Film and Media Production BA (Hons)

Compulsory

• FM1624 - The Craft of Filmmaking

  With the central aim of developing your creative and technical skills, this module will introduce you to the vocabulary, concepts and equipment needed in film production. You will work collaboratively with your peers to train with our technical and academic staff. From directing to producing, cinematography to editing and sound recording and sound designing, you'll be introduced to professional practices and industry workflows as you develop your own craft. This is where you begin your journey learning the conventions and practices of filmmaking using our industry standard equipment.

• FM1625 - The Professional Self

  This module aims to engage you in your own professional development with workshop sessions on activities like CV workshops and networking simulations. Throughout the module there will be an emphasis on developing professional behaviours such as timekeeping, attendance, participation, organisation and communication. You will have the opportunity to engage with students in other levels of study and learn to effectively work in a filmmaking team. You will also be required to engage in your professional development on an individual basis, getting you to think about the gaps in your knowledge, skills and experience. 

• FM1626 - Technology, Industry and Form

  Sometimes we might become preoccupied with film and television as an artform, which is important. But we also need to consider developments in the industry in terms of economic models, and changes in technology and context. This module examines how film developed in terms of sound, colour, the development of the classical Hollywood system, and where we are today in terms of industry models. We will also look at television from the broadcast era through to contemporary streaming services today.

• SC1604 - Special Subjects A

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students’ ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

• SC1605 - Special Subjects B

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students' ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

Compulsory

• CO2606 - Media Genres

  This module will introduce you to the workings of various media genres and how these relate to themes of power, identify and culture and wider societal contexts.

• FM2639 - Advanced Filmmaking

  This module allows you to develop your film practice and production skills further. You will continue developing skills learnt in level 4 in relation to filmmaking. You'll enhance your directing, producing, cinematography, sound design, and editing skills, and you'll be introduced to other roles on a film set. Your practice will culminate in the production of a short film for which you will choose to specialise in your preferred craft.

  You will develop your critical appreciation of fictional filmmaking and the processes that are involved by engaging in practical work throughout the module. 

  This is a 30 credit module.

• FM2640 - Professional Filmmaking

  This is a single term version of the two-term Advanced Filmmaking module. This is a single term version of the two-term Advanced Filmmaking module to be taken by students studying abroad in the second term, or for students who are on the Film & Television studies degree pathway.

  This is a 15 credit module.

Optional

• FM2635 - Understanding the Film and TV Industries

  This module is a key element in the employability strand that runs through every level of our programme.  It focuses primarily upon the British context but it also pays careful attention to where the film and television industries in the UK are located in relation to the wider global nexus of production, distribution and exhibition.  Designed to prepare students for careers in the creative sector, it explores the challenges of negotiating a job market in which freelancing is the dominant mode of employment and long-standing patterns of discrimination continue to deny equal access to minoritised groups.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• FM2636 - Animation

  Firstly, this module will allow you to explore the medium specificity of animation, the range of techniques available, as well as different industries and their development. We will then go on to teach you a range of animation production skills which will allow you to create your own short form animation in a style and medium of your choosing.

• FM2641 - Alternative Film and Video Practices

  If you are interested in alternative or more experimental approaches to filmmaking, then this module is for you. Exploring a range of examples from distinct periods of filmmaking history, this module will also allow you to create your own experimental film. You will also examine connections between the economic, formal-aesthetic and social-political aspects of these alternative practices. 

  This is a 30 credit module. You are only able to take one 30 credit module in Year 2. 

• FM2631 - Critical Perspectives

  This module uses classic and more recent critical frameworks in film studies to provide readings and interpretations of film and television. Influential theories – such as the 'gaze', ideology and affect – will be explored in relation to particular film and television examples. Students will learn to debate the rival claims of different perspectives.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• FM2634 - World Cinemas

  Interested in exploring the dynamic relationships that exist between different cinemas from different places? Then this option is for you. We will consider a range of world cinemas from the Global South, Asia and beyond. We will consider global art and alternative cinemas as well as more mainstream practices, considering films in terms of globalisation and the transnational, as well as the regional and the national.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• JR2619 - Cross Platform Journalism

  This module aims to look at how journalists report on stories and issues about politics, arts and culture, including the use of data for researching stories of these kinds. It will develop skills and advance learning techniques in video, written, audio and photojournalism, and layout and design, as well as using equipment and software to competently produce stories that cut across politics and arts-based content across all platforms.  

• JR2615 - Media Law, Ethics and Regulation

  This module will develop an insightful working knowledge and critical appreciation of law and regulation necessary to practise professional journalism. Students will learn how to craft news reports within appropriate legal and ethical frameworks and navigate the potential conflicts and pressures journalists can face. Students will also gain an understanding of the law, court processes, and the hierarchy of the courts as they affect professional journalists.

• CO2608 - Global Communication

  On this module, students will examine the ways in which the globalisation of communication has transformed social, political and economic relations. 

• CO2607 - Popular Culture and Creative Industries

  This module explores how meanings are developed through contemporary cultural representations, practices and processes, with a focus on creativity and the creative industries sector. It examines popular culture and the rise of the creative and cultural sector in late modernity drawing on relevant sociological, media and cultural studies debates and theories. 

Compulsory

• FM3648 - Dissertation – Practice

  This is your final year film project which will provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate a high level of achievement in Film Production by specialising in your preferred craft. The specialisms mirror real world roles in the film and television industry, and allow you to explore your creativity in the role most suited to your talents and career aspirations. Whatever specialism you choose, you'll be mentored by your supervisor as you work to produce a film worthy of industry film festivals. Please note – you must choose between Dissertation – Practice and Dissertation – Video Essay.  

  This is a 45 credit module.

• CO3610 - Media and Communications Major Project

  This module enables you to plan, design and deliver a media practice‑based final project, showing what you can do from concept to completion. It also supports you to research, gather and analyse the right information, communicate your ideas clearly and evaluate how well your project works.

Optional

• FM3641 - Analysis of Film and Television Work Experience

  This module is unique in our portfolio in that it requires students to complete a 70-hour placement with a company/organisation in which they can apply the skills they have acquired over the course of the programme and to reflect critically on their experience.  With a taught component that is structured around the contributions of a range of industry speakers, it also gives students the opportunity to begin building professional networks and to hone their understanding of employment practices in the media industry.

  This is a 30 credit module.

• FM3644 - Gender and Sexuality

  This module is largely led by feminist theory and queer theory where we examine a range of identities onscreen in relation to gender and sexuality. A number of case studies are examined across the module from historical examples to more contemporary work.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• FM3645 - The Horror Film

  This module provides students with an in-depth examination of the horror genre across both film and television. Critical frameworks and theories relevant to the study of horror will be explored in depth across a range of case studies from historical and more contemporary contexts, as well as from a range of global contexts.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• FM3646 - Documentary: Image and Violence

  This module will give you the skills to analyse cinematic representations of violence and develop a critical awareness of different types of violence in relation to warfare and military technology. You will gain skills in developing insights into visual themes, narrative structures and techniques used in moving images’ engagements with violence. You will also have the opportunity to develop techniques for the use of found footage to research and communicate different types of violence.

  This is a 15 credit module.

• FM3651 - Movies and Migration

  This modular block introduces students to diverse film and documentary representations of migration and related phenomena, while situating these texts within key economic, social, legal and policy contexts, as well as transnational and world cinema frameworks. It also develops students’ capacity to critically interpret how representation, genre and film style shape on‑screen constructions of migration.

• PP5629 - Political and Strategic Comms

  The module aims to develop students' ability to apply strategic thinking to campaign planning while providing a strong theoretical understanding of political and strategic communication across various contexts. Students will also learn to trace changes and continuities in communication technologies and practices over time.

• CO3617 - Digital Media, Social Movements and Change

  This module gives you an in‑depth, critical understanding of how social movements emerge, succeed or fail to create social or political change, using real‑world cases to explore media tools, leadership, collective identity and governmental or international responses. You’ll build strategic thinking by analysing how historical and contemporary movements organise, mobilise and coordinate in the digital age.

• JR5622 - Fake News, Images and Websites

  The module aims to provide postgraduate students with a critical knowledge and understanding of how different disciplines have sought to make sense of political hoaxes, fake news or images and disinformation in as well as the contexts in which they flourish and are challenged. 

• CO3XXX - Working in the Creative and Cultural Industries

  Students will gain a critical overview of working in the creative and cultural industries from direct encounters with creative industry professionals, companies or institutions. Drawing on a variety of formats from invited speakers to visits to employers, the module will support students’ understanding of working independently in the creative and cultural industries and enable students to produce a professional creative portfolio for future employment.

• CO5604 - Media Production as Activism

  This module will enable students to develop a broad range of practical skills by using creative practice to respond to, critique and challenge social issues. It will foreground the role of the media in bringing together theory and practice, and in mobilising practitioners and communities around social and political issues. Through a range of local, national and international examples, both past and present, the module will enable students to understand the role of the media as a site of struggle and as a form of creative resistance. Students will develop a high-level knowledge of key concepts such as ‘cultural identity’, ‘resistance’ and ‘radical hope’ and how they connect with the theory and practice of media activism. The module will engage with postcolonial scholarship on media and activism and postcolonial activist media practice. The limitations and possibilities of media as a site of resistance will be evaluated.

• JR3615 - AI for Journalisms, Campaigners and Activists

  The module aims to prepare students for the changing nature of news and journalism, campaigning and activism as professionals increasingly appropriate and adapt AI to the workplace. It does so through an engagement with some of the key theoretical debates about the nature of the changing human-machine relationships, the legal and ethical issues arising, and the implications for notions of professionalisation and automation. The practical workshops expose students to a series of case studies and to working with some of the key tools and techniques to identify AI-generated images, check the veracity of machine-generated outputs by tracking them back to the source and identify gaps in news or campaigning materials