Film and Screen Studies BA(Hons)

How this course is delivered

Students have a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that keeps everyone safe, connected and involved in university life. Lots of opportunities are provided to interact and engage with lecturers and other students. The balance between online and on-campus learning varies by module, and in response to the external environment.

Year 1

Modules

• Screen Histories 1

  In this module you will explore a range of screen practices and screen histories from the Victorian period to the emergence of the ‘Movie Palace’ to the rise and decline of the Hollywood studio system in the post-war period. You will be introduced to the scientific, technological, economic and cultural factors which led to the development of the film industry. The module draws attention to the continuities and discontinuities that are found across these histories, and presents a critical perspective on the methodologies used to understand the past.

• Screen Industries

  In this module you will look at the industrial and professional aspects of screen media institutions, and issues of economics, politics, creativity and cultural labour. You will be introduced to theories of political economy and draw on contemporary examples across a range of areas including film, television, video games, and digital media. You will be taught with input from industry practitioners. Consideration is also given to the pressing issue of media convergence.

• 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.

• Screen Histories 2

  In this module you will examine screen practices during the global development and expansion of screen cultures in the latter half of the twentieth century, and the early twenty-first century. You will explore the emergence and development of post-war screen media, such as television, the personal computer and networked digital technologies, and explore issues of public service broadcasting, the video nasties debate, the emergence of the Internet, and the impact of smart screens on communication and culture. Attention is drawn to the continuities and discontinuities across these screen cultures’ distinct histories.

• Key Theories in Screen Studies

  This module will provide you with a wide range of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of screen media. Structured classes and key readings introduce a topic each week – such as Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis and screen theory, audience studies, authorship – and seminar exercises will enable you to understand key concepts, debates and theories of popular culture and the production of meanings of screen texts and their social relevance.

• Screen Consumption

  This module will provide you with an introductory survey of various critical approaches to screen consumption. The module surveys changing audience engagement with screens and the relationships between consumption and production. It demonstrates the changing critical models around audiences and screen consumption, drawing on a range of screen forms including cinema, television, digital games, and social media. You will be introduced to various methodological approaches to analysing screen consumption through weekly research methods workshops exploring different approaches to analysing audience activities.

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 Student View.

Our Film and Screen Studies students talk about what they learn, the breakdown of theory vs practice, living in Brighton and the high level of support they get from the course team.

Year 2

Modules

• Identities and the Screen
• Beyond the Screen
• Screens and Power
• Contemporary Issues in Screen Studies 

Options*

• Videogames Cultures
• Philosophy Onscreen
• Editing
• Hollywood Cinema: From Blockbusters to Indiewood
• Film Festivals
• Soundworks
• Creative Use of the Camera
• Photography in the Community
• TV Genres
• Screen Authorship
• Cooking, Dining and the Screen
• Writing the Feature Film
• Industry Practice and Work Placement
• Exploring the Archive
• Creating Reality: Documentary Filmmaking
• Practical Cinematography

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

Second year students on the Media in Practice module using the studios and editing suite.

Final year

Modules

• Dissertation
• International Screen Industries
• Final Year Workshop

Options*

• Framing Women
• The Cultural Politics of Screening Race
• British TV Drama
• Screening the Real: Memory, History and Trauma Onscreen
• Special Case Study
• National and Global Media Studies
• Media Policy
• Celebrity Media
• Screen Comedy
• Children's Screen Cultures
• Screening the Unreal: Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy
• Exploring Animation
• Television Production
• Mediating Science and Technology
• Critical Issues in Political Communication

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

Our Film and Screen Studies degree is part of the School of Media, based in our Edward Street purpose-built media centre in central Brighton. 

Facilities

The course is based in the Edward Street building at the heart of the town, very close to local cinemas, libraries, theatres and museums. The building includes new teaching rooms with state-of-the-art equipment such as 4K interactive screens, iMac workstations as well as a Dolby Atmos 4K screening room.

You will have access to a significant national film and screen collection through one of our partners, Screen Archive South East, also based on site at Edward Street. You will also benefit from our close relationships with the Cinecity film festival.

Screen Archive South East is a moving image archive with collections of magic lantern slides, films and video.

Meet the team

Your course team are passionate about their subject and include academics, industry practitioners, artists, historians and writers.

Aris Mousoutzanis, course leader

Aris Mousoutzanis lectures in film and screen studies, researching across literature, film and media. His specialisms include: media representations of trauma and disaster; globalisation and multiculturalism; identity politics on the screen; screen media, power and resistance.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Ewan Kirkland, Douglas McNaughton and Emma Withers.

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 2021–22.

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 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

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