The spread of the Internet and digital media led to an increase of international production and distribution of content made in animation, advertising, TV series and specials, feature films, but also short films and docu-fiction.
Significant is also the growing demand in the fields of games, animation productions cross and transmedia, special effects for movies and television productions. The Master in Animation Design offers the possibility to fit into one of these professional sectors: in independent production companies, research and design consultancies, service agencies, internal structures of broadcasters, specialized departments of publishing houses.
Career opportunities - The Animation Designer can fit into the professional field of animation production, cross and transmedia. The Master guarantees a highly qualifying expertise for profiles such as Concept Artist, Character Designer, Ambient Designer, Storyboard Artist; Character Animator 2D; Character Animator 3D; Production Assistant; Compositor.
From start to finish producers are the driving force behind the film and television industry. They generate new projects and ideas, secure finance, manage production and strategically market the result. The producer’s role has been transformed by the advent of globalisation, digital technology and the multi-channel environment. Now more than ever, the entertainment industries need creative leadership.
Our Masters offers aspiring producers the opportunity to acquire the creative and entrepreneurial skills required to enter the rapidly changing universe of film and television. You will learn to create script ideas, work with writers and directors, manage a production thoroughly and market across platforms, we'll teach you how to navigate the financial and legal aspects of the industry, too.
The course is taught from our creative hub at Royal Holloway's central London campus, 11 Bedford Square. Our proximity to the media industry means that we can draw upon professionals for outstanding master classes, industry panels and careers events. Students are encouraged to attend The London Film Festival, MIPCOM, Berlin, and Cannes international festivals. You will also try out interning at a production company or work on the crew of a professional production.
You will learn from top talent and practice what you learn by making films, and TV programmes. The ‘Role of Producer’ and ‘Script Development’ courses are taught by Professor Jonathan Powell, one of the UK's most respected and experienced drama producers, having previously worked as Controller of BBC1 and Head of Drama for the BBC. The course leader is award winning producer and executive, Gillian Gordon who brings thirty years’ experience in Hollywood and the UK to teaching ‘Producing Workshop’.
Through master classes, industry internships and alumni partnerships, students are provided with opportunities to network with international talent and expertise, as well as building links with current Royal Holloway students and academic partners.
Core modules
The Role of the Producer
In this module you will develop an understanding of the role of the producer as the driving force in creating, managing and selling film and television products. You will look at how the independent sector works, and consider how to programme and pitch ideas. You will also examine approaches to working with creative talent.
Script Development
In this module you will develop an understanding of how to write an industry standard script report. You will learn how to analyse both film and TV scripts, and produce reports that constructively engage writers with the process of script development. You will consider the analysis of structure, character, dialogue, genre, and how to transfer feedback verbally.
Producing Workshop
In this module you will develop an understanding of how to create and pitch ideas to film, television and new media executives and financiers. You will learn the basics of script development, set procedure, scheduling, camera work, audio equipment and post production. You will consider how to develop and identify viable fiction projects and lead and manage the production of a short video, . You will work with creative talent, writers, directors, casting agents, and key craft team members, and examine how to finance and market your short film. You will put together a viable presentation package and pitch to a panel of industry professionals.
International Media Business
In this module you will develop an understanding of the global film and TV business. You will learn how to plan and conceptualise the creation and management of a sustainable media enterprise. You will examine the critical issues affecting the success or failure of film and television businesses, considering the role of financial planning in the life-cycle of visual media projects. You will also explore the wider context of finance in the development, marketing and distribution of film and television to investors, partners and government bodies, with a focus on the challenges faced by business startups.
Production Management
In this module you will develop an understanding of basic production accounting and the line management skills needed for film, TV and transmedia production. You will learn how to set-up a production company and budget, schedule, manage cash flow, and supervise a quality fiction production. You will consider how to manage 'below-the line' deals on a drama production and identify financial issues and their implications for day-to-day management. You will also examine how to manage a film crew and supervise the daily operations of a production team, and manage production costs, equipment and facility deals.
Marketing and Media Law
In this module you will develop an understanding of media marketing and promotion in film and television distribution and exhibition. You will look at social media and new trends in the global marketing of films and media projects, including cross-platform marketing. You will consider the fundamental principles of media law, including contract and intellectual property law, and examine issues of content and regulation.
Dissertation
You will produce a 10,000 word dissertation or media project on topic of your choice. You will carry out an investigation that has a clearly defined aim of study and arrive at a carefully argued set of conclusions derived from original research covering print, internet and first hand interview sources.
Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods including essays, script reports, treatments, pitching exercises, studio exercises, production papers, practical film-making, business reports and presentations.
Our close links to the film and TV production industry make this a practical course – and one that gives you building blocks for your future.
While you're on the course, we'll encourage and guide you into work placements and internships. Past students have secured placements with industry leading organisations including:
Graduates from the Department of Media Arts have gone on to work in independent television and film production, for broadcasters like the BBC and ITV, for distributors, exhibitors, talent agencies and entertainment lawyers.
The Director is central to the creative process in media production and this course has been designed to build and develop your knowledge of the industry, enabling you to step up to the challenge of delivering winning productions. This hands-on course provides many opportunities for practical production across platforms and genres. It will enhance your storytelling skills and build your technical understanding of film, television and transmedia production, developing advanced skills as a director in line with current industry practice.
The Faculty of Media & Communication encourage dynamic collaborations between students across courses. Working with the producing, scriptwriting, cinematography, sound and editing students you will create a showcase of your skills as a visual, creative storyteller. Many of these collaborations have continued beyond the course as students set up their own production companies. This comprehensive course will equip you with the skills to understand and manage the entire production process, from effective planning and pre-visualisation to overseeing creative post-production work alongside our editing students.
Under the guidance of experienced media professionals, you will develop your own directorial flair and style, and will gain a sound theoretical grounding of the social, cultural and intellectual context for media production work. The final production project will allow you to use the technical and directorial skills you have developed to mastermind your own portfolio of work in collaboration with other students within The Faculty of Media & Communication. As an alternative, you can choose a research-based option to undertake a detailed study of an aspect of directing.
You may have an undergraduate qualification in a related subject or may be able to show your suitability for this programme of study through associated work-experience or evidence of and outputs from other related activities.
It is a commonplace that communication is at the core of crucial aspects of human life, and that a lot of that communication is mediated. In recent years, however, mediated communication has reached new levels of importance in social and cultural domains stretching from business to identity formation, and a lot of that communication is technically and financially underpinned by global networks of computation and communication. The academic fields of media, communication and cultural studies have responded by re-examining long-established frameworks for understanding communications and also by considering the need for new paradigms fitting new objects of study.
The MA in International Communications Studies - which is designed to meet the needs of graduates from both a communications and non-communications studies background - provides an opportunity not only to study communications against the background of recent theoretical and methodological developments, but also to gain an insight into the skills and knowledge required by the contemporary media and communication industries.
The aims of the MA International Communications Studies programme are to enable students to:
The compulsory modules strike a balance between, on the one hand, grounding the student’s learning in the classic concepts, theories and methods of media, communication and cultural studies, and, on the other hand, exploring contemporary trends in online business models, international news flows, the use of Big Data etc.
Towards the end of the second semester, each student is assigned a dissertation supervisor based on project proposals.
Semester One
Compulsory modules provide the core skills and knowledge needed to analyse various forms of communication in their contemporary social and cultural settings as well as an opportunity to acquire either a modern European (French, Spanish, German) or East-Asian language (Japanese or Chinese).
Semester Two
Students will continue to study their chosen language. Students will continue to develop their dissertation projects with the aid of their supervisors and in the compulsory module. Optional modules allow students to immerse themselves in topics suiting their interests and future career goals.
Case study
View a case study relating to this program
Compulsory modules
Group One (Students must take 20 credits from this group)
A European language (Spanish, French or German) or East-Asian language (Chinese or Japanese) for International Students (students cannot elect to study their first language) and a European Language (Spanish, French or German) or Japanese for Chinese students. Students will be able to enter study at a level appropriate to their individual needs ranging from beginners through to intermediate and advanced.
Optional Modules Group Two (students must take 30 credits from this group)
Detailed programme specifications information can be accessed on Online Programme Specifications.
Today’s audiences can watch documentaries and factual programming at cinemas and art galleries, on television and iPhones, or via YouTube and Vimeo. Technological innovation and the digital revolution have changed the way we think and talk about factual content. This MA course focuses on the creative, technical and industry skills you need to develop documentaries and factual programming across the contemporary media landscape. We will teach you how to film reality from a variety of perspectives, understanding and sometimes challenging traditional interpretations of the documentary and its delivery. The course will equip you with the necessary skills, conceptual approach, and mindset for a career in the creative media industries.
Hands-on practical experience. Gain training and production experience in producing, directing, camera operation, sound and editing.
Real-life experience. Produce a documentary/factual project for an external industry client and work alongside the award-winning production facility, MetFilm Production known for its critically acclaimed documentaries: Sour Grapes and the 2016 Grierson Trust winner – How To Change the World.
Learn how to film reality. Through practical work explore the creative, conceptual and ethical approaches to filming reality and documenting the experiences of real people.
Industry awareness. Build your understanding of the contemporary industry landscape for documentaries and factual programming, including commissioning, financing, distribution and exhibition, festivals, and the emerging world of interactive and transmedia digital content.
Professional feedback. Pitch your projects to industry professionals and receive ‘real world’ feedback and guidance to further develop your projects.
With its academic base on the Ayr Campus, our course is also delivered from Film City Glasgow, the bespoke industry hub for twenty independent production companies and post-production facility houses. Film City Glasgow also boasts Scotland’s only Dolby sound mixing studio.
Our MA Filmmaking course will provide a stimulating, supportive and professional environment in which you can freely yet rigorously develop your unique individual voice. Throughout your course you will be mentored by leading film practitioners from around the world. This support includes our very own multi award-winning tutors, Professor Nick Higgins and Sam Firth.
Our distinctive course also boasts an international guest faculty programme, who complement our core tutors, support staff, and technical facilities, to ensure that from the moment they walk through the door, our students no longer feel as though they are “students”, but are already operating at the highest professional level, as creative collaborators in a context that replicates the conditions of the industry in which they intend to work. Previous guest tutors have included Oscar and BAFTA winners.
Students completing the MA will graduate with three short films (including both documentary and fiction) to add to their portfolio, having been through a process that provides space for both creative experimentation and professional rigour.
Our MA Filmmaking course allows you exclusive access to strands within the context of film festivals. It provides you with privileged access to industry visitors, and takes advantage of their presence in the country to run special industry events with our partners.
There will also be opportunities for you to learn from the professionals who work in Film City, and to make use of their facilities (which no university in the UK can rival).
Placement opportunities are also likely to emerge through the Scottish Film Talent Network.
Topics of study on our MA Filmmaking course will include:
Upon completing the MA you will graduate with three short films, including both documentary and fiction.
Topics
Your study and assessment will involve the topics below:
ADVANCED FILM DOCUMENTARY PRACTICE:
You will make a documentary film under the direction of the core course team, exploring the boundaries of documentary film practice, and its intersection with:
FILM AS AN INDUSTRY:
You will gain a professional insight into the contemporary film industry. You will study every aspect of the planning and logistics of complex low-budget film shoots, from concept to new distribution models and marketing, placing these key activities within their economic and artistic context.
ADVANCED FICTION FILM PRACTICE:
You will make a short fiction film under the direction of an invited filmmaker, who will launch the module with an intensive one-week workshop, and remain available over the rest of the trimester to follow your progress and mentor your project.
DEVELOPMENT LAB:
You will undertake an industry-standard development process, in which you prepare your final Masters film project under the supervision of leading professionals active in the practice of the short film form.
MASTER'S PROJECT:
You will undertake a major creative project – either fiction or documentary or immersive film – under the guidance of the course team.
Our MA Filmmaking degree will support your development of working professionally in the independent and world cinema sectors of the film industry either in:
The Master in International Screenwriting and Production is a graduate program that aims at creating professional scriptwriters, story editors and producers, providing them with a thorough understanding of the audiovisual industry and a strong knowledge of the storytelling techniques, which are the heart of every project of feature film and television series.
The MISP is a full-time intensive course, with a maximum enrollment of 42 students. The diploma, issued by Università Cattolica, is recognized as a first level Master’s degree by the Italian Government.
The MISP will allow students to acquire the required knowledge to work in the entertainment industry, both as writers and/or professionals working in production or distribution companies, TV networks, talent agencies or as production assistants.
Students will receive a comprehensive and high level training which effectively combines the academic expertise of university professors with the professional know-how of high-ranking professionals with international profiles.
Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:
● Screenwriters or creative producers of television series and feature films;
● Authors of TV entertainment programs and documentaries, copywriters, creators of video games and web series, writers of comic books and novels and fiction editors in publishing companies;
● Story editors and script consultants;
● Supervisors of evaluation, acquisition and programming of TV shows;
● Professionals working in different areas of the television and film industry (physical production, distribution, acquisition, product placement, etc.)
Here is a list of some Professors and Guest Lecturers:
● Eleonora Andreatta - Director TV series and TV dramas for Rai Fiction
● Luca Bernabei, CEO Lux vide, Rome
● Armando Fumagalli, Director of the Master, professor of Semiotics and History of Cinema, UCSC; script consultant for Lux vide
● Robin Lyons - Animation Writer and Producer – Calon (UK)
● Luca Manzi - Writer for novel, theatre and television, and co-founder of the Master Program
● Cristiana Nobili - Director, Original Live Action Production, Disney Europe, Middle East and Africa (London)
● Paolo Sigismondi, professor of Global Entertainment, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
● John Truby - Screenwriter and script doctor for Disney, Universal, Sony Pictures, Fox, HBO, BBC
● Screenwriting theory (8 ECTS/ CFU)
● Script analysis and project evaluation (8 ECTS/ CFU)
● Writing techniques for audiovisual products (12 ECTS/ CFU)
- Screenwriting practice: treatments, scenes and dialogues, scripts, pitches.
- The writing of genres and adaptation.
- Writing for different formats: comic books, novels, documentaries, entertainment TV shows, advertising, the web, mobile media, and transmedia projects.
- Screenwriting and production of animation projects.
● The audiovisual industry (4 ECTS/ CFU)
- Industries and audiences.
- TV acquisition and programming and film distribution
- The physical production: pre-production, shooting, post-production, contracts and budgeting.
● Communication ethics (4 ECTS/ CFU)
Three months before the end of theoretical classes, the students will have to choose between one of the following careers: screenwriting or production. The students, who choose the screenwriting career, will have to write and deliver a final project from which the writing abilities developed during the program should emerge. Typically,the final project takes the form of a script for a feature film, which can either be an original idea or an adaptation.
The final project can be written in English, Italian, French or Spanish. The students, who choose the production career, will have the opportunity to undertake an internship within an established production or distribution company, a TV network, an advertising agency or on a film set.
The MISP aims at providing its stu- dents with the adequate knowledge, wide-ranging skills and contacts to meet the requests of an increasingly global and varied audiovisual industry.
In previous years, alumni from MISP (which, until 2015, was taught in Italian: Master in Scrittura e produzione per la fiction e il cinema) have been working as writers and producers for top rating TV series and highly successful feature films, or as writers of best selling novels, published in many countries; many of them have been working in high-ranking audiovisual companies such as Cattleya, Disney, Endemol, Focus Features, Freman- tle, Lux Vide, Mediaset, RAI, SKY, among others. They work not only in Italy, but also in London, Los Angeles, Madrid, New York, Paris, etc.
Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:
All scholarships are assigned on a merit basis and will be mostly given to students who apply by the priority deadline. Some scholarships may also target specific geographic regions.
Scholarship value: €4500
Digital Direction is a new 240-credit, 15-month Master’s programme starting in September 2017.
Digital Direction addresses media and storytelling in the digital era, assessing emerging issues associated with contemporary digital communication and the creative economy, training new creative leaders who are responsive to continually changing contexts, infrastructures and technologies and engendering a new wave of creative leadership. Graduates will develop a deep understanding of critical and experimental communication/media production, creation and design practices, and through applied innovation will address current and future contexts.
The programme prepares students to evolve and lead new approaches to media and storytelling through predictive innovation, enabled by rapidly changing cultural and industrial practices, plus uses of, and developments in, digital technologies. Centring on the interrelated domains of broadcasting, film and experience/brand, the programme addresses knowledge and skills gaps in four key areas of practice: production, direction, content development/making/writing and communication/digital media design.
The programme proposes new imperatives for storytelling in an age of alternative facts and fictions; challenges associated with multiple media forms and systems; and methods for engaging publics as audiences, users, consumers, (co-)creators, stakeholders and participants.
Established approaches to production, direction, content creation and communication/digital media design are transforming at an exponential rate, employing innovative forms of storytelling and narrative experience to engage audiences in new ways. The programme is informed by associated transformations in digital technologies, including the prevalence of post-broadcast models of On Demand media; the proliferation of networked forms of production and distribution; source- and platform-agnostic, multi-cast, multi-access and multi-layered, multi-linear media; cultures of openness and control; and the primacy of interactivity.
The programme acknowledges human adaptations to living with digital technologies. Contemporary media platforms are mobile, embedded in multiple types of environments, infrastructures and products, and user-controlled with an engagement in more democratic forms of content generation and curation. In parallel, core discrete professions within the media and communication design industries are being challenged and broadened by increasingly transdisciplinary requirements. .
The programme equips students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to engage productively with the creative, design and commercial demands of this emerging and rapidly evolving multi-platform and multi-layered world. To match, a transdisciplinary approach is demanded with a strong narrative sense and a honed instinct for communication. Our contemporary uses of new digital technologies have prompted a reconsideration of communication borders and different types of responsive modes; and content developers and distributors are, in turn, converging within an increasingly fluid space.
Traditional skill sets involving narration, scriptwriting, production design, direction, set design, casting, photography, filming, lighting, and sound recording, for example, are now increasingly accompanied and informed by hitherto unrelated practices such as coding and programming, interactive design, AI, cross-platform and cross-media integration (e.g. transmedia), data visualisation and analytics, visual design, gamification, virtual/augmented reality and social media. Digital Direction addresses the demands of this new world – for example, by enabling designer-directors to produce and create content for social videos with an accompanying strategy for ensuring delivery to their target audiences, including deployment of mechanisms for openness and input.
The programme draws on six key principles from the School of Communication – conceptualisation, experimentation, expression, information, contextualisation and interdisciplinarity – which are in turn supported and developed through strategic research clusters based on the broader themes of identity, experience and publishing.
Looking to further your career within the creative industries? Southampton Solent’s innovative and transmedia MA Critical Creative Practice programme focuses on individual student-centred learning and encourages critical creative practice across the creative spectrum, including art, design, fashion, photography, media arts and technology, helping to enhance employability and leaving you well-prepared to progress within your chosen creative field.
Taught by both creative industry professionals and academic practitioners, the course enables students to develop ideas and engage with the emerging material and digital cultures of the future, as well as the fast-changing demands of the creative industries and the associated changes to cultural production, consumption and interpretation.
The course structure is theory and practice based. The theoretical element consists of critical core units which reference visual culture, cultural theory, critical theory, art and design history, media culture, and material and digital culture. The interdisciplinary practice element relates to creative practice in the fields of art, design, fashion, photography, media arts and technology.
The integration of theory and practice is central to the course and learning is carefully structured through these interdependent units to develop a broad base of interrelated experiences, whilst also providing the opportunity to specialise through the professional practice unit and the choice of final dissertation or final project.
Students will also have the opportunity to take optional technician-supported introductory workshops which could include contemporary arts practice, photography, new media practice, 3D printing and laser cutting, material manipulation, performance, beauty and the body, film editing, and sound and image production. To complement their studies, students may be able to take part in international and European study exchange opportunities through the University's study abroad programmes.
The unique approach of this course can enhance employability, enabling students to progress into the workplace equipped with valuable critical thinking and practice-based skills required for working in the creative industries and forming innovative hybrid engagements.
Graduates from this course will be well-placed for careers in a broad range of the creative industries, such as art, design, media, film, fashion, photography, education, culture and heritage, and curation.
This course is well-suited to graduates who wish to further their career within the creative industries by gaining a solid understanding of creative practice and critical thinking across a broad range of disciplines.
Units include:
Optional technician supported introductory workshops to be run in both semester one and two: Contemporary Arts Practice, Photography, New Media Practice, 3D Printing and Laser Cutting, Material Manipulation, Performance, Beauty and the Body, Film Editing, and Sound and Image Production.
Solent University provides a well-resourced environment to help students develop and harness enterprising and entrepreneurial practice. Students on this course have access to dedicated studio space to develop their individual creative practice. Other creative spaces and equipment available to students include photographic studios, fashion studios, Mac rooms, recording equipment, editing suites, and performance and exhibition space.
Solent is also home to a 24-hour library, modern IT facilities and a range of expert learning and employability support services.
The course team has strong industry links and students may have the opportunity to benefit from relevant industry contacts and academic links including John Hansard Gallery, V&A Museum, ICA Education and Events Programme, Solent Showcase exhibition space, Solent Research and Innovation Office, Solent Learning and Teaching Institute, Solent Material and Digital Archive.
Students may also benefit from internship and partnership collaboration opportunities with Hampshire Cultural Trust (Arts Council England-funded South East Museum Development Programme.
Students studying on courses within the School of Art, Design and Fashion may also have the opportunity to gain additional industry insights through an excellent guest speaker programme which has included internationally acclaimed artists, designers, photographers, curators, stylists, writers, musicians, performers, filmmakers and Oscar and Bafta award-winning film editors.
The Digital Media Practice programmes at Winchester are designed to accommodate a wide range of specialist interests within the digital media industry. Build your theoretical understanding within the context of honing practical skills in a range of specialist careers. Develop new ideas and theories through your engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms.
Your practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and work in professional contexts. Partnerships with professional practitioners and bodies give you the starting point to develop your own network of professional contacts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped digital design studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand to support you.
Your course consists of five core modules plus two optional modules, where you undertake individual projects and case studies relevant to your particular area of interest. Core modules include Digital Media Principles, Design Practice, and a project on Emerging Media. MA Digital Media Practice includes your choice of any two optional modules, while on the specialist pathways you choose two optional modules from a more specific selection. Examples of module choices include:
Digital Media Practice
Choose from any of the modules available on the specialist pathways
Advertising, Marketing and Branding Design
Design Thinking
Interaction Design
Motion Graphics
Visualisation
Graduates pursue careers in the digital media industry as lead designers, design researchers, account directors, content writers and creative producers.
Graduates pursue careers in the digital media industry as lead designers, design researchers, account directors, content writers and creative producers.
UK, EU, World
Start Date: September
Teaching takes place: Daytime
Students develop new ideas and theories through their engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms. Practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and by undertaking work in professional contexts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped Digital Design Studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand during core hours.
Taught elements of the course take place on our King Alfred Campus (Winchester) or at our West Downs Campus (Winchester)
Our validated courses may adopt a range of means of assessing your learning. An indicative, and not necessarily comprehensive, list of assessment types you might encounter includes essays, portfolios, supervised independent work, presentations, written exams, or practical performances.
We ensure all students have an equal opportunity to achieve module learning outcomes. As such, where appropriate and necessary, students with recognised disabilities may have alternative assignments set that continue to test how successfully they have met the module's learning outcomes. Further details on assessment types used on the course you are interested in can be found on the course page, by attending an Open Day or Open Evening, or contacting our teaching staff.Feedback
We are committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to you on your academic progress and achievement in order to enable you to reflect on your progress and plan your academic and skills development effectively. You are also encouraged to seek additional feedback from your course tutors.
For more information about our regulations for this course, please see our Academic Regulations, Policies and Procedures.
