Media Production BA(Hons)

How this course is delivered

COVID-19 has changed everything. We’ve made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe and that will help you stay connected and involved in university life.

From the start of term in September, you’ll learn through a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that will provide lots of opportunities to interact and engage. Together with carefully managed access to libraries, labs, workshops and studios this means your studies are as collaborative, practical and flexible as possible.

Year 1 

The Media Production course features a core of practice-based modules where you will work with industry professionals shooting, recording and editing material in response to industry briefs and real work expectations.

Modules

• Media Industries

  This module will give you an overview of the current state of the global digital media industries and introduce you to how media forms are developing in the digital age. The module will introduce the key contexts and frameworks that underpin the creative media industries, and discuss the pressure and influences that are driving change in those industries. You will learn how to develop, budget and pitch ideas intended for a variety of digital media platforms.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Digital and Web Media Design

  This module will introduce you to the technologies used to create digital and web media products. You will become familiar with technical requirements for graphic design as well as digital acquisition and implementation for various digital media distribution channels.

• Understanding Audiences: Theory and Context

  In this module you will examine the role and characteristics of media consumption in the C21st and the relationship that exists between audiences, texts and technologies of production, distribution and reception. You will encounter a range of theories and research methods through study of a range of real-world media organisations and their respective audiences, and as a practical exercise, will design a cross-media campaign for a targeted audience demographic.

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.

Year 2 

You will study how drama has evolved in the twenty-first century through an analysis of American serials such as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Mad Men as well as UK soaps such as Hollyoaks and Eastenders.

You will also work together as part of a Writers’ Room creating long-form stories and breaking them down into episodes. You will also investigate and discuss the impact and ethical implications of reality television and develop and research new programme formats of factual entertainment.

Modules

• Podcasting and Narrative Journalism
• Digital Media Cultures
• Media Production Practices
• Media Placement

Options*

• Serial Drama
• Brands and Branding
• Media and Public Relations
• Mobile Media Cultures 

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

Final year 

Consolidating your study, you will produce a final report and a portfolio report, learn about media enterprise, complete a placement and specialise in an area of production.

Modules

• Production Cultures
• Digital Media Enterprise
• Production Portfolio
• Dissertation

Facilities 

You will be able to take advantage of cameras lighting and sound and full service post production tools.

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 industries preferred editing platform).

We continually add to our impressive list of technical hardware that is available for practice workshops, assessment and your own projects. Currently we use Black Magic and Sony 4K Cameras, Sound Devices audio equipment and hold a large array of professional lighting and grip equipment. Our production equipment facility has been put together to facilitate location film production of every type and genre. We have the tools to facilitate: music video, documentary animation and drama production, from simple "vox pops" to ambitious narrative short films and web series.

Teaching spaces at our Edward Street building include seminar rooms with 4K interactive screens, iMac 5K Retina 27" workstations and a new high spec Dolby Atmos 4K screening room.

Meet the team 

You’ll receive encouragement and guidance from our experienced course teaching team; they will enable you to innovate, develop ideas, create content and analyse a variety of televisual forms and genres.

Dr Lance Dann, course leader
Lance Dann is a writer, sound designer and academic who has across the arts and media industries. He has produced radio programming for the BBC, designed sound for stage performance in New York, created interactive media projects for the Globe Theatre and film series for ABC in Australia.

He won the Gold Award for the Best Drama Producer at the 2017 UK Audio Production awards, for his Brighton-based techno thriller Blood Culture.

Other staff who teach on the course include:

• Mark Soye
• Dr Holly Chard.

Dr Lance Dann

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

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