WJEC - A2 Film Studies FM4 specimen exam questions

1. GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 15
CYD-BWYLLGOR ADDYSG CYMRU
Tystysgrif Addysg Gyffredinol
Uwch Gyfrannol/Uwch
WELSH JOINT EDUCATION COMMITTEE
General Certificate of Education
Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced
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.

2. GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 16
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
• Iranian Cinema 1990 – present
• Mexican 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
• Neo-Realism
• Surrealism
• 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]

3. GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 17
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]

4. GCE AS/A FILM STUDIES 18
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?
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?
28.
'After repeated viewings, Morvern Callar remains a strange, unknowable film, more dreamlike than a narrative realist film'. How useful and accurate do you find this comment?
[30]
[30]
[30]