General Information 

Student Portal

In the Student Portal you will find information that is good to know as a new student as well as your student email account. We ask you to use this email address for all your correspondence. Emails are sent using the Canvas-platform email system.

Digital environment: Canvas

The Gothenburg University used the digital platform Canvas as the basic digital tool for learning. You have access to all your courses on Canvas upon enrolment in courses. All information about courses, all briefs and study material, as well as guides to equipment and regulations for production, are always published on this platform. To pass exam-moments students are also required to submit all their audio-visual or textual exercises on Canvas. 

Your film courses on Canvas:

MAF11A: https://canvas.gu.se/courses/84027

MAF12A: https://canvas.gu.se/courses/84028

Digital environment: Time Edit

Detailed schedules for courses are always published and updated on the digital platform TimeEdit.  Enter the code for your course (MAF11A, MAF12A) in the Time Edit search function to see the specific schedule. Information about locations for teaching can be found here too. 

The Premises

HDK-Valand is located at Vasagatan 50 and Kristinelundsgatan 6-8 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most of the film classes will take place at Vasagatan 50. The MFA in film has its own corridor in the HDK-Valand faculty at Vasagatan 50. In this corridor you will find working spaces where you can work with your own laptop, as well as several computers and editing suits.

Study Counselling

If you have questions about your studies, educational support, approved study leave, entry requirements, etc. you are welcome to contact the study counsellors via studievagledning@hdk-valand.gu.se. Find more information about Study counselling at the University of Gothenburg on the Student Portal.

Student Health

It is important that you are feeling well and that you feel that you can manage your studies. You can contact the student health service and there are also various resources that you can use on your own. Read more about student health in the Student Portal.

Sustainable Student Life

Course content

MAF12A: Reflection & Process I

The MAF12A course aims to expand the student's understanding of developing, documenting and communicating critical reflections. Through examples and exercises the student develops skills to integrate these reflections into their own practice on a continuous basis, thereby establishing the importance of iterative written and/or audio-visual practices. Drawing from the practices and processes of other artists and filmmakers, the course encourages the student to identify aspects relevant to their own process and practice. The course develops the student's skills to research, collect, assess, and reflect on relevant references for their own artistic practice. By exploring various artistic and/or filmic methods, the student also enhances their understanding of the connection between the ethics of practice and its aesthetic expression.

Teaching Staff

Course Schedule

This is the overall schedule for the fall semester. Detailed schedules of your courses are always published on our digital tool Time Edit. Fill in the course code MAF12A.

Learning Activities

Teaching takes place through lectures, seminars, workshops, and individual and/or group exercise with peer to peer feedback sessions. Teaching moments are strategically timed to coincide with specific phases of the process, guiding students in their inquiry-led processes.

Individual Learning

Students are expected to independently engage in their inquiry-led processes and the development for their inquiry-led film projects. Students are expected to take the initiative in directing their own inquiries, and are encouraged to proactively seek out knowledge, explore their interests, and take ownership of their learning journey.

Sessions

Teaching ‘sessions’ will be organized which will have a focus on critical analysis of references, as well as the engagement with critical enquiry-led practices. The sessions, 12 in total, will take the form of seminars, workshops, group discussions, and one-on-one consultations. Each session revolves around one or more assignments that the student has to work. Please note that the weeks in between sessions are being kept free of teaching for students to prepare for the sessions. This is a full-time master’s program and therefore expects the workload between the intensives to be substantial. 

The Process Notebook

Students will maintain a process notebook to document their research and development progress for their inquiry-led film projects. The purpose of the process notebook is to track and advance one's inquiry-led process. Throughout the course, students will be introduced to several short exercises at specific intervals. These exercises will focus on critically analyzing references, generating ideas, and experimenting with audiovisual processes in a playful and creative manner, allowing students to flex their cinematic muscles. Some exercises will be completed individually, while others will be conducted during class sessions. Students will present their process notebook exercises during the midterm and final examination presentations for the course. 

MA Forum Seminar Sessions

The MA Forum is where Master students meet across programs (Film, Literary Composition and Photography) and are introduced to foundational concepts and theories that are valuable for developing a critical, artistic practice within an artistic research environment.

MA Forum runs over two semesters, and consists of eight to nine MA Forum Sessions. Each MA Forum Session spans two hours. By means of invited guests who will deliver presentations on their respective research endeavors, students will be exposed to diverse facets within the realm of artistic research. These presentations will invariably be accompanied by group discussions among the students, fostering a comprehensive exploration of the topics at hand. This year a small number of the MA Forum sessions will be held as public lectures.

Preparation: For each MA Forum we ask students to do preparatory work;  Students can i.e. be asked to read articles, to watch film clips or to think about a proposed question. The workload for this preparatory work will be around three hours for each MA Forum session. Students receive a brief with all information about each MA Forum session ± two weeks in advance of the MA Forum date. In this brief one will find all information about the preparation we ask one to do for the session. Reflection: After each MA Forum students are asked to write a short reflection, in which one is always asked to connect the propositions posed during the MA Forum back to one's own practice and inquiry-led project. The reflections are the examinable elements of the MA Forum Seminars.

Peer Learning

A major part of the learning will exist out of student presentations and peer-feedback sessions. Students will present visual exercises and propositions for inquiry-led practices at multiple moments during the semester. On these occasions students will also be asked to provide feedback to other students' work.

Technical Support

HDK-Valand offers technical support for all students in the form of available equipment as well as the possibility to get tutorials. Film equipment-lists, as well as technical tutorials and guides for all students at the HDK-Valand film unit are gathered in the AKV post-production Course on Canvas. This is an open-source course made available to support individual learning. You can find the course here: https://canvas.gu.se/courses/30491 

Join the course by clicking on the 'join the course' button in the upper right corner of the main page of the course. The course is divided into four parts so either navigate to the part you are interested in through ‘Modules’. If you have problems getting access to the course contact course responsible Samuel Malm, samuel.malm@akademinvaland.gu.se

Studios and spaces

HDK-Valand has screening rooms, sound, and film studios, as well as a grading booth and several editing suites that are available to all HDK-Valand students. Students can book these spaces through the HDK-Valand booking system for students. For some studios a short introduction moment needs to be scheduled to become eligible to make a booking. More information about this can be found in your MAF11A and MAF12A Course on Canvas.

Learning Objectives

MAF12A - Reflection & Process I (15 hp)

The course aims to expand the student's understanding of developing, documenting and communicating critical reflections. Through examples and exercises the student develops skills to integrate these reflections into their own practice on a continuous basis, thereby establishing the importance of iterative written and/or audio-visual practices. Drawing from the practices and processes of other artists and filmmakers, the course encourages the student to identify aspects relevant to their own process and practice. The course develops the student's skills to research, collect, assess, and reflect on relevant references for their own artistic practice. By exploring various artistic and/or filmic methods, the student also enhances their understanding of the connection between the ethics of practice and its aesthetic expression.

The criteria by which you will be examined at the end of this course. You must demonstrate that you have satisfied all the following.

Knowledge and understanding

• describe artistic and/or film practices expressed through written and/or audio visual modes
• identify themes, questions, methods, and modes in inquiry-based artistic and/or film practices
• discuss the relation between the film process and written and/or audio-visual methods

Competence and skills

• communicate processes and methods employed in artistic and/or film practices in their own work or that of others
• evaluate processes associated with artistic and/or film practices, in their own work and that of others
• identify the connections between ethics and aesthetics in different artistic and/or filmic processes through written and/or visual methods

Judgement and approach

• evaluate possibilities and limitations of different methods, mediums and processes in inquiry-led artistic and/or film practices
• assess methods and processes of other artists and/or filmmakers and reflect on them critically through written and/or audio visual methods.

Assignments

Towards the midway presentations:

Assignments Connected to Sessions:

Assignment for Session 2: Formulating a subject of Interest

Assignment for Session 2: Selecting your ‘Anchor Image’

Assignment for Session 3: MA Forum Reflection #1: Process

Assignment for Session 4: Process Analysis

Assignment for Session 5: MA Forum Reflection: 3 Questions.

Independent Assignments:

Assignment 1: Finding a form for ones Process Notebook

Assignment 2: Start Mapping the Field

Assignment 3: Morning Pages (free writing)

Assignment 4: Prepare a Presentation 

Towards the end-examination:

Assignments Connected to Sessions:

Assignment for Session 7: MA Forum Reflection

Assignment for Session 8: Editing 

Assignment for Session 9: Camera - Go out and engage with the World

Assignment for Session 10: MA Forum Reflection

Assignment for Session 11: Feedback on MA2 exam

Independent Assignments:

Assignment 1: Mapping in Thirds

Assignment 2: Presenting your research

Modes of Examination 

Each MAF12A session is an official ‘exam-moment’. There are twelve examination occasions in the course. 

The learning outcomes are assessed through

• audio-visual project work
• oral and visual presentations
• written reflections on their own work and that of others. 

Students always have to submit their assignments via CANVAS.

Submission of complements to a carried out examination assignment may be allowed.The possibility to complement an examination is assessed individually and decided by the examiner. This is done through the tasks determined by the examiner and within a specified time frame.

In case of absence, examination through an equivalent written report is arranged.

If a student who has twice received a failing grade for the same examination component wishes to change examiner ahead of the next examination session, such a request should be made to the department in writing and should be approved by the department unless there are special reasons to the contrary (Chapter 6 Section 22 of the Higher Education Ordinance). 

If a student has received a recommendation from the University of Gothenburg for study support for students with disabilities, the examiner may, where it is compatible with the learning outcomes of the course and provided that no unreasonable resources are required, decide to allow the student to sit an adjusted exam or alternative form of assessment. 

In the event that a course has ceased or undergone major changes, students are to be guaranteed at least three examination sessions (including the ordinary examination session) over a period of at least one year, but no more than two years after the course has ceased/been changed. The same applies to internships and professional placements (VFU), although this is restricted to just one additional examination session.

Re-examinations

Students will be informed of their course grade within 15 days of the end of the course. Students who did not sit the examination or who fail will be offered the following opportunities for re-examination:

• Third Friday in March
• Third Friday in August
• Second Friday in December

In addition to the above dates, the course director may offer more opportunities for re-examination.