This specialist programme will enable students to develop advanced knowledge and skills in film production, developing through the course a career specialism in directing, editing, production, camera or sound production.
The programme is distinctive as students will learn and study within the complex and immersive environment of a conservatoire drama school, with substantial access to highly talented acting students and the industry-standard facilities required of this high level vocational training. The skills and experience gained in their chosen area of specialism will enable them to seek employment in the professional film, television and independent film production industry on successful completion of the course.
The course will run for 38 weeks and recruitment will be limited to five students. Each will develop their own distinct specialism within a production team (director, editor, producer, camera, sound production) and they will work together as a unit across four of the five core modules.
These modules are:
1. Moving Image Production
2. Drama Production for the Small Screen
3. Short Film Production (Client-led Film)
4. Short Film Production (Drama)
5. Preparation for Working in the Film Industry
The fifth module is taken individually through a specialist industry placement related to the student’s designated specialism.
The overall aims of the programme are:
• To enable students to develop specific technical and project management skills in film production, primarily drama;
• To enable students to learn skills in leadership and creative problem-solving;
• To enable students to develop a specialism within the key areas of film production (directing, editing, producing, camera, sound production)
• To develop a high level of personal, social and environmental responsibility in working to professional schedules, disciplines and practice, including risk assessment and carbon emission reduction.
• To provide experience and build confidence to engage with industry professionals and develop their career management skills;
A copy of the rules and regulations governing the course is available consult the BOVTS policies and procedures page.
This module map provides a list of the modules that make up your course.
Each module is worth a specified number of credits, enabling you to cover key subject knowledge while developing your own interests.
Optional Modules: There are no optional modules for this award
Interim Awards: PG Cert Film Production (60 Credits), PG Dip Film Production (120 Credits)
Credit requirements: 180 credits from the above modules for MA Film Production
Award: MA Film Production
Students learn within a conservatoire environment in which they are regarded as professionals in training. At this Masters level in Film Production, there is an expectation that they will develop a high level of problem solving skills, engage at an advanced level of critical evaluation of their practice and acquire the creative thinking required of film makers working in a practical, complex creative and employment-focused environment.
Students are immersed in this challenging environment, which demands great attention to detail, independent thinking, and collaborative working combined with diplomatic negotiating and leadership skills.
The programme is practical and career focused. It is integrated with the school’s other programmes during productions, as well as within the professional environment. The programme features a high level of one-to-one teaching by specialist professionals.
The learning is immersive and singular in its focus on high level specialist professional employability as a main learning outcome.
The learning is intensive with students taught and supervised by teaching staff at least 30 hours per week across the 38 weeks of the programme.
To apply for entry to the MA Film Production programme in October 2018, you will need to use the UCAS Conservatoires.
To apply for this course please click here: click here to apply via the UCAS website in a new tab
Applications open on the 1 September 2017 and close on 28th February 2018.
Please note that UCAS Conservatoires is a different application system to UCAS Undergraduate.
Applying Through UCAS Conservatoires
Although UCAS Conservatoires (previously CUKAS) offers many advantages, it was originally designed to handle applications for music programmes at UK conservatoires and is in the process of being adapted to meet the needs of drama applicants.
We are working with UCAS Conservatoires and other drama schools to ensure this happens as quickly as possible but, in the meantime, you may find the following notes helpful.
Additional Guidance on How to Apply
Registration and Audition Fees
There is a one-off registration fee of £25 to register (for entry 2018) to use the service. The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School also charges an audition administration fee of £35 to cover the cost involved in arranging and delivering auditions/interviews. Both fees are payable through UCAS Conservatoires.
Personal Statements
We recommend that you pay particular attention to the information you provide in your personal statement on your application form in order to give us as full a picture as possible of your relevant experience and reasons for applying.
Application Dates
You can apply through UCAS Conservatoires from the 1 September 2017. The equal consideration deadline for applications to the MA Film Production programme is 15 January 2018. However our applications for this course will close on 28th February 2018.
If you have any further queries please contact the Admissions Department to discuss: [email protected]
Deferred Entry
We are unable to consider applications for deferred entry.
International Film Production MA is an exciting programme delivered in partnership with Creative Media Skills (CMS) which allows you to develop your film production skills to a professional level. This course will give you the opportunity to develop a portfolio of production related skills by studying at DMU in Leicester and at CMS, an independent training provider based at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. This course is ideally suited to those who are progressing from undergraduate study, or professionals seeking to develop their career. The course is structured around developing skills in production management, development and other skills related to the film production process.
Developed in partnership with Creative Media Skills (CMS)
CMS is DMU’s partner in developing and delivering the programme. It works hand in hand with government organisations, as well as the industry, to identify skills gaps and provide high-level targeted training in many areas of the film industry. CMS bring professionals and department heads into the classroom, and provides students with access to the UK film industry’s most valuable knowledge base – its staff.
Develop a range of production management skills
At DMU, these skills include scriptwriting, lighting and cinematography, image processing, directing and post production. At CMS you will focus on pitching, budgeting, production development, and fine skills. You will also gain core business expertise, such as an understanding of research and development, and wider careers planning.
Benefit from DMU’s expertise
At DMU, you will develop your filmmaking and camera based skills, learn about the UK film industry and shoot your major production. You will benefit from our outstanding studio spaces, and the skills and expertise of established research groups such as Cinema and Television History (CATH) Research Centre and Institute Of Creative Technologies (IOCT)
Learning off campus at CMS
The second semester of your learning will take place in the Creative Media Skills centre. While there, you will manage the development of a production and receive masterclasses on a range of fine skills from the CMS team and respected professionals actively working in the film industry.
During the first semester, you will work at DMU. This semester involves developing core skills in storytelling, screenwriting, directing, producing, image processing, sound recording and other camera based skills. You will take four, 15 credit modules during semester one:
First semester
• Key Roles in the Film Industry
• The Production Process
• Screenwriting
• Realisation
Second semester
• Pre-Production
• Fine Skills
Third semester
• Dissertation
You will be taught by DMU’s team of production experts and filmmakers in our studio space, and you will begin the process of developing a major project, and specialising in a production role.
During the second semester, you will work in the Creative Media Skills centre. Here you will finesse your skills in a more diverse range of areas, including Production management & Coordination, Pitching, Assistant Directing, Production Management, Script Supervision, Hair, Makeup, Costume, Art Department; Working with Actors and Working in Teams. You will also enter pre-production under the guidance of our expert staff. At Creative Media Skills, you will take two, 30 credit modules, which cover these various areas:
During this semester you will be expected to pitch film ideas to a panel of industry experts. The best will be selected as the major projects, which will become your focus in the third semester. During the third semester you will work more independently at DMU to manage and deliver your final film project, with an accompanying reflective commentary. This project will demonstrate the skills and knowledge developed on the course, and will form the basis of your professional portfolio. You also have the option of taking an academic dissertation.
In addition to the major project, assessments take the form of practical coursework, written reports and presentations.
To learn more about this course and DMU, visit our website:
Postgraduate open days: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-study/open-evenings/postgraduate-open-days.aspx
Applying for a postgraduate course:
Funding for postgraduate students
This course will equip you with innovative creative skills in the exciting field of TV Drama Production.
During your time with us, you will learn specialist production crafts and gain a detailed knowledge of the fiction form.
You will receive informed, professional guidance throughout the course. To unlock your full creative potential, you will also collaborate with other students on production projects and team-up to form production teams.
The teaching of this course is comprised of seminars, workshops in storytelling and production practice, study of broadcast and editorial guidelines, independent research, collaborative project work and film screenings.
The aim is to support your learning with an effective blend of theory and creative practice, and to encourage ownership of your learning through self-directed projects.
Methods of assessment depend on the module and elective pathway you are taking. They include:
Each module has its own assessment package and this is structured appropriately to reflect the module content. Practical-based modules are assessed by project and a reflective critical evaluation.
Past students have gone on to senior producing and commissioning jobs within television, while others now work as researchers, directors, producers, camera operators, editors and sound designers. The course has strong links with leading media organisations, including ITV, Channel 4, the BBC and the independent production sector.
To develop your skills and employability, there are opportunities on our Media Production courses to work on live briefs and gain valuable work experience. Previous students have worked with:
The following prominent speakers have delivered guest lectures:
This course will equip you with creative-content and production skills in the exciting field of children’s programming.
You will develop an in-depth understanding of what it is that children and young people want to watch, why they watch certain programmes, films and moving images, and how they view them. You will also learn how to apply your knowledge to the production of creative content for this age group.
Throughout your time with us, you will be encouraged to develop your own creative ideas to a professional standard. Being based in the heart of MediaCityUK, and next door to BBC Children’s, this course will provide you with many opportunities to learn alongside, and engage with, experienced industry producers and practitioners in children’s content production.
At the end of the course, you will have gained a thorough, practice-based knowledge of the media industry, with particular emphasis on children’s creative content production.
The teaching of this course is comprised of seminars, workshops in storytelling and production practice, study of broadcast and editorial guidelines, independent research, collaborative project work and film screenings.
The aim is to support your learning with an effective blend of theory and creative practice and to encourage ownership of your learning through self-directed projects.
Methods of assessment depend on the module and elective pathway you are taking.
They include:
Each module has its own assessment package and this is structured appropriately to reflect the module content. Practical-based modules are assessed by project and a reflective critical evaluation.
Links with the BBC and other well-known and respected production companies could lead to work experience that will significantly enhance your CV. The course combines practical and theoretical elements that will appeal to a broad range of employers.
To develop your skills and employability, there are opportunities on our Media Production courses to work on live briefs and gain valuable work experience. Previous students have worked with:
The following prominent speakers have delivered guest lectures:
This course will equip you with a solid grounding in the specialist skills and advanced theory that apply to post-production practice.
During your time with us, you will tackle self-directed and team-orientated industry briefs. This will give you a practical understanding of the creative processes, production workflow and industry techniques looked for by employers.
The teaching of this course is comprised of seminars, workshops in storytelling and production practice, study of broadcast and editorial guidelines, independent research, collaborative project work and film screenings.
The aim is to support your learning with an effective blend of theory and creative practice and to encourage ownership of your learning through self-directed projects.
Methods of assessment depend on the module and elective pathway you are taking. They include:
Each module has its own assessment package and this is structured appropriately to reflect the module content. Practical-based modules are assessed by project and a reflective critical evaluation.
This course is your route to careers across media. Roles could involve audio and video editing, special-effects work and audio dubbing. Past students have taken work placements with 360 Media, Granada, Sumners Post Production, Films @ 59, Flix Facilities and the BBC Natural History unit.
To develop your skills and employability, there are opportunities on our Media Production courses to work on live briefs and gain valuable work experience. Previous students have worked with:
The following prominent speakers have delivered guest lectures:
The programme will provide you with reflective and research strategies through which you will develop your portfolio as innovators in the field of music production.
Key features of the programme are the provision of:
The curriculum is uniquely designed to focus on the emerging field of research in the art of music production, and to place your own practice at the heart of your studies. You will be expected to be equally active in the production of music, as the reading and research into the theories and contexts that have shaped the development of the music business and its current crises.
Critical Perspectives on Music Production
Positioned at the beginning of the MA, this module is designed to provide you with an understanding of the theoretical and musicological heritage that has framed the study of music production. It comprises investigations into concepts that have shaped the study of music production as well as an examination of the epistemological and ideological frameworks that are impacting upon the evolution of these concepts.
Technology & Creativity
This module enables you to develop an understanding of the ways in which the practice of music production is a recent innovation dependent on the development of recording and related technology. You will engage in analysis, debate and research into the development of the technological tools and explore how they have influenced the development of music production practice. You will also explore how the development of the tools has been influenced by the practitioners, the audiences and the institutions of the music industry.
Producing Recorded Music
This module will deepen and broaden your understanding of the theoretical and musicological heritage that has framed the study of music production. In particular, it will provide you with the opportunity to develop, test and apply theoretical models in your own production practice.
The Business of Music Production
This module critiques the ways in which music is bought and sold. You will examine the influences of the audiences and markets on musical features and products. Following this you will identify paradigms and patterns in the commodification of music that have enabled a musical economy to be developed, and which will support the future of music business.
Music Production Project
This module represents your major project on the MA programme, providing an opportunity to develop your own practice and research relating to music production. In this extended period of practice-based research you are expected to synthesise the practical, reflective and conceptual developments in your work over the course of the programme.
Further information on this course is available in the programme specification. Please note that the programme specification relates to course content that is currently being studied by students at the University. For new programmes, the programme specification will be made available online prior to the start of the course.
York St John University works hard to create an inclusive environment for all our students. We offer a range of learning support services to assist students throughout their studies.
*New for 2017, subject to final approval.
Develop your own signature sound and production style, through this forward-thinking, cutting edge music composition and production course. The MA Sound Production programme is tailored towards individuals who are keen to hone their composition and production skills inside an intertextual and cross-disciplinary framework that pushes at the stylistic boundaries of genre.
The content will cover aesthetic considerations as well as technology and techniques utilised in modern music making. The award is deliberately unbounded by genre and there are opportunities to take an interdisciplinary approach to sound production, including contemporary electronic music, studio and field recording, experimental music and sound design for composition.
The programme encourages interdisciplinary and collaborative working methods with students from the wider music community at Bath Spa, as well as visual media and other departments within the University. While the programme has a music production focus, it also covers key areas of practice such as:
• Sound design
• Electronic music composition
• Soundscape and field recording
• Traditional studio practices
• Sound engineering
• Spatial audio and sound design
• Composition for visual media
You won’t be expected to cover all of these areas. You’ll be able to use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and top-level work across them.
The course is part of a suite of courses available across music and sound, operating alongside ‘sister’ pathways in Sound Design and Sound Arts, which allow further specialism in these areas.
For more information on the 'sister' pathways please refer to the website: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-production/
In trimester one, you'll gain the skills you’ll need to fulfil the rest of the course. The Skills Portfolio module is built on the idea that you’ll already have technical skills in this area. It therefore allows you to choose a handful of skills projects from a large number of options – these cover skills right across the Sound Arts, Sound Design and Sound Production pathways and include (optional) elements of multimedia.
The Research Methodology and Context module develops skills in postgraduate-level research and writing. It is designed to give you the tools for an onward journey in academia, but not to be, in the colloquial sense, ‘academic’.
In trimester two, you’ll advance the knowledge gained in the the first trimester and begin exploring the intertextual possibilities of music composition. In addition, you’ll develop a creative project that will further extend the work undertaken on the trimester 1 Skills Portfolio module.
The module Intertextuality In Sound Production aims to capture and contextualise emerging trends and innovation at the forefront of sound production and composition, and develop composition skills that extend beyond the limits of genre.
Alongside the Sound Production modules there are additional optional modules that you can study from the other pathways. From the Sound Arts pathway, the Visual Music module explores the idea that musical thinking can be extended to the visual, and encourages students to develop multimedia projects that explore this idea. From the Sound Design pathway the Post Production module explores an industry-level workflow for audio post production for picture.
In trimester three, you'll complete the course with a independent research project. While most Masters level courses consist of a substantial written dissertation component, the MA Sound Production programme focuses more on high-level practical work and the concept of ‘practice as research’ through the creation of a large-scale practical project.
The project will fulfil the same function as the traditional dissertation; you’ll develop individual and original research, but through the creation of a portfolio of works, rather than through the written word.
For more information on modules and course structure please visit the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-production/
Most modules are taught through small-group seminars and workshops, where you’ll benefit from close interaction with tutors and peers. The Major Project and parts of the other modules are taught through individual tutorials where the focus will be entirely on your own practice.
You’ll be assessed entirely on coursework. The majority of this will be practical and creative work, including the dissertation-equivalent Major Project. Some practical projects are accompanied by short informal written assignments, and the for the Research Methodology and Context module you’ll produce a more substantial paper.
You can use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills. This will equip you for the current employment landscape, where a combination of traditional music roles are required alongside broader practice in sound and other media.The course also provides the breadth necessary for FE and HE teaching in the field, and provides the basis required for PhD research and beyond.
On this course, you will learn how to research and produce original television documentaries.
During your time with us, you will receive expert instruction and guidance on the concepts, techniques and processes key to the documentary form. And you will produce your own documentaries, collaborating with your fellow students in production teams.
With opportunities to engage closely with industry, the course develops the skills and techniques required to work in the media, while encouraging independent creative content production.
The teaching of this course is comprised of seminars, workshops in storytelling and production practice, study of broadcast and editorial guidelines, independent research, collaborative project work and film screenings.
The aim is to support your learning with an effective blend of theory and creative practice, and to encourage ownership of your learning through self-directed projects.
Methods of assessment depend on the module and elective pathway you are taking. They include:
Each module has its own assessment package and this is structured appropriately to reflect the module content. Practical-based modules are assessed by project and a reflective critical evaluation.
In previous years, a large number of graduates from this course have moved into broadcasting jobs as camera operators, editors, sound assistants, researchers and assistant producers. Former students are currently employed at the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and independent companies across the UK.
To develop your skills and employability, there are opportunities on our Media Production courses to work on live briefs and gain valuable work experience. Previous students have worked with:
The following prominent speakers have delivered guest lectures:
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