Moving Image BA(Hons)

Course in brief

If you're a fine artist who wants to work with film and video, then Brighton's respected Moving Image BA(Hons) is for you.

Expert tutors and technical staff will help you develop your own creative ideas using, for example, HD, video, 16mm film, installation, digital editing, sound and animation.

Based at our central Brighton Grand Parade campus, you will be making films, videos and installations but learning about much more, leaving with skills that will help you forge a rewarding career as an artist or filmmaker. You will develop your own creativity and critical thinking within a community committed to exploring and questioning the significance of the moving image in contemporary culture.

With its origins in fine art and experimental cinema, this practice develops the relationships between film, video and digital technologies to offer new opportunities for experimentation in the gallery, cinema and online.

The course has close links with the Brighton Film Festival CINECITY and Screen Archive South East, both based within the University of Brighton.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Grand Parade

UCAS code W610

Full-time 3 years

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Meet our students, see our accommodation and find out more about your course.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

We are looking for highly motivated and creative students. We will primarily be interested in your portfolio and will select via a personal interview. If your predicted grades fall below these requirements but you can demonstrate a high-quality portfolio, you are still encouraged to apply. We will consider you on an individual basis.

A foundation diploma is not a requirement for entry – it is just one of a range of qualifications that is accepted for admission to this course.

A-levels
for those applying with A-levels only, grades BBC are expected, supported by a strong portfolio.

BTEC
DMM.

International Baccalaureate
28 points.

Access to HE Diploma
pass with 60 credits overall. Art and design diploma preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3, with 24 credits at merit or above.

Foundation degree/HND
may enable you to start the course in year 2.
Direct entry to year 3: foundation degree or DipHE in related subject, or practical experience.

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 6.0 overall, with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

Other

Art and design foundation diploma.
Interview and portfolio review.

Direct entry to year 3 foundation degree or DipHE in related subject, or practical experience

Portfolio advice
Before you come for interview you will be asked to send an online portfolio to show us your work. We would like to see:

Completed film or video works and / or works in progress
Other art work (e.g. photography, drawing, installation)
Your ability to develop an idea from concept
Your potential to experiment and explore ideas and techniques
Any examples of written work (e.g. a previous essay about film or art)
Awareness of contemporary artists’ moving image
Awareness of film history / art history

We recommend using Tumblr to create a simple portfolio / blog and YouTube or Vimeo for embedding video. Please note that it is not a strict requirement to have previous film and video work at interview stage – we welcome any creative portfolio and an interest in exploring moving image in future works.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

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

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

Why study with us?

By joining us at Brighton, you'll be in an innovative, creative and critical environment.

You will be taught by practising artists in film, video and digital moving image, and leading artists’ moving image practitioners enrich the course with regular guest talks, screenings and workshops from artists and filmmakers.

Work produced on the course comes from the contexts of fine art, experimental film and artists’ moving image as well as cinema and filmmaking, looking to find meaningful spaces for new practices in these areas.

The course is supported by an unrivalled technical provision for experimental film and video, including 16mm film, film hand-processing, Super 8mm and analogue video formats alongside the latest high definition filmmaking equipment and editing software.

A dedicated art and design library houses a wide range of books, periodicals and audio visual resources to support your studies.

The Digi-hub and Media Centre provide access to a further range of specialist equipment for production and editing.

Every practice unit is assessed by two members of staff and you are given written feedback at the end of each unit.

You will study alongside other artists in a range of media, developing your own work alongside student photographers and digital sound artists as well as other fine artists.

We have a staff and student exchange with the International Academy of Art Palestine, in Ramallah. Students have the opportunity to study abroad at this pioneering art school.

You'll get plenty of space to develop your own ideas and research topics in depth, with practical guidance from our dedicated course technician, who will support you with technical workshops and one-to-one sessions.

Brighton Film Festival CINECITY and Screen Archive South East are based at the university and there are opportunities to work with these organisations.

The course’s technical demonstrator, who provides support for students, won the Individual Support Staff Award as "the member of support staff who has really helped my learning" in the Brighton Students’ Union Excellence Awards 2012.

Student Services offer assistance for students with particular learning difficulties.

Areas of study

Artists’ moving image, film history, avant-garde film
Filmmaking, experimental film and video, video art, installation art
Narrative, fiction, documentary, experimental ethnographic filmmaking
Cinematography, experimental imaging, visual effects and video editing
Digital compositing, animation, green screen
High definition, studio production, multi-camera production
16mm film shooting, developing, editing and projecting
Hand processing 16mm black and white film, cameraless film (drawing on film)
Sound art and design, audio recording and mixing
Film and video for cinema and gallery (Black Box White Cube)
Exhibition design, planning and installation for film and video
VJ skills / live video mixing (analogue and digital)

Visit our course Facebook page

Year 1

Year 1 has four themed units – Identity, Place, Fiction and Documentary – each lasting six to seven weeks.

Each week, group seminars, individual tutorials and screenings of relevant films help you develop your ideas and you present a finished piece in the last week. In this final session you make a formal presentation of your work to the group, learn to critique other student’s work, and also receive feedback from two tutors.

The units are underpinned by a series of introductory technical workshops, film screenings, study support sessions, and by lectures from staff and visiting lecturers.

One day each week is set aside for Historical and Theoretical studies, which take the form of a lecture series, with seminar sessions and film screenings. Students read and summarise weekly texts using library study time and complete one final essay per semester.

Historical and Critical Studies in Year 1 covers film history then moving on to an in-depth study of the avant-garde and film and video art histories.

You are expected to work independently on your projects, making full use of the facilities: cameras and audio recording equipment, computer editing software and studios.

Modules

Practice 1: Moving Image and Identity
Practice 2: Moving Image and Place
Practice 3: Moving Image and Fiction
Practice 4: Moving Image and Documentary
Historical and Critical Studies 1: From Magic Lantern to Youtube
Historical and Critical studies 2: One Million Avant-Gardes

Year 2

In the second year your four units of study encourage a more focused approach to the combination of sound and vision. You'll look at a range of art practices and recognise the importance of how finished works are presented whether in the gallery, cinema or online.

The projects are: Sound and Vision, Collaboration, Black Box White Cube as well as one day a week College Options in another area of the university.

The second year show is an opportunity to exhibit publicly in the university gallery.

At the end of the year you'll undertake an independent project which prepares you for the more self-directed study of the third year.

Once again lectures and seminars take place weekly, introducing you to key concepts in contemporary practice, as well as an in depth look at sound and film.

The end of the second year covers dissertation preparation and research skills.

Modules

Practices 5 & 6: Collaboration and Sound and Vision
Practice 7: Beyond Black Box/White Cube
Practice 8: Independent Project
Historical and Critical Studies 3: Sound/Music and The Moving Image
Historical and Critical Studies 4: Research Themes, Methodologies and Dissertation Proposal
College Option

Final year

In the third year you develop your own personal work through a minor and major project, while also writing a dissertation.

You are allocated tutors who supervise the development of your ideas. Tutorials are also offered with other members of staff. Regular group crits allow students to build projects with the support of their peers and staff.

For your major project you can expect to have six or seven tutorial slots during a semester, either on your own or with a small group you can share ideas with.

One-to-one technical support is focused on each individual student project, ending with a public exhibition of work in the graduate show.

Professional practice sessions are taught in the last semester to help prepare you for life after graduation.

Modules

Practice 9: Minor Project
Practice 10: Major Project (extended option)
Historical and Critical Studies 5: Dissertation
Professional Practice

Staff profile

Matthew Noel-Tod Course leader

Matthew is an artist and filmmaker whose work is held in the collection of the Pompidou Centre, Paris; the British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive and is distributed by LUX, UK. Matthew studied Fine Art at The Slade School of Fine Art, Norwich School of Art and Design and Fachhochschule Aachen and holds and MA in Feature Film from Goldsmiths. His career in the field of moving image includes: a Film London Artists’ Film and Video Award for his film Nausea (2005), Arts Council England Grants for Arts award for BANG! (2012); periods as artist-in-residence at The Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw and the Chisenhale Gallery, London and visiting artist at San Francisco Art Institute; and recipient of the ACME Studios Firestation Work/Live residency 2010-2015. In 2008 Matthew curated the DVD and touring programme; George Barber, BEYOND LANGUAGE Selected Video Works 1983 – 2008 for LUX. Matthew is also an accomplished director of photography for many artists’ films and he has 10 years experience of teaching film and fine art.

Student views

Daisy Gardner

“I found this course when I was 16. The 70% practical, 30% theory split is really interesting for me. I did my foundation year and applied here straight away. My interview was what made me choose Brighton and then I went to the graduate show and some of the work they were producing was something I wanted to be a part of. I’m from Southampton; I like the south coast, especially Brighton. It’s always busy, it’s always loud, I like that, I like that about Brighton. Being here is completely different: everyone’s on the same page.”

Rosie Townsend

“Excellent one-to-one tutorials provide a deep criticism of your work. If you love art and you love film, this is the course for you!”

Careers and employability

You will graduate with a wide range of filmmaking and art making skills and a deep understanding of the contexts of artists’ moving image.

Professional development is embedded in the course at every level and as well as developing creatively you’ll learn self-motivation, time management, problem solving, and how to present your work and that of others.

Graduates from the BA(Hons) Moving Image course work as artists, filmmakers and digital producers. They have produced campaign videos and music for major fashion labels and record labels. They have worked in the camera departments of major Hollywood films, shot in the UK and abroad, as well as locally produced feature films in Brighton. They work with important art and film organisations, such as Towner Gallery and the Independent Cinema Office.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 9,000 GBP

International (full-time) 13,800 GBP

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. 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. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from 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- 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.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. 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. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Grand Parade campus

Our Grand Parade campus is in the heart of Brighton, across the road from the Royal Pavilion and a five-minute walk from the beach. After your lectures you’ll be right in the city centre, close to all the best pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes that Brighton has to offer.

The campus is home to a creative community of arts and humanities students, specialising in everything from fashion and textiles to politics and philosophy. It is also the location of the University of Brighton Gallery and Sallis Benney Theatre, which host events throughout the festival season and beyond.

The world-renowned University of Brighton Design Archives are in the basement of Grand Parade and offer extensive resources for the study of British design in the twentieth century. St Peters House, the campus library, is also nearby and houses a specialist collection of arts books and journals.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Brighton, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field

Moulsecoomb Place

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Grand Parade campus map

Unistats

Unistats and key information sets

Unistats is an organisation that collects specific data about university courses in the UK which enables you to compare information that is important in your decision-making when choosing a university. All universities publish Unistats data on their online course pages.

Wherever we can we have provided extra information here to help put the data into context so that it is as useful as possible when you are making decisions.

Programme specification

Programme specifications are the official university documents that describe each course in detail. They reflect the course as it is being taught to students who started their course in this academic year. They are updated every summer, and give a very detailed breakdown of what your course might look like.

Programme specification