You will develop your skills and knowledge in the areas of pre-production, production, post-production, cinematography, sound design and digital editing, and explore video installation, reactive media, expanded cinema and emerging formats in experimental workshops. You will also develop skills in photography, specifically in a publication context.

You will work on self-negotiated initiatives and with others on collaborative projects to professional standards, submit your films to festivals and be encouraged to engage with arts organisations, production companies and cinemas.

Through study of the key theoretical debates, discourses and significant practitioners, you will gain a thorough grounding in contemporary film and media arts, and also explore industry models and practices in preparation for freelance work and employment in the creative industries.

As well as learning how to direct films, you will showcase your work in some of the most renowned venues in the South West (subject to government guidelines). In recent years these have included the Watershed, Arnolfini and Cube Cinema in Bristol.

Working in collaboration with your peers, you will also curate the Dirigo International Student Film Festival; gathering submissions from young filmmakers and hosting an event to celebrate them.

Please contact the course leader UCW’s HEART student services team if you have any questions. It would also be great to meet you and show you around at our next Open Day.

All of the modules on this course are compulsory. Successful completion of all of the modules is worth 360 credits and will lead to the award of the Level 6 Bachelor’s degree.

Full-time year 1:

• Film Production Skills (40 credits)
• Documentary Production (20 credits)
• Experimental Media Arts (20 credits)
• Visual Language and Contextual Studies (20 credits)
• Industry Practices (20 credits)

Full-time year 2:

• Collaborative Work-based Practices (40 credits)
• Independent Craft Development (40 credits)
• Short Film Production (40 credits) or Photography for Publication (40 credits)

Full-time year 3:

• Exploratory Project (20 credits)
• Critical and Contextual Study (20 credits)
• Major Project (40 credits)
• Professional Development in Context (40 credits)

This course is taught via a combination of lectures, seminars, studio workshops, skills practice and project work. UCW’s Higher Education Library Plus (HE.LP) team also deliver a series of sessions on degree-level research and academic writing to all first-year students. When not in scheduled lecturers and seminars, students are expected to continue learning through independent self-study. This involves reading relevant literature, working on individual and group projects, and undertaking research in preparation for coursework.

This course has an average of 13 hours of scheduled teaching per week.

• Graduates are eligible to apply for range postgraduate courses such as the Master’s Degrees in Feature Filmmaking at Bath Spa University.

• Graduates are also qualified to seek employment in film, television, photography and media arts in a wide variety of specialisms including as editors, camera operators, photographers, sound recordists and directors.

Industry insight

The UK film industry turned over £14.8 billion and contributed £6 billion to GDP in 2017 (British Film Institute).

Qualification requirements

• UCAS Tariff - 80 points
• A level - CDD
• Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - MMP
• Access to HE Diploma - M: 15 credits
• T Level - P
• Applicants are also required to submit a creative portfolio of work and/or attend an interview.
• Applicants with a level 5 qualification such as HND, Foundation Degree, or equivalent can be considered for 3rd year entry. Please contact admissions@ucw.ac.uk to discuss your application further.

We try to ensure that all as many costs for the programme you will study will be included within your tuition fees. We will endeavour to keep any additional costs you may have to pay to a minimum and some of the extra costs may be considered optional where it is deemed extra to your programme.

To be clear, your tuition fees pay for the following:

• All teaching and lectures
• Use of specialist facilities at UCW
• Specialist Guest Lectures at UCW
• Annual photocopying budget of £10
• Use of computer equipment at any UCW campus
• Access to Microsoft 365 whilst enrolled at UCW.
• Access to careers advice during and after completion of your programme of study.
• Use of Libraries and access to Journal databases, e-books and physical books.

On the BA (Hons) Film & Media Arts Production, additional costs that you may incur should you wish to are:

• Visits/Exhibitions that are seen as optional. (in 2023/4 the cost was £20)
• Residentials that are seen as programme enhancement and are thus optional. (In previous years the cost of the European residential in year one was approximately £390. The cost of the UK Based filming residential in year two was approximately £150.
• Extra costs associated with photographic exhibition, such as materials for printing, hanging and framing, should you choose this medium and approach for your final projects.
• Extra photocopying and printing above the initial £10.
• The cost of books you may wish to purchase.
• Whilst UCW endeavours to cover all costs of artistic materials, there may be additional costs for specialist materials and additional consumables.

Course handbook

UCW Terms and Conditions

Programme Specification

BA (Hons) Film and Media Arts Production