Film 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 engages students in their own professional development. Throughout the module, you will take part in scheduled professional development sessions, for instance camera training, edit training, and CV workshops. Throughout the module there will be an emphasis on developing professional behaviours such as timekeeping, attendance, participation, organisation and communication. You will also have the opportunity to engage with students in other levels of study and learn to effectively work in a team.

• 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.

• FM1623 - Representation and Identity

  Alongside that crucial term difference, studying culture demands that we think about identity and, of course, representation. In keeping with our promise to cast the net very wide when it comes to what a ‘text’ is, this course gives you access to part of the incredible syllabus offered by our Film and Television unit.

  It’s important in the film and television industry to consider whose stories are being told, who is in creative roles behind the camera and how people are being represented. This module will explore identity politics and consider theory such as feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism and disability studies, among others. We will consider how certain identities are portrayed onscreen both historically and now.

• FM1627 - Creative Project Development

  This module – spread across two terms – focusses on what is needed to prepare a creative project before you begin filming it. You may have difficulty generating ideas, or maybe you have too many! How do you know which of your ideas is best told visually? And once you settle on an idea, how do you develop the idea so you can present your vision to others? You will study how projects are developed in the industry and will develop your own original short film idea.  

• FM1628 - Film and TV Analysis

  Uncover some of the core skills in analysing and reading film and television texts. This module focuses particularly on how we might understand film and television in terms of the context of its production and reception. We will carefully consider the importance of social, cultural and political contextual relationships with film and television products.

Compulsory

• 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.

• FM2640 - Professional Filmmaking

  This is a single term version of the two-term Advanced Filmmaking module. 

• 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.

Optional

• 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 creative your own experimental film. You will also examine connections between the economic, formal-aesthetic and social-political aspects of these alternative practices.

• 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.

• 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.

• FM2633 - Film and Television Genres

  Genre as a cultural category is central to the production, consumption and analysis of films and television shows.  This module explores a range of genres in film and television, some of them specific to one medium and others found across both. It examines how genre has been variously theorised and considers how we might approach genre from a range of different perspectives, including the industrial, the formal/stylistic, and the socio-cultural.  Case studies  include the Western, science fiction, crime fictions, horror, comedy, fantasy, reality TV and the Hollywood musical.

• EN2619 - Postcolonial Writing

  Postcolonial writing often comes out of difficult circumstances. Its writers sometimes risked everything to publish what they needed to say. These are the new pioneers of Literature in English, whose works would inspire and define the writings of the future. In this module, we get to grips with key concepts encountered in postcolonial studies, which have been developed to investigate phenomena including colonialism and resistance, multiculturalism and globalization, racism, and Islamophobia. Using these, we will explore works by important and fascinating writers, whose texts show a variety of perspectives on colonialism and its legacies, including those of imperialists and the peoples they tried to suppress.

• CW2604 - Screenwriting I

  The module introduces students to the professional practice and theory of screenwriting for film and television. Although the short film is the main focus of study, the classic, feature length narrative fiction film, television drama, and films from alternative and non- narrative traditions will also be considered. The module is substantially practice-based. All students will write an original screenplay to a maximum length of 10 pages. Students will also produce supporting documents, such as a Story Proposal, Beat Sheet, and Scene Outlines. The module also requires students to analyse films and scripts – including their own and contemporaries’ – from a screenwriting perspective. Students will produce analyses of key features of films and screenplays and write the screenplay for a short film.

• 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.

Compulsory

• 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.

• 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.  

• FM3643 - Dissertation Video Essay

  This final-year dissertation option allows you to research a topic of your choice (agreed with your supervisor) in order to produce an independent, supervised study project. Instead of a conventional written dissertation, you will present your research and formulate your arguments in the form of a videographic essay, utilising moving image to interrogate moving image. Please note – you must choose between Dissertation – Practice and Dissertation – Video Essay. 

Optional

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• FM3649 - Movies and Migration

  Films are border-crossing entities. From the early days of cinema, films, cast and crew have travelled internationally to find audiences and sometimes, to flee persecution or conflict. In this module, we will consider how contemporary cinema treats migration, diaspora, trafficking and related phenomena. We will do this in relation to a wide variety of genres, national cinemas and production styles.

• CW3607 - Screenwriting II

  This module enables students to explore and develop the theory and professional practice of contemporary screenwriting. By the end of the module, students who participate in weekly assignments will produce a marketable pitch deck/series bible for a film or TV project, along with the first 15-20 pages of the script. The module is substantially practice-based and requires students to analyse screen works and scripts (including their own and peers’) from a screenwriting perspective.