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The Project is sometimes daunting because here you really 'fly solo' after TMA4, but should be very rewarding also. It is usual to complete a BA Hons degree with a formal long written piece of work - usually called a dissertation. It demonstrates that you are capable of independent academic work and that you have the research and study skills to carry it out successfully. One of the most important skills is managing your own time and resources to the greatest effect - you have four months and limited resources (hopefully with this site and the course material not SO limited!
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The Project should be a piece of academic scholarship in the appropriate style and format. Your notional audience should now be academics in the field, not as for the usual OU TMAs ‘the informed, intelligent layman'. It should be your own original work addressing and engaging with arguments on British films and society of the period, or the result of independent research you may chose to do in that area - in archives, local records, interviews. Marking will reflect this.
Much of what I say below, and more can be found in Timothy Corrigan's A Short Guide to Writing about Film (see BOOKS)- so it's worth getting a copy - and in the Study Guide and the TMA and Project Guide 2002
Research Methods
Try to set yourself questions which you are seeking the answer to.These must be related to the course material and specifically involve some of the cultural/social/artistic/philosophical issues raised. You do not need to quote these in the project, but you definitely must in TMA04.
In the Project Guide Tony Aldgate gives extensive guidance. Do use the bibliographies in books and articles you read including the guide - it is important to get to grips with the literature on a topic to identify where the academic argument has got to, so you can step in with your contribution after assessing other writers' arguments. The BFI Library‘s computer system at Stephen Street is a great aid to locating articles. Also do not forget that contemporary newspaper and magazine reviews are good ‘evidence' for social values. See Resources also for OU Libr@ry and other links.
Research Diary
Please remember that you were asked to keep a Research Diary. It is a working tool to record what you have read/watched/thought interesting. It will help you manage your resources - over four months you must keep records and it is very easy to forget where to a good quote came from and to cite it correctly. But better start right away.
The Thesis of Your Project
Do build on your TMAs and on the course material, but you must go beyond this to greater detail. The course is a broad horizontal view: you should choose a spot on it for your project and sink a vertical mine shaft to hit the hidden gold. But remember to use the information, do not merely present it : do not give just description, but provide analysis and explanation, contextualisation and significance. Try to avoid reciting the plots of films - you can keep that to synopses in an appendix to which you can refer. Also avoid rolling the credits - that's for the appendices or footnotes..Do use visual analysis of films to make your points - see Timothy Corrigan's book.
Resources
Make a list of all the tapes/books/articles/ interviews you foresee you will need - be pragmatic and include only what you can get hold of and what you can deal with in four months plus some leeway as your research should lead you to new sources.
Do try to get interviews with persons relevant to your topic. If you first write indicating you are doing research and writing a dissertation you will usually find they are very helpful (there are contact directories in the BFI). Do go prepared with questions and a tape recorder. But start early and let them know politely that you have a deadline - last year a student did a project on Schlesinger but only got the interview after the deadline!.
References
It is vital to give exact references - author, book and page no(s). This is one of the main differences between an academic work and one of mere journalism. This is not just for markers to check on the accuracy of quotes, but for them, and other academics, to appreciate how you have built up your thesis and enable them to enter into a dialogue with it. Marks depend on this!.
You will have noted different ways of referencing academic work and have already tried these in previous courses and TMAs. N.B. Note howTony Aldgate does it - that is the Harvard author/date system - the easiest and neatest method for me, specially if you type or write long hand (if you word processs then the footnote system might be actually easier). You simply include in your Bibliography all the books and articles to which you refer in your text, and no others. Then the way to refer to a book or article is to give the author's (or editor's) surname followed by the date of publication and page in parenthesis within the text, for instance - 'as Murphy argues, (Murphy 1986 p.37)' for a quote from Robert Murphy's Sixties British Cinema if an author has produced more than one book in the same year and you wish to refer to them, the way to differentiate is by adding an ‘a' to the first book's year of publication and then ‘b' for the following one e.g. (Barr 1995a p.37) and (Barr 1995b p30). This is clumsy but very rarely happens - academics aren't as prolific as Barbara Cartland!
Footnotes
The Harvard system should eliminate most of the need for footnotes.. But footnotes do have a proper place and are most useful if used sparingly and to effect. I think footnotes are for asides not really relevant within the text, for expanding on sources and references which do not merit inclusion in the bibliography. It is up to you to choose to place these at the bottom of each page, or at the end, that is - foot or endnotes. Never, ever use both!
Bibliography
The usual format is authors' surnames in alphabetical order, initial or first name, date of publication, title of book or article (in italics or underlined), publisher and (if not UK) town and country. Always identify if the ‘author' is in fact the editor by adding ‘ed.' after the surname, for instance - (Barr C. ed. 1986). See the Bibliography at the end of the Study Guide.
Articles. After the author and title of the article give the name of the publication, its date, the issue and volume numbers and the page reference(s). In some cases you will only be able to give the date. If the article is unsigned list under its title alphabetically.
You should list separately essays in collections referred to in the text. Do this by citing the author's name and initial/first name followed by the book, for instance ‘Petley J. The Lost Continent in Barr C.ed. 1986 All Our Yesterdays'. You should nevertheless list the book under ‘Barr C. ed.' also. Look at the Bibliography on p223 of the Guide.
Do list ALL the sources you refer to. But not the books/articles you located but never got round to reading or you thought not very relevant. The bibliography is like the recipe for a dish!
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