destruction that can't usually be expressed in every day life and so it is put into film. A rather psychological approach that I think needs exploring.
Also - the relationship between violence and masculinity (I wrote an essay that I'm quite proud of on homoeroticism in Fight Club)
Horror films - this might go along with the violence topic but I'm interested in people's fascination with killing, blood, gore and monsters in movies. Also why most true horror films are often passed by as 'b-movies' and have always had a cult following rather than being comfortably mainstream (such as Hammer Horror and good old cheesy zombie movies). Might be relevant as recently horror does seem to have broken through as recent releases have done well at the box office (Dawn of the Dead remake, The Ring remake etc)
Specific director - I'd like to write something about a director that hasn't had much written about them, but I'm struggling to pick a good one. It's hard to strike a balance, i.e. find someone where enough has been written about them for me to go on without having to stalk them, but where little enough has been written that I can easily write something new. Tarantino came to mind but that might just be self-indulgence
So... any thoughts? Any advice?
I'm new to this forum and I saw that the Lobby was a place for introductions, so here I am introducing myself, a 21 year old aspiring writer and/or director from the UK.
But I also have some questions that I hope some people will be able to help me with:
I'm just finished university, I've now got a degree in History with Film Studies and I am considering continuing my education by doing a Masters course (Master of Arts/MA) next year. I most likely going to do one in one subject or another, at one uni or another, but I would like to one in Film.
So my first question is, has anyone here done an MA in film (at any uni in the world)?
And if so, what was it like? A good experience? Useful in any way?
And also - what topic did you do? (that is, for your dissertation, I'm looking at both taught and research courses but they all seem to involve a dissertation at some point, 20,000 words seems the standard)
See, the applications tend to ask for the topic you intend to research for your dissertation so I'm going to have to settle on that before I go any further. I'm looking for any suggestions - anything that is fruitful to research, any area that has hardly been touched, an area that has perhaps been overly explored and needs an objective account of the material available, or something where not much has been written for a long time and the thinking could be brought up to date.
Another way to approach it is to pick a theme, such as masculinity, violence, race, sexuality etc. in film, or to examine, say, independent films, or the films of a particular writer/director/etc.
So any thoughts on a topic would be great. Here's what I have so far:
Adaptation - as well as being a movie buff, I'm also an avid reader and have been my whole life (even longer than I've been into film). I've always made a point of watching the movie adaptation of books I've read (or vice versa, reading the novel that a movie I've watched was based on) and I've thought much about the adaptation process - what needs to be kept, dropped, changed etc., what works in books that does or doesn't work in film, and it's a topic I'd much like to explore
Violence - or to be specific: killing. I've always noticed how often people die in films. There are very few films I've watched where someone hasn't died for some reason or another. I put it down to human nature having an impulse for destruction that can't usually be expressed in every day life and so it is put into film. A rather psychological approach that I think needs exploring.
Also - the relationship between violence and masculinity (I wrote an essay that I'm quite proud of on homoeroticism in Fight Club)
Horror films - this might go along with the violence topic but I'm interested in people's fascination with killing, blood, gore and monsters in movies. Also why most true horror films are often passed by as 'b-movies' and have always had a cult following rather than being comfortably mainstream (such as Hammer Horror and good old cheesy zombie movies). Might be relevant as recently horror does seem to have broken through as recent releases have done well at the box office (Dawn of the Dead remake, The Ring remake etc)
Specific director - I'd like to write something about a director that hasn't had much written about them, but I'm struggling to pick a good one. It's hard to strike a balance, i.e. find someone where enough has been written about them for me to go on without having to stalk them, but where little enough has been written that I can easily write something new. Tarantino came to mind but that might just be self-indulgence
So... any thoughts? Any advice?
