Masters Degrees in History of Film & Photography

This distinctive programme allows you to think about the critical and creative relationships between film, photography and the media, while developing your skills to produce projects of your own.

A major independent project sits at the heart of the course, supported by modules that put your practice into the context of contemporary debates. You’ll explore the different critical approaches to the making and consumption of photography and film, allowing them to inform the short film and photography projects you’ll work on.

It’s a flexible programme which allows you to choose from a range of optional modules to focus on topics that suit your own creative and critical interests. You could study cultural policy, international film industries, film and TV writing, feminism in the media and more.

You’ll be taught by leading researchers and practitioners in the field, and our cutting edge research will inform all your teaching.

Our School has a range of fantastic facilities to support your studies. The 58-seat Phil Taylor Cinema is equipped with Dolby Digital sound and high-definition projection facilities, as well as projectors for 16mm and 35mm film.

You can also work on your own projects in our 44 editing suites, equipped with Avid Media Composer editing software and Adobe Creative Cloud. The fully equipped TV studio also has a large green screen area, lighting and photo-flash facilities. We also have a track and dolly, sliders, Glidecam and various cranes, and you’ll have access to a new photographic dark room.

We also run a loans service where you can borrow a range of HD digital camcorders and various Canon stills cameras to help with your project work.

Course content

The whole programme is based around a major independent project. You can choose to complete a dissertation and take classes developing your knowledge of research methods to support your work. Alternatively, you can complete a short film or photography project that you’ll exhibit at the end of the programme.

The modules you study throughout the year give you the theoretical and contextual knowledge you need to inform your project, as well as developing your skills in filmmaking and photography.

You’ll study two core modules. One will explore the links between photographic creativity, optical science and the nature of cinema and allow you to work on a short film project. The other will look at the historical development of photographic practice, contemporary issues and debates.

Alongside these modules you’ll choose from a range of options to focus on topics that interest you, from film industries around the world to new media, cultural policy, communication and development, television narrative and more.

If you choose to study part-time, you’ll complete the MA over two years, instead of one, taking fewer modules each year.

Course structure

These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

Compulsory modules

• Cultures of Contemporary Photography 30 credits
• Cinematics and Photography 30 credits

Optional modules

• Feminism, Identity and Media 30 credits
• International Film Industries 30 credits
• The Media and Democratisation: Global Perspectives 30 credits
• Dissertation and Research Methods 60 credits
• Innovations in Political Communication 30 credits
• Politics and the Media 30 credits
• Communication and Development 30 credits
• The Cultural History of Promotional Communication 30 credits
• Identity, Culture and Technology 30 credits
• Final Independent Project 60 credits
• Urban Narratives 30 credits
• Rhetoric and Public Speaking 15 credits
• Managing Business Across Cultures 15 credits
• International Organisations: Context, Theory and Practice 15 credits
• Writing for Professional Purposes 15 credits
• Cultural Policy: Models and Debates 30 credits
• Critical Debates in Culture and Place 30 credits
• Writing for Film and Television 30 credits
• 'Race', Identity and Culture in the Black Atlantic 30 credits
• Researching Inequality in the Media 30 credits
• Reality TV: Truth or Fiction? 30 credits

For more information on typical modules, read Film, Photography and Media MA Full Time in the course catalogue

For more information on typical modules, read Film, Photography and Media MA Part Time in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

We use learning methods that reflect the diversity of the programme, including workshops, lectures, seminars, group learning, tutorials and film screenings. Independent study is also a vital element of the programme, since it allows you to develop your skills and explore your creativity in practical work.

Assessment

We also use different methods of assessment, some of which will depend on the modules you choose. These are likely to include portfolios of practical work, group and individual projects and reports, essays, literature reviews, case studies, presentations, scripts and commentaries.

Career opportunities

This programme will give you a broad base of knowledge and skills across two important forms of communication. It will also equip you with cultural awareness and advanced skills in research, analysis, interpretation and oral and written communication.

Careers support

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.

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Your programme of study

Are you passionate about films and all things visual? Do you want to work in the arts or do you want to find a way to do this?  This programme gives you cultural contexts across a range of different genres and history of film to understand why films depicted what they did and how this contributed to the world around us and the way we live. It is well known that film has shaped other disciplines like fashion, the way we think, cultural identity, how we are able to express ourselves or understand something better we previously didn't know about. It is an opportunity to put the record straight on history and get to the root cause and effect of different periods in history through characters. Film is also about getting to the truth in documentary films.  Film also follows many other arts disciplines in interpreting them and bringing them to our attention in a way that theatre and performance cannot in terms of scale and reality. Much of what has been successful on the West End Stage, Opera, ballet, the life of a famous painter or other creative is often successfully depicted in film due to its ability to portray several art forms together successfully.

Film isn't the only art form to transform our lives but it probably reaches more people than any other art form around the world. It probably has more of a profound influence in people's lives around the world to change the course of their life in work, interests, style, imitation and more. Different ages of photography have been monumental in transforming our perceptions and getting us closer to reality such as old film and photography of the 19th century, war in the world and celebrities being the first fashion icons of the 50s, without the need for script.

You study and analyse film across the recent past and you look at animation and digital from the days of the Walt Disney team making up each frame to its evolution into digital animation and speed production. You also look at how changing tastes and cultural styles have changed the way in which we view film and by what method, plus you look at living overseas in the context of your own cultural identity.  From this you gain useful skills and knowledge to critique contemporary film, curate exhibitions work in museums, become and expert in a specific theme or age of film.

Courses listed for the programme

Semester 1

Introduction to Visual Culture and Theory

Introduction to Film Theory and Analysis

Psychoanalysis and Cinema

Cinema and Psychoanalysis

Semester 2

Media Archaeologies

The Animate

Minor Cinemas

Labour, Leisure and the Moving Image

Diaspora and Migration in Contemporary Visual Culture

Special Subject by Research

Narratives and Images of Deep Time in 19th Century

Curating and Exhibition

Semester 3

Dissertation

Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/332/film-and-visual-culture/

Why study at Aberdeen?

• You are given advanced training in visual culture, engaging with wide ranging material in film and photography
• You learn the key debates of the 20th Century whilst learning at a university dating from 1495
• You can become an associate of the University Centre for Visual Culture
• The city offers you wide ranging museums, theatres, garden and castle trails, architecture of note and a rural shire with some history

Where you study

• University of Aberdeen
• Full Time or Part Time
• 12 Months or 24 Months
• September or January

International Student Fees 2017/2018

 Find out about fees:

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php

*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.

Scholarships

View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/finance-funding-1599.php

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/

Living in Aberdeen

Find out more about:

• Your Accommodation
• Campus Facilities
• Aberdeen City
• Student Support
• Clubs and Societies

Find out more about living in Aberdeen:

https://abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life

Living costs

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php

 

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Our MA in Film Studies is one of the longest-established and most prestigious postgraduate degrees of its kind in the UK, drawing on the expertise of staff whose research has been assessed as world-leading.

This carefully-tailored degree programme enables students to explore the history, political significance and aesthetic qualities of a global range of cinema. It caters both to those who have previously studied media as well as those who are newer to the subject area.

Our research specialisms in gender studies and film, British cinema, genre, and audience studies, are reflected in the modules we offer.

Our thriving postgraduate community benefits from regular conferences on campus, use of the East Anglian Film Archive, as well as workshops from visiting media professionals.

Graduates from our MA programmes frequently progress to PhD study and have gone on to rewarding careers in various fields including archiving, academia, journalism, and in the film and television industries.

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The course is a unique opportunity to embark upon a detailed investigation into the intellectual currents and aesthetic concerns surrounding the study and practice of film. From the outset, questions of history, theory and context are brought to bear on issues of close analysis and interpretation. Elective modules in Screenwriting, Creative Documentary Practice and Editing allow students to balance film theory with practice. At every step of the way your progress will be informed by an emphasis on independent study and critical thinking. In addition, the course aims to develop the key transferable skills required for postgraduate study. These include dissertation preparation, time management and oral and written presentation.


The course consists of six taught modules and a Dissertation module that includes Research Methodologies.

Dissertation and Research Methodologies
This module prepares students for the formal processes of research and writing at M.Phil. level. Classes will cover library use, archival skills, electronic resources, use of Endnote, research skills, note taking, writing and oral presentation and power-point techniques. Students will write a dissertation of approximately 12,000-15,000 words on an approved topic to be supervised by an appropriate member of staff.

In addition, students choose six of the elective modules listed below:

Aesthetics of Digital Cinema
This course traces the history of the development of the digital image with specific reference to its application to filmmaking. We will look at the analogue origins of the digital image and discuss the aesthetic implications of the shift to digital film. Further we will discuss developing models of criticism and their application to the digital cinematic image. We will be drawing examples from Western (Hollywood, Danish, British) cinemas and non-Western (Iranian) cinemas as well as from other outputs, such as YouTube.

Cinema and Ireland

This course will explore the history of Irish cinema from the 1930s to the present. It will also cover such areas as state film production policies, film censorship, and the history of Irish film distribution and exhibition. In addition, it will trace how British and American cinemas have represented Ireland and the Irish, and it will examine representations of political violence, history, gender and the cinema of the Celtic Tiger years, as well as current trends in Irish film production.

Current Trends in European Cinema
This course will look at and examine the changes taking place in cinema in Europe in the latter part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. This was a period that saw enormous transformation throughout the continent - both East and West - when the post World War II political dispensation collapsed and Cold War divisions crumbled. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent overthrow of the remaining Stalinist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe, the emergence of the European Union as a transnational political entity in 1992, and the globalisation of the world economy all impacted on the way in which films were made and the type of themes they explored and topics they tackled.

Cult Cinema
This module will examine a number of films that have acquired 'cult status' for a variety of reasons. It will pay particular attention to the ways in which these films have circulated in popular and academic discourses and the various attempts to identify 'cult' qualities and qualifying practices.

Melodrama
This module will consider a wide range of variations on the ‘melodramatic mode’, including examples from early cinema, classical Hollywood cinema, as well as current American and European cinema.Â

Editing
This module will introduce students to the craft of editing, giving students an understanding of the essential technical and creative skills involved: how a scene is assembled and seamlessly put together, cutting dialogue, creating tension and drama using editing, using pacing, editing to rhythm, cutting to music and beats. It will also provide students with a through knowledge of the editing software, Final Cut Pro X, covering all aspects of the software, from capture and system-settings, editing tools and shortcuts, to effects, transitions and colour correction. The overall aim is to give students the knowledge, tools and confidence to complete their own work to a professional standard.

Creative Documentary Practice
The aim of this module is expose students to the possibilities of creative documentary film making with a strong emphasis on learning thorough practical application. The module will take a critical look at current practices in the genre with an emphasis both on the techniques of documentary filmmaking and the practicalities of how films are made.

Screenwriting
This module will introduce students to the techniques and conventions of screenwriting. Class exercises will involve the analysis of screenplays and short films, and the course will cover both the conventional three-act structure and other models of screenwriting.

Please note: all modules are subject to change and/or availability. Students must take three modules in Michaelmas term and three modules in Hilary term, subject to timetabling.

Assessment is by a combination of coursework and dissertation:

Each module will be assessed by a combination of written and/or practice based assignments as appropriate and class participation. Total ECTS: 60
Dissertation of approximately 12,000-15,000 words and Research Methodologies assessment. Total ECTS: 30
Postgraduate Diploma

A Postgraduate Diploma in Film Theory and History may be awarded in certain circumstances on the basis of coursework alone (60 ECTS). Entry is the same as for the M.Phil. programme.

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Our innovative MA in Film and Television builds on its prestigious heritage as the longest running degree programme of its kind in the UK. We aim to equip you with wide-ranging skills, knowledge and critical awareness to meet your career aspirations in sectors in which moving images play a central role. Our curriculum incorporates an exciting variety of learning and teaching activities designed to foster your capacity for researching and rigorously analysing different aspects of film, television and moving images. You will have the opportunity to develop key skills for communicating about and with moving images across a range of contexts and platforms. You can choose to have a broad-based learning experience in film, television and moving image, or you can specialise in moving image curation and screenwriting via our suggested pathways.

The core teaching team consists of members of the University’s Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design. The course has close links with the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), the leading research centre in the UK for arts and design, whose members include internationally renowned filmmakers, film and television theorists and historians, and moving image artists and curators. We combine research-enhanced teaching with classes delivered by film and television industry and moving image art professionals, in order to make sure that you develop skill sets and the full range of critical awareness that are in demand and to deliver an exciting learning experience for you.

Course content

The course combines core and optional taught modules. The design and delivery of our taught modules draw on CREAM’s research excellence in documentary, Asian and European cinema, moving image curation, and television history. The coursework requirements for some modules are research essays or a combination of research essays and research-informed blog posts and presentations. Other modules require a broad range of research-informed professional modes of writing such as a screenplay treatment, a curatorial proposal or an exhibition review. You will also undertake a substantial piece of independent research as a major part of your MA studies. In order to provide you with the flexibility to undertake a piece of independent research suited to your career aspiration, the final project module offers you the choice between writing a traditional dissertation or completing a theoretically-informed professional project such as a curating a film programme, writing and producing a series of themed blog posts, or writing a long-form screenplay.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.

The course is taught in two modes: full-time and part-time. Full-time Postgraduate students study 180 credits per year. For the award of MA in Film and Television: Theory, Culture and Industry, you must complete two core taught modules, four optional modules and a 60-credit final project module, for a total of 180 credits. Core modules provide you with a set of key skills for the theoretical, critical and reflective understanding of moving images. Optional modules give you the freedom to choose areas of specialisation. The course leaders can advise on which modules best fit your interests. You have the choice to pursue specialised interests through your choice of optional modules and coursework assignments. If you are not sure which optional modules to choose or fit your interests best, or which types of final project work to produce to best develop your area of specialisation, you should discuss this question individually with the course leaders and you should aim to do so early on in the academic year.

The course structure includes two suggested pathways for those wishing to specialise in film programming and moving image curation, or in screenwriting.

You will be able to choose among the following modules:
-Cinema Distribution and Exhibition (option)
-Contemporary Issues in Moving Image and Screen Studies (core)
-Documentary Aesthetics, Sites and Spectatorship (option)
-Film Programming and Moving Image Curation (option)
-Final Project (core)
-Key Concepts in Film, Television and Moving Image (core)
-Introduction to Scriptwriting (option)
-Longform Screenplay Preparation and Short Documents (option)
-Modern and Contemporary European Cinema (option)
-Researching Histories in Asian Cinema (option)
-Television Art: Aesthetics and Quality (option)

Associated careers

Our graduates have found employment in small- and large-scale film and television companies as filmmakers, producers, distributors, and exhibitors. Others have gone on to organise film festivals, or to work in film-related magazines and journals as well as in international arts and culture sectors. Some of our recent graduates have gone on to pursue academic careers as researchers or doctoral students at the University of Westminster and elsewhere. As the UK’s longest-running postgraduate programme in film and television several of our alumni are pioneers of the discipline of film and television studies.

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The Photographic History and Practice MA is uniquely focused on the social, cultural and material histories of photography. You will explore photographic history through primary source materials, including negatives, photographs, technical apparatus, ephemera and manuscripts, as well as new developments in digital research under the guidance of internationally recognised scholars, practitioners, and museum professionals.

The programme offers you outstanding industry links with major collections including the National Media Museum, Birmingham City Library and the Pitt Rivers Museum. It is aimed at those from a variety of disciplines including conservationists, archivists, historians of science and from various fields of visual studies; such as visual anthropology, photography or art history. Working closely with programme staff, you will enhance your handling skills, research methods, writing and public speaking that will equip you for a wide range of careers or for further study.

You will learn in a variety of different formats including lectures, workshops, tutorials and seminars, as well as group activities. The course is underpinned by an innovative wiki environment that is a space for sharing and collaboration between students and tutors, as well as for presentation of content and communication.

You will also attend a week-long archival residency at one of a number of major internationally-recognised photographic archives. Throughout the programme there are visits to different types of museums, libraries and archives that engage photographic history. Previous visits have included major exhibitions at Nottingham Contemporary, important private collections organising for international exhibition loans, and the Royal Photographic Collection at Windsor as it prepared for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

The programme is delivered by a team of experienced tutors with international research profiles as well as visiting lecturers from museums, archives, collections and research institutions. These experts all approach photographic history from different perspectives, presenting important challenges to you, and enabling you to study both the materiality of photography and its relationship with the digital age.

The Photographic History and Practice MA provides you with a solid grounding of practical skills, theory and dialectics that will equip you for a wide range of careers in heritage industries and research. Some of our graduates have received fellowships to pursue PhDs here in the UK and abroad while others have embarked upon careers in curating, museum and gallery administration, digital cataloguing and publishing throughout Europe.

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Learn to speak and write confidently about museums and curatorship, together with hands-on experience in a museum setting, with a focus on photography. Think about the future of museums and how you can contribute to it.

This MA introduces you to:
-Curatorial scholarship and its methodologies (including conservation-led research and technical art history)
-The histories of museums and their collections
-The ethical and legal frameworks within which curators and museums work
-The nature and politics of museum displays

You visit museums in Sussex and in London, allowing you to learn first-hand about institutional histories, collections, permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions.

You’re taught by Sussex tutors and external specialists. In the past, these have included senior staff from the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, the V&A, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

How will I study?

In the autumn and spring terms, you take museum skills modules with seminars at Sussex and visit local and national collections alongside taking core modules and an option based on photography.

The summer term is taken up with a work placement at a local or national museum or gallery, working with photographic collections.

Throughout the course, you are encouraged to participate actively in the taught sessions and museum visits. With your tutors and classmates, you debate a range of ethical concerns facing museum curators.

You also develop your own research interests through the dissertation. Assessed work includes:
-Term papers
-Practical assignments
-A learning journal (written during the placement as a reflection on that experience)
-A 12,000-word dissertation

Scholarships

Our aim is to ensure that every student who wants to study with us is able to despite financial barriers, so that we continue to attract talented and unique individuals.

Chancellor's International Scholarship (2017)
-25 scholarships of a 50% tuition fee waiver
-Application deadline: 1 May 2017

HESPAL Scholarship (Higher Education Scholarships Scheme for the Palestinian Territories) (2017)
-Two full fee waivers in conjuction with maintenance support from the British Council
-Application deadline: 1 January 2017

USA Friends Scholarships (2017)
-A scholarship of an amount equivalent to $10,000 for nationals or residents of the USA on a one year taught Masters degree course.
-Application deadline: 3 April 2017

Careers

You gain knowledge about objects and collections, specifically in the context of photography, and develop a critical awareness of museum practices.

You develop communication and project management skills. These skills provide the practical and theoretical foundation for careers in:
-Museums
-Galleries
-Heritage at curatorial level
-The cultural sector more broadly

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This MA programme provides students with the opportunity to acquire expert knowledge of film in historical context as a means of mastering transferable analytical skills and so prepare students for a variety of professional or research careers. The program can be adapted to meet a wide range of interests. Its bi-directional focus on the disciplines of film and history also provides students with a flexible series of modular units from which to choose

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Photography has become the major form of image-making and visual communication since its development in the nineteenth century. Its importance has been recognised in many areas of scholarship: history of art, media and cultural studies, literature, memory and memorialisation, gender and identity, philosophy and law. Its role in all fields of the arts and sciences, including those most personal, is being expanded, renewed and questioned by the mushrooming of digital culture.

This programme enables you to learn about - and to negotiate your individual path through - historical and contemporary photographic cultures, in order to develop your interests, whether your engagement with the medium is academic, artistic, personal or vocational.

After an initial introductory core module, and with tutorial guidance, the programme allows you to specialise through your selection of option modules and topics for your research project and dissertation. Options cover a wide range of photographic practices and cultures, past and present, and allow you to explore diverse methodologies and internationally 'local' practices. The course also offers opportunities for work placements with London museums, galleries and archives.

You will develop subject-specific and transferable research, critical and writing skills that will enhance your career opportunities in the field and beyond, whether in academia or teaching, photography as a practice, galleries and museums, or in the media. The programme is also ideally suited to preparing students with a practice-based background considering a PhD, academic or practice-based.

We offer taster events and information evenings for prospective students interested in our history of art programmes throughout the year.

As well as regular museum and gallery visits, the department offers an exciting study trip every spring.

Students are encouraged to become involved in the lively research culture of the department through the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre, the Architecture, Space and Society Centre and the Vasari Research Centre, which has pioneered the field of digital art history. In addition to the core teaching and individual research support, students benefit from many events in the department of History of Art at Birkbeck, including: the postgraduate Research Seminar, which brings art historians from all over the UK and beyond to speak at Birkbeck; the biennial Murray lecture; the Murray Seminar on Medieval and Renaissance Art; and the programme of exhibitions and displays at the Peltz Gallery, the School of Arts' purpose-built exhibition space. Students are also welcome to attend other seminars and events across the School of Arts and at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.

Staff teaching on this programme

Dr Patrizia Di Bello (Course Director)
Dr Suzannah Biernoff
Dr Fiona Candlin
Professor Annie E Coombes
Professor Mark Crinson
Professor Steve Edwards
Dr Tag Gronberg
Dr Akane Kawakami
Dr Gabriel Koureas
Dr Luciana Martins
Professor Lynda Nead
Dr Leslie Topp

Why study this course at Birkbeck?

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck are ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.
Unique international coverage of photographic cultures, making use of modules offered across the School of Arts.
Taught by renowned research-active academics and writers from a variety of disciplines, including history of art, media and cultural studies, journalism, modern languages and the humanities.
Cross- and interdisciplinary approach to the study of photography in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Research culture and networking opportunities offered by the Birkbeck History and Theory of Photography Research Centre.
You will have access to the Birkbeck Library and an in-house slide library and self-access centre (including the Vasari Digital Media Research Centre).
You will also have access to the Jo Spence Memorial Library and Terry Dennett Archive.
There are opportunities for you to become involved in curating and organising exhibitions in the Peltz Gallery in the School of Arts.
Our location in Bloomsbury offers excellent access to specialist libraries and archives in the University of London. These include the University of London Library, Institute of Historical Research, Warburg Institute and School of Oriental and African Studies, together with the major national resource of the British Library.
Exclusive visits to photographic archives, and group visits to exhibitions, talks and events.
You will also have easy access to specialist libraries and photographic archives, including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the National Art Library and the photographic collection in the Prints and Drawings Study Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of London, the National Portrait Gallery (Heinz Archives), the Photographers’ Gallery and the Tate Gallery. We are also near many commercial galleries, photography book specialist dealers and exhibition spaces such as the Barbican, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Hayward Gallery, INIVA and the many other places that exhibit photographs from time to time.

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These degrees are designed to allow students the maximum choice of specific modules. The History of Photography module choices are slightly more constrained than Art History. The majority of these modules are offered each year according to staff availability and sufficient student demand. We recommend that you confirm with the School that the courses of interest will be available during the period in which you plan to attend St Andrews as not all modules are available every year.

Teaching methods

Students take four modules during the two semesters of coursework. We recommend you take the module focused upon methodology and resources. The modules are taught as smallgroup discussion seminars, with an average size of 4-8 students in each group. There is a minimum of 12 hours’ contact time for each 30-credit module. Additionally, there may be class trips where relevant to the taught modules and there is a research seminar with guest lecturers for all staff and students every two weeks. Across the two semesters, students also participate in a series of skills workshops designed to help prepare for the dissertation element.

Assessment

The assessment for the taught modules is based on coursework. Students complete a sequence of research-driven tasks designed to consolidate and extend their knowledge and to develop analysis and writing skills. Assessment components include book reviews, annotated bibliographies, visual analysis and object analysis essays, reading journals and research papers.

The dissertation module provides the opportunity to undertake an independent research project under the supervision of an academic member of staff. The dissertation is researched and written over the summer semester. It is a substantial piece of academic research, 15,000 words in length.

Careers

A postgraduate degree in Art History, History of Photography or Museum and Gallery Studies provides an excellent foundation for a career in the art or museum world.

The Museum and Gallery Studies course provides a theoretical foundation combined with hands-on, practical and transferable experience. Recent graduates have gone on to work for a range of institutions, from the Scottish Light House Museum to the National Museums of Scotland, the Victoria and Albert Museum to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the McManus Galleries in Dundee to Zhejiang University Museum of Art & Archaeology, and auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, and Bonham’s, among many others. Two year-long traineeships within University Collections are open uniquely to Museum and Gallery Studies graduates, as is the four to five month David Nicholls Curatorial Internship at the South Georgia Museum in Antarctica.

Recent postgraduates in Art History and History of Photography are employed in universities and archives, museums and galleries, auction houses, radio stations, publishing houses and magazines and are also working in journalism, teaching, and retail.

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Realise your ambitions and take the lead in the creation of a film project that showcases your individuality and talent. The first three semesters follow the MA Filmmaking course to give you a thorough grounding in collaborative filmmaking. Then, mentored over two semesters, you will make an extended piece that develops your own style as you become a confident and experienced filmmaker.

Working on your own project or taking a head of department role alongside a fellow MFA student, your expertise will be tested in a dedicated specialism such as directing, producing, cinematography, animation, screenwriting or editing.

Whether your ambitions lie in fiction, documentary, animation, experimental films or screenplays, this course will allow you to develop your idea into a professional piece of work. We will give you the independence and freedom to realise your project, complemented by the support of our expert tutors.

Visit the website https://courses.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/filmmaking_mfa/

Mature Applicants

Our University welcomes applications from mature applicants who demonstrate academic potential. We usually require some evidence of recent academic study, for example completion of an access course, however recent relevant work experience may also be considered. Please note that for some of our professional courses all applicants will need to meet the specified entry criteria and in these cases work experience cannot be considered in lieu.

If you wish to apply through this route you should refer to our University Recognition of Prior Learning policy that is available on our website (http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studenthub/recognition-of-prior-learning.htm).

Please note that all applicants to our University are required to meet our standard English language requirement of GCSE grade C or equivalent, variations to this will be listed on the individual course entry requirements.

Careers

The MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is a highly respected qualification in the US and is growing in significance in the UK. More importantly, you will graduate with a fully realised film project that extends your portfolio and demonstrates who you are as a filmmaker. Your experiences on the course will prepare you for the collaborative nature of the filmmaking industry.

Careers advice:
The dedicated Jobs and Careers team offers expert advice and a host of resources to help you choose and gain employment. Whether you're in your first or final year, you can speak to members of staff from our Careers Office who can offer you advice from writing a CV to searching for jobs.

Visit the careers site - https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/employability/jobs-careers-support.htm

Course Benefits

We will give you the independence to make the film you want to make. Our expert team will provide tutorial encouragement, supervision and advice, and you will have access to industry-standard equipment and resources at our Northern Film School.

From cinematographers to producers and editors to animators, our teaching team is made up of highly respected film and television professionals, many of whom are still active in their fields. We will aim to match you with a tutor who specialises in your area of interest so that we can provide you with bespoke advice and guidance.

As the first and only film school in the UK to receive JAMES accreditation in recognition of the expertise of our staff, the professional level of our facilities and the opportunities we provide for our students, the Northern Film School is one of the best schools in the UK to explore and develop your ideas as a filmmaker.

Keith Dando

Senior Lecturer

"The wonderful thing about the new MFA Filmmaking course is that it is just that - filmmaking, pure and simple. It’s a struggle to launch a film career and get to make the films which are important to you, that speak to an audience. This is what we’re aiming to achieve and we are eager to see the results."

Keith’s career has included work on short and feature films, television series and computer games in projects for the BBC, Channel Four, Channel Five and many independent film and TV companies. Keith has also co-written screenplays that have reached the finals in the prestigious Zoetrope and Final Draft screenwriting contests, and worked with up and coming, respected filmmakers such as Clio Barnard and Penny Woolcock.

Facilities

-Electric Press
Based at the Electric Press, our Northern Film School has dedicated facilities and equipment for you to use. These include studios, camera and grip equipment, lighting equipment, edit suites for post-production and a 75-seat HD viewing theatre.

-Film Studios
Based in the Electric Press, our two expansive production studios, East and West Side enable the building of substantial film sets. This affords film students the opportunity to fully explore set design and prop building.

-Sound recording & editing facilities
You'll have access to a suite of professional music studios, including film composition and audio post production rooms, instruments, together with portable field recording equipment and extensive computer workstation facilities.

Find out how to apply here - http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/postgraduate/how-to-apply/

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Our Film programme, taught in Paris, offers a thorough grounding in postgraduate-level film and is suitable both for graduates in the subject and those new to it.

It is taught by experts in Film and seeks to engage you with the key elements that make up the diverse nature of film and moving images.

Our programme is the only Film MA offered by a British university in Paris and taught in English. You will spend the entire year in the French capital, which will allow you to participate in excursions to prominent cultural locations and make use of research resources that are only available in Paris, such as the French Cinémathèque. You will study film at postgraduate level within the context of a city that is central both to the development of filmmaking practices and to critical and theoretical approaches to the cinema.

Students interested in taking this MA as a part-time option would take two modules each year (one per term), plus the dissertation in the final year.

The Film MA can also be studied between Canterbury and Paris, with the first term at our Canterbury campus and the spring term at our centre in Paris. You can also study the programme at Canterbury only.

About the Department of Film

The Film Department at the University of Kent is known for its excellence in research and teaching. Arts at Kent (including Film) was ranked 1st in the UK for research power in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. One of the largest European centres for the study of film, it has an established reputation going back 35 years. Approaching film as a dynamic part of our cultural experience, we encourage thinking about film as it emerges at the intersections of art, document and entertainment. Through theory and practice, individual research, student-led seminars and visiting speakers, we promote an environment in which postgraduate students are able to engage with the continuing vibrancy of cinema.

Studying film as a postgraduate at the University of Kent in Paris will give you the opportunity to experience our rich resources of academic expertise, library facilities and a campus-based film culture. Our research and teaching will engage you in a dialogue with aesthetic, conceptual and historical perspectives.

Course Structure

The programme consists of research training, three compulsory 30-credit modules and one 30-credit subject option, plus a dissertation.

You spend the autumn and spring terms viewing and discussing films in modules that are designed to address a range of practical and theoretical issues, including authorship, genre, stardom, style, modernity, nationalism and internationalism. Seminars also cover debates in philosophy and film theory on the nature of filmic representation and its relationship to language, art, emotion, and consciousness.

Our postgraduate programme in Paris will allow you to focus more on French cinema and its context, and to consider the impact of French critics and filmmakers on the wider discipline of Film Studies. In the summer term you will complete your one-year MA by writing a dissertation of up to 15,000 words on a topic agreed with tutors.

Careers

Arts graduates have gone on to work in a range of professions, from museum positions and teaching roles to film journalists and theatre technicians. Our graduates have found work at Universal Pictures, the London Film Festival and other arts, culture and heritage-related organisations, as well as in film production, as editorial assistants and as web designers.

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A dynamic and practical documentary programme to develop your creative storytelling and multi-media production skills. The programme will include lectures, workshops and opportunities to learn from professional media experts. You will also be encouraged to forge contacts with media companies and undertake a professional placement to enhance your employability in this creative sector

-Explore practical documentary making on a variety of media platforms
-Work with award-winning documentary makers and experienced journalists
-Study in the £38 million Redmonds Building and enjoy full access to Liverpool Screen School's state-of-the-art facilities
-Undertake a placement with a professional media company

This new practice-led masters degree focuses on documentary making on a variety of platforms, enabling you to develop the core skills required to become a successful documentary maker.
​Through the exploration of practical camerawork skills, including sound recording, editing and interviewing, you will become confident in your craft, while the journalism modules will develop your skills in storytelling, interviewing and the various journalistic principles.

You will also study and understand the laws which impact responsible journalism, including the latest media law and ethics.

​The degree is taught by two departments in Liverpool Screen School; Media Production runs a popular and highly successful undergraduate degree which develops students to become confident and independent media developers. The Journalism department has offered undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for many years and continues to produce well-skilled graduates ready for the workplace. The collaborative nature of this degree means you will receive the best learning support, access to the latest techniques, academic research and opportunities to engage with key external partners.

What you will study on this degree

Please see guidance below on core modules for further information on what you will study.

-Practical craft skills in camerawork, sound recording and editing
-Core journalism skills including storytelling, interview technique, media law and ethics
-Core documentary production skills
-Interactive story-telling
-Tools for interactive documentary-making
​
Further guidance on modules

The information listed in the section entitled 'What you will study' is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal Academic Framework review, so may be subject to change. Students will be required to undertake modules that the University designates as core and will have a choice of designated option modules. Additionally, option modules may be offered subject to meeting minimum student numbers.

Academic Framework reviews are conducted by LJMU from time to time to ensure that academic standards continue to be maintained.

Please email [email protected] if you require further guidance or clarification.

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Why take this course?

This course develops skills in computer animation, computer games technology, film and television, or music technology. It is driven by the design and application of the latest hardware, software and techniques to produce creative and innovative media artefacts. These could be focused on industry-related developments but equally you could test an idea or propose a new idea to address novel research problems.

MSc Creative Technologies is centred on a bespoke project chosen by you. This allows you to define the focus of your work and gain the hands-on experience of designing, creating and managing your media development or research programme.

You will be equipped with the technical, academic and professional skills required to pursue a career in your chosen industry. Your project will lead to an exit award of either:

MSc Computer Animation
MSc Computer Games Technology
MSc Film and Television
MSc Music Technology

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Focus on a problem to develop excellent portfolio work
Design and develop software, systems, 2D/3D assets, and innovative solutions
Use our sound/music studios and multimedia labs, accessing high-spec computing facilities
Utilise our industry-standard game content creation software, VR hardware, motion capture facilities and console development kits
Access the latest digital film equipment through our loan store, including the C300, EX3 and Canon 7D cameras and the Mix Pre-D portable sound mixer
Have the opportunity to engage in client-based research

What opportunities might it lead to?

Our course specialises in developing a wide range of analytical and problem-solving skills to support you in becoming a critically-reflective practitioner in a range of technology-related careers. In an age where media content providers are looking for cross-platform solutions to moving image digital design and production, the specialist knowledge our graduates attain leave them in a particularly strong position.

Depending on your project choice, you’ll be prepared to find employment internationally within the computer games industry, Virtual Reality, film or broadcast industries, training, healthcare and simulation or music industries. In addition, previous graduates have started their careers as freelancers, independent developers or continued onto PhD study.

Our students have pursued a wide range of project topics, including:

Computer games programming and technical design
Virtual Reality for healthcare
Education, training and simulation
3D modelling
Sound Design
Animation design
Motion capture
Cross platform film production
Online audio visual archiving

Module Details

Promoting careful planning, implementation and reflection on subject-related issues, this course will encourage you to build on your previous creative and technical expertise.

You will have the opportunity to research, design and develop a major artefact, prototype or study. In addition to one-to-one academic guidance from two project supervisors, the lifecycle of your project is also supported by self-directed taught units that take a project from start to finish:

Context and Definition: Identifying the background, scope and context of your project, and formulating a project plan.
Professional, Academic and Research Development: Identifying your own strengths, areas for development and refined career goals.
Project Design and Development: Shaping the project as it comes together and responding proactively to development issues.
Project Evaluation and Resolution: Acting upon feedback from the project to refine the outcome, before reflecting upon and evaluating your success.

Programme Assessment

This course encourages individual exploration and research along with opportunities to demonstrate this knowledge within your specialist area of interest. Particular emphasis is placed on your ability to define, implement, evaluate and reflect on subject related issues.

Formal assessment will include written materials, such as project proposals, research or development papers and reflective reports. This, along with completed artefacts, will form the assessment. In addition, presentations during the programme will allow the development of your ability to contextually justify your work.

Student Destinations

The rapid growth of the media industries, along with the advancing nature of technology, means that the demand for specialist skills in creative technologies is on the rise.

Depending on the focus of your self-directed project and your specific career plans, you can develop skills to work in the film and broadcast industries, games design, programming, art production and virtual reality development. The leisure and entertainment sector has an increasing number of opportunities in the field of music technology.

Other areas where you may find employment include education, health and business, which rely on audio specialists for the development of audio systems, software and interfaces, installation and monitoring, through to contextual acoustic research.

In addition, there is a growing demand for delivering cross-platform content as part of regional and international convergence projects, such as cross media solutions on TV, the web and social media, or across social venues, mobile phone devices and the home.

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Do you have a desire to pursue a specific research project in film and video?

On this ResM you’ll receive a grounding in the research processes which are common to work generally in the arts, humanities, creative and cultural industrial fields. Explore research questions and methodologies specific to film and video and learn how these relate to both practice and/or theory.

Programme structure

You'll get to focus on practice or theory, in any combination of your choice, in one of the following areas:
-Artists’ film and video, experimental film and video (including fiction, documentary, drama documentary, animation)
-Histories of autobiographical, experimental, avant-garde film and video
-Contemporary theoretical discourses about independent film (including film practice as research, film as philosophy)
-The study and use of archive film (including home movies) in different contexts and practices; the relationship of film and video to new forms of dissemination (with particular reference to the digital)
-Collaborative projects involving different disciplines (for example, performance); and community-based and activist video.

Programme content

-Critical screenings: mapping out the interconnecting territories of independent film/video making
-Research in the arts and humanities: development of generic research skills and methods
-Masters thesis: presenting a substantial piece of work, either practice- or theory-based, chosen by you

The ResM in Film and Video leads to either a traditional written thesis or one that combines critical writing and creative/professional practice. You have the flexibility to submit your thesis any time between 24–36 months or, if you are making excellent progress, you may apply to transfer directly into our PhD programme after two years, rather than submitting a ResM thesis.

Choosing a ResM

The Research Masters (ResM) is classed as a postgraduate research programme – it enables you to engage in a focused, self-negotiated research project over the period of two years. As well as being a satisfying creative and professional endeavour in itself, it provides high-quality preparation for doctoral research, including practice as research, in the interdisciplinary field of independent film and video. You will study current debates and approaches, as well as the theories, skills and methodologies necessary for contemporary film and video research. Your thesis may be assessed entirely through written work or through written work in addition to a substantial practical project that addresses particular research questions.

The ResM is suitable for:
-People in employment in the cultural and creative industries or recent graduates who wish to proceed to doctoral (PhD) research
-Those in, or who wish to be employed in, the cultural and creative industries (such as publishing, teaching, design, the media, galleries and museums, the heritage industry, journalism, theatre, dance) who wish to gain a self-directed academic qualification to lead to further career enhancement
-Anybody who wishes to further develop academic skills, pursue particular subject enthusiasms, or carry out a cherished research project with specialist guidance.

Features of the ResM

-It focuses almost entirely on an individual research project of your own choice
-Largely self-directed with tutorial guidance and clear milestones and expectations
-Includes taught modules (60 credits) that must be passed to develop and evidence your research skills
-It prepares you specifically to be a researcher in the arts and humanities, to do an extended research project within a professional context, or to do a PhD.

What’s different about the ResM?

Because it’s classed as a postgraduate research programme:
-You’ll follow the same milestones and processes as MPhil/PhD candidates in the Doctoral Training Centre, including annual monitoring, the appointment of examiners, formal acceptance of your proposal by the University, and adherence to research ethics
-You’ll be able to attend any sessions within the University’s Graduate School Researcher Development Programme
-You’ll have a supervisory team (Director of Studies plus a second supervisor) assigned once your proposal has been accepted
-You may have the option to apply to transfer straight into our PhD programme, subject to certain conditions, rather than submitting for a ResM award.

The final thesis is examined in a different way:
-There’s a flexible submission date - between 24-36 months
-It’s assessed by an internal examiner, who is not your supervisor, and an external examiner from another institution
-You’ll need to attend a viva voce. This is an oral examination where you’ll discuss your thesis with your examiners. It usually takes place between one to three months following the submission of written elements
-You won’t receive a percentage grade for the ResM degree
-You may be asked to make corrections to your thesis before being allowed to submit a final electronic version of it and being awarded your degree.

The award title will be a ResM and the certificate will include the title of your thesis, with no grade classification.

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