FI359-15 Biopics

Department: SCAPVC - Film & Television Studies
Level: Undergraduate Level 3
Module leader: Stephen Gundle
Credit value: 15
Module duration: 10 weeks
Assessment: 100% coursework
Study location: University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Introductory description

Biopics (biographical pictures) are one of the most enduring cinematic genres. A vital part of cinema's contribution to public history, they have frequently been awarded prizes (around 20 per cent of Oscar winning films) while also being criticised for their falsehoods and formulaic nature. Initially centred on great white men, the genre diversified and evolved, spawning variations and subgenres including the showbiz biopic, the female and the feminist biopic, the outlaw biopic, the hagiopic and so on. Recent critical interest has highlighted biopics as a troublesome genre at the intersection of fiction and history. As such the genre implicates issues of historiography, collective and cultural memory, and biography.
This module will explore the historical development of the biopic, the issues at stake in the genre, its diversification and globalisation. It will consider the questions involved in bringing a life to the screen and the different strategies taken by producers and directors over time to achieve their purposes. It will examine the importance of casting and of star performance to the success or otherwise of a biopic.
Students will study a number of foundational film texts as well considering departures from and variations on the classical model. They will look at dramatising and story-telling strategies, tropes and conventions, and forms of contemporary address.

Module web page

Module aims

The module will:

familiarise students with the biopic genre ands its variants over time;
explore the strategies and devices that have been employed to bring a life to the screen;
consider the issues at stake in biopics in terms of understandings of the past, national identity, public education and
entertainment;
offer students the opportunity to conceive a biopic project of their own.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Biopics will cover a range of topics like the following:

Introduction. Abraham Lincoln as biopic template
The approximation biopic: Pablo Larrain's Jacqueline Kennedy
Bringing the past into the present: Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette
The biopic as critical arena: Pancho Villa viewed from Hollywood and Mexico
Horrible histories: Representing Hitler and Mussolini
The showbiz biopic past and present
Star performance and the biopic: Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo
Student biopic projects I
Student biopic projects II
The biopic and film art: Mishima-A Life in Four Chapters

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

describe, understand and contextualise the historical development of the biopic
understand and interrogate the notion of film biography
situate the biopic in relation to a range of discursive, historiographical and cultural currents
understand the core debates and cultural frameworks that underscore scholarship on the biopic genre
understand the range of practices that have widened the nature of biopics since 2000.

Indicative reading list

D. Cartmell and A. Polasek (eds), A Companion to the Biopic, 2019
T. Brown and B. Vidal (eds), The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture, 2014
D. Bingham, Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre, 2010
N. Cloarec, ‘Recasting the Iron Lady into Flesh and Blood: Gender Performance and Politics in Three Thatcher Biopics’, Biography, 41:3, 2018, pp.630-53
W.Epstein & R. Barton Palmer (eds), Invented Lives, Imagined Communities: The Biopic and American national Identity, 2016
G. Custen, Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History, 1992
E. Cheshire, Bio-Pics: A Life in Pictures (2015)
R. Burgoyne & J. Trafton, ‘Haunting in the historical biopic: Lincoln’, Rethinking History, 19:3, 2015, pp.525-35
S. Samuels (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Abraham Lincoln, 2012

Subject specific skills

This module develops skills of audio-visual literacy, through close textual and/or contextual analysis in relation to the moving image and sound. It may also develops understandings of historical, theoretical and conceptual frameworks relevant to screen arts and cultures.

Transferable skills

critical and analytical thinking in relation audio-visual and printed texts
independent research skills
team work
clarity and effectiveness of communication, oral and written
accurate, concise and persuasive writing
audio-visual literacy

Study time

Type	Required
Lectures	9 sessions of 1 hour (5%)
Seminars	9 sessions of 2 hours (10%)
Tutorials	1 session of 1 hour (1%)
Demonstrations	9 sessions of 2 hours (10%)
Online learning (independent)	9 sessions of 1 hour (5%)
Private study	95 hours (52%)
Assessment	32 hours (18%)
Total	182 hours

Private study description

independent research and class preparation

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A

	Weighting	Study time	Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Biopic project	100%	32 hours	No
1 x biopic project of 5000 words (100%) Students will prepare a project constituting a proposal for a hypothetical biopic. This should take one of the following two forms: A. a proposal for a screen biography of a subject who has already had one or more biopic treatments; B. a proposal for a screen biography of a subject who has not been treated up to now in a biopic. The project must consist of the following compulsory and optional parts. Compulsory: a. An analytical review of two or more published biographies of the subject. b. An analysis of previous biopics or screen representations of the subject (where these exist and are accessible). c. A review of relevant academic works that place the subject in their historical, political or cultural context. d. An explanation and justification of the period or moments of the subject's life that will be treated and/or the particular angle and purpose of the biopic. e. A discussion of the aesthetic choices that will determine the style of the film. Optional (you should include two of these): f. A discussion of casting options and the challenges involved in the choice. g. A discussion of which real, composite or invented secondary characters will play a role. h. A reflection on any autobiographical works by the subject. i. The target audiences and marketing strategy of the film.
Reassessment component is the same

Feedback on assessment

Written feedback on assessed work and oral feedback by appointment.

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

Year 4 of UHPA-RP43 Undergraduate Hispanic Studies with Film Studies

This module is Optional for:

Year 3 of UFIA-W620 Undergraduate Film Studies
Year 4 of UFIA-W621 Undergraduate Film Studies (with Year Abroad)
Year 4 of UFIA-QW26 Undergraduate Film and Literature (with Study Abroad)

This module is Option list A for:

Year 3 of UFIA-QW25 Undergraduate Film and Literature
Year 4 of UFRA-R1WA Undergraduate French with Film Studies