Digital Film BA(Hons)

Year 1 

In year 1, the course will deal with classic and contemporary debates from film theory and examine a range of genres. 

Modules

• Filmmaking Fundamentals

  In this module you will accrue and develop key competencies in filmmaking that will underpin the practice strand of your degree. Teaching will take primarily through workshops with weekly formative tasks. Technical inductions of key equipment will be contained within the teaching which will cover areas such as camera operation, field and studio sound recording, basic light principles, and an introduction to offline editing. You will be assessed on short filmed task that will demonstrate proficiently core filmmaking practices.

• Key Issues in Screen Studies

  This module will introduce you to major concepts used for the analysis of screen texts, by drawing on elements from the disciplines of film studies, media studies and cultural studies. Each week you will focus on one particular concept, such as narrative, editing, cinematography, ideology, representation and so on. You will be encouraged to consider the ways in which these concepts are useful in analysing different screen media.

• Making a Film Manifesto: Practice, Art, Industry

  This module explores the work of British and international filmmakers whose work influences contemporary cinema. You'll reflect on the relationship between knowledge and creativity through film, analysing the ideals, approaches and motivations that underpin such filmmaking, and exploring  the conceptual and contextual implications that such work provokes.

• Production and Practice Management

  This module will introduce you to the collaborative processes and practice of work in group production. You will learn key roles within a production, develop a planning process and understand the workflow of a production. Formative and summative assessment for the module is designed around collaborative, team-working skills along with social skills, personal and group organisation and professionalism. Furthermore, the delivery and standard of a completed filmed project will be assessed a central indicator of group outcomes.

• Conceptualising Digital Film

  This module will introduce you to key theoretical debates related to the transformation of film in the digital age. With the advent of digital technologies, the physical use of celluloid as the essential underpinning of the ‘cinematic’ has been challenged. Furthermore, the emergence of the internet, smart phones, social media and many other digital phenomena are revolutionising the production, distribution and exhibition of film. In this module you will interrogate the very meaning ‘film’ and ‘cinema’ in the digital context.

• Creative Approaches to Screenwriting

  You will be introduced to a range of approaches for finding and developing stories suitable for the screen, from the traditional to the innovative. You will also examine a diverse range of writers and film makers and their relationship between the screenplay, film production, and audience. Through practical exercises and critical discussion, you will explore the creation of meaning through form and content within short films, and become aware of voice, approach, and the type of films it is possible to produce.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.

Year 2 

In year 2, you will expand your use and knowledge of digital production and post-production techniques and consider the essential features of the film festival experience. You will be able to choose from option modules to tailor the course to your interests.

Modules

• Writing the Short Film
• Digital Post Production
• Making the Short Film
• Contemporary Film Theory and Analysis

Options*

• Work placement and professional practice
• Identities and the Screen
• Videogame Cultures
• Creating Reality: Documentary Filmmaking
• Hollywood Cinema: From Blockbusters to Indiewood
• Practical Cinematography
• Writing the Feature Film
• Philosophy on Screen
• Film Festivals

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year 

In year 3, you take the professional practice work placement module. You will work on a major project and the final year dissertation.

Modules

• Project Development and Professional Practice
• Research Development
• Major Project
• Dissertation

Meet the team 

Dr Dario Llinares, course leader

Dr Dario Llinares is Principal Lecturer in contemporary screen media. He gained his PhD from the University of Leeds in 2009 with a dissertation on the representations of the astronaut in contemporary Western culture. He has also published research on masculinity in British prison films, the cinema as time machine, austerity as cultural discourse, and the history and economics of the movies. His current research focuses on the philosophy of cinema experience in the digital age.

He is also the co-founder and co-host of the popular and well-respected Cinematologists podcast. The Cinematologists has become required listening for cinephiles in the UK and internationally and has become the basis of a new strand of research into audio media use in academia. In this context Dario has recently co-edited the first major interdisciplinary work on the medium entitled Podcasting: New Aural Cultures and Digital Media.

Podcast: Listen to Dario talking about his own film podcast, as well as the subjects explored on the Digital Film course.

Also available via Spotify or iTunes.

Other staff teaching on the course include: Dr Holly Chard, Robert Greens, Phil Connolly, Jenny Linton, Aris Mousoutzanis, Ewan Kirkland, Douglas Mcnaughton and Emma Withers.

Dr Dario Llinares is a cultural critic who produces and co-hosts the popular Cinematologists podcast.

Facilities

Our comprehensive film facilities include cameras, lighting, sound and full service post-production tools - everything that you will need to realise your ideas.

Our Apple MAC labs have industry-standard software for visual/sound editing and screenwriting, including Adobe Creative Suite, Pro Tools, Avid Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve and Final Draft. We are an Avid-authorised training centre for Media Composer and Pro Tools (the industry’s preferred editing platform).

We continually add to our impressive list of technical hardware. Currently we use Black Magic and Sony 4K Cameras, Sound Devices audio equipment as well as a wide array of professional lighting and grip equipment. Our production equipment can facilitate location film production of every type and genre including music video, documentary animation and drama production.

Our teaching spaces at our Edward Street building are equipped with 4K interactive screens, iMac 5K Retina 27" workstations and includes a high spec Dolby Atmos 4K screening room.

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies, although we have tried to keep this to a minimum. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Media are listed here.

• There will be opportunities to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but you can budget approximately £30–£700 for these. The nature of the costs vary from provisions for a packed-lunch to flight and accommodation costs for international field trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
• Typically, practice-based courses incur more costs than text-based subjects. These costs are normally associated with specialist equipment and materials for making work and for the public presentation of work.
• Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning. Students may choose to buy their own specialist equipment, these may include cameras, or computers and software. Budgets can range from £50–£2,000. Buying specialist equipment is best undertaken in consultation with our academic and technical staff. This expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
• For some courses you will need to budget up to £200 for printing and publishing. Photography courses may incur higher costs (£500–£2,000) when printing and framing images of professional standard for public presentation.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.
• For some courses you will need to budget up to £150 for stationery.
• Final-year graduation shows are opportunities to present your final, independent project work to the public. Practice-based courses will typically incur higher costs. Depending on the specific nature of your final project you will need to budget between £20–£2,500. 

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

City campus map