Theory and History of Film and Audiovisual Culture

Do you enjoy watching movies and TV series and discussing them with friends? Are you interested in the circumstances surrounding the creation of your favorite comedies or horror films, how storytelling works, and how to analyze style in film? The Film and Audiovisual Culture Theory and History program will answer your questions. You will learn to analyze and interpret films, understand the process, place, and time of their creation, as well as their audience and critical reception.

“We see film from within.”

You will take courses in theory and history, both general and specialized. You will learn to find and utilize diverse sources of information, work with oral history methods, and use secondary literature. You will try your hand at being a film critic. You will be able to choose courses on the cinematography of Central Europe, Latin America, and the Far East, courses on cinematographic technique, film stars and costumes, and documentary and animated filmmaking. We also offer research courses, both analytical (e.g., on style and narrative in Czech film or the filmmaking of Wes Anderson) and historical (e.g., on Czech animated film or the history of cinema). You can also enroll in practical and project-based courses, for example, on television, the film industry, and film archiving.

In a series of follow-up bachelor seminars, we will guide you step by step through the process of creating and defending your final thesis. High demands are placed on the independence of your work and the originality of the texts you submit. Incidentally, you will improve your English by attending lectures given by guest teachers – world-renowned experts in their field, whom we invite to teach block courses. At these lectures, you will meet talented students who come to us from different countries and continents to study the English-language program Culture, Media and Performative Arts.

You will also learn a lot about history, especially European history, as film research cannot be separated from the history of politics and culture. The Czech-Slovak student and teaching environment is a matter of course. 

We invite experts from the field, specialists from Czech and Slovak art schools, media and production workplaces, and foreign universities. With the support of the Erasmus program, you can study at another European university for an entire semester; the offer includes, for example, universities in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Poland.

We develop relationships with film producers, distributors, and cinema operators, and our team in charge of internships will regularly provide you with a wide range of work experience opportunities. 

Is this program right for you?

Answer the following questions:

Do you wonder how films are made and how different film professions contribute to the process?

Do you attend film screenings and festivals?

Would you like to be able to analyze films?

Do you enjoy reading what critics think about films and TV shows, or how viewers understand them?

Do you attend film club screenings, or visit archive or art house cinemas in your area?

Do you follow film magazines such as Film a doba, Cinepur, Iluminace, or Kino-Ikon?

Do you agree with some of these points? Then submit your application!

Practical training

Some of the courses are directly focused on practical experience. For example, you can form a team with your classmates, which will be given a program slot at the Scala University Cinema for one semester and fill it with a film series according to your own dramaturgy. This includes promotion, moderating discussions, and other attractions. As part of your professional practice, you can complete internships in the media, in a television studio, on film or festival crews, or in a film archive. You can work in the cultural sections of newspapers and magazines and publish reviews. All of this will enrich your professional CV, gain experience, and expand your social capital.

Further information

http://fav.phil.muni.cz/

Graduates of Film Theory and History and Audiovisual Culture at Masaryk University tend to be very successful in their careers. They lecture to students at universities and secondary schools, manage creative teams in a wide variety of workplaces, and find employment in the media, film industry, and advertising. You may also see them on screen as television reporters. They also edit magazines, publish books and reviews, manage cinemas and festivals, and preserve cultural heritage in film archives. Even during your studies, a wide range of opportunities will open up to you, such as internships, and how you use them will depend solely on your individual talent and hard work. 

You can strengthen your skills with a suitable interdisciplinary combination. The range of options is very wide, and combinations with media studies and journalism or foreign language studies are traditionally successful.

This programme is taught in Czech.

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the Field of Study Examination. Applicants may also be admitted based on other criteria, see Admission without the Entrance Examination. The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations.

You can file your e-applications for studies from 1 November to 28 February.
Field of study examinations will be held from 22 April to 27 April.
The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations. Applicants applying for the major study plan and minor study plan in a combined study must comply with the conditions for admission into both plans.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this degree programme, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination

This examination is intended to check the applicants’ knowledge of the given field of study. It is done in the form of a written test. In case additional entrance examinations are held, they may be done in the form of oral interviews.

Basic description of the Field of Study Examination:
Questions about the theory of film and media, historical and contemporary Czech and world cinematography, and comprehension of a scholarly text in English.

Sample Field of Study Test 1
Sample Field of Study Test 1: Answer Key
Sample Field of Study Test 2
Sample Field of Study Test 2: Answer Key

Admission without the entrance examination

You may be exempt from the entrance examination based on participation in a national round of Students’ Professional Activities (SOČ) in the fields of History and Theory of Culture, Arts, and Artistic Creation.
Please upload the officially certified documents directly to your e-application in the section Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination no later than 28 February.

Criteria for evaluation

• Total number of points in the field of study test: 100
• Total number of points in the knowledge part: 80
• Total number of points in the English text comprehension: 20
• Limit for successfully passing the field of study test: 50

Recommended literature

Essential:

• BORDWELL, David – THOMPSONOVÁ, Kristin (2011): Umění filmu. Úvod do studia formy a stylu. Praha: Nakladatelství Akademie múzických umění, především kapitoly 1, 2, 3 a 12 (s. 21-155, 585-633).
• LUKEŠ, Jan (2013): Diagnózy času: český a slovenský poválečný film (1945-2012). Praha: Slovart.

Further recommended literature:

• BORDWELL, David – THOMPSONOVÁ, Kristin (2007): Dějiny filmu. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny.
• SZCZEPANIK, Petr (2004): Úvod. Nová filmová historie, kulturní dějiny a archeologie médií. In: SZCZEPANIK, Petr (ed): Nová filmová historie. Antologie současného myšlení o dějinách kinematografie a audiovizuální kultury. Praha: Herrmann a synové, s. 9-41.
• Časopisy (od roku 2014): Cinepur, Film a doba, Iluminace, Kino-Ikon.

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Minimum score and numbers of accepted applicants in past years

After completing your bachelor's degree, you can continue your studies at our school at the master's level. Here, the emphasis is on independent research and internships abroad, and courses on film poetics and the film industry are also important.