FT2WD: Wildlife Documentary: Ecology and Representation

Module code: FT2WD

Module provider: Film, Theatre and TV; School of Arts and Comm Design

Credits: 20

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Adam O'Brien , email: adam.obrien@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr David Foster, email: d.foster@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded: IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE FT2FFC OR TAKE FT2IPC (Compulsory)

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to give students critical insights into the intersections of filmmaking and ecology through a series of case studies. Students will address key questions concerning how films and television programmes address and/or seek to make an intervention into ecological challenges through creative choices that are shaped by and speak to production, industrial and socio-cultural contexts. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Deploy relevant film- and television-related terminology confidently 
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the key critical debates about screen representations of ecological issues 
3. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of a range of ways that filmmakers have explored ecological ideas and related formal, stylistic and thematic concerns 
4. Analyse individual films and television programmes, informed by relevant critical and theoretical perspectives 

Module content

The module will be structured by a number of relevant critical issues, introduced in lectures and explored through in-depth seminar discussion focused on selected case studies. Case studies may include: Nature documentaries such as March of the Penguins and Blackfish in relation to matters of style, technology, documentary practices and modes of address; climate change films such as An Inconvenient Truth or Ice and the Sky in relation to issues of authorship and advocacy; David Attenborough’s landmark BBC series (The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, etc.) in relation to public service broadcasting; films such as Grizzly Man and HORN in relation to performance, reflexivity and hybridity. There may be a Q&A with a guest speaker from the creative industries, and there will be tutorials for the summative assessment. (Note: this outline content is indicative, and may vary in practice.) 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Recorded lectures will be used to establish contexts and relevant vocabulary, as well as to introduce issues for discussion and debate. In person seminar-based discussion will concentrate on close analysis of case studies and discussion of critical approaches. Seminars and lectures will require preparation in the form of screenings and specified critical reading. There may be a Q& A with a guest speaker from the creative industries. 

Study hours

At least 15 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.