Film Production

This module offers students the opportunity to gain core competencies in professional camera and lighting equipment operation for both drama and documentary production work. Undertaking intensive hands-on workshops, students’ skills and creativity are honed and tested thorough weekly formative exercises designed to foster knowledge and practical application across both drama and documentary disciplines.

This module offers students the opportunity to gain core competences in professional sound-recording equipment and a chosen piece of editing software for use in both drama and documentary production work. Through intensive hands-on workshops, students’ creative and aesthetic skills are tested and honed through weekly exercises designed to test knowledge and practical application across drama and documentary forms. 

In this module, students have the opportunity to develop basic storytelling and scriptwriting skills by focusing specifically on the study and writing of short screenplays. The focus will be on analysis and implementation of narrative devices (including narrative shortcuts and use of sound), development of story and character (and the inter-relationship between the two), and on skills in writing visually and succinctly. The particular character of the ‘short’ screenplay will be examined, analysed, and practiced. Scripts will be written with a view that they be made as a short film in Semester 2 for the ‘Producing Drama’ module.

This module offers students the opportunity to gain a core understanding of the professional skills needed to develop a short film. Particular focus on the development of ‘soft skills’ will feature within the module in order for students to develop their understanding of the commitment and practice needed by film crews to successfully produce a short film. This will be complimented with developing a student’s theoretical understanding of film genres and their application to filmmaking and to creating meaning within the frame. Students will explore how genre is created through semiology (the use of signs and symbols) within the frame to express a range of meanings and how they support narrative.

A group film project is designed to advance student understanding and development of filmmaking creative and professional practices. Students undertake an individual online blog in order to continuously reflect on their own professional development and understanding, throughout the module.

This module serves as an introduction to documentary filmmaking. Through the exploration and experience of producing a 'cinematic documentary portrait', students will develop fundamental skills including that of conducting filmed interviews and creating meaning through the combination of words, images, and music in the edit. Through the study of documentary film references and by means of their own practice, this module also allows students to appreciate the social impact of documentary films and problematise them from an ethical perspective..

This module offers students an opportunity to be involved in the production of a moving-image project from the creation of an original screenplay (as developed in Semester 1, Creative Storytelling) to delivery of the final film. Students are able to participate in both the basic creative dimensions of fiction filmmaking including directing performance, cinematography and editing and the organizational dimensions of producing and production management. Working in key roles throughout the pre- production, production and post-production stages of the film making process, students will develop the ability to work creatively and organizationally in groups of 4. The aim of this module is the recognition of filmmaking as a collaborative art form.

This module offers students the opportunity to gain an understanding of opportunities available to them within the film and media industries during their time studying at university. The module will consider a variety of strategies and techniques used by early career filmmakers to gain experience within the film and media industry such as a development of CV writing skills, a development of a social media presence and the processes of finding potential work opportunities. Additional approaches such as freelancing and starting a business will also be covered. The aim of the module is to develop a student’s understanding of how to approach finding work within these industries during their time at university. This module will feed into employability focused modules at later levels, as well as identifying any current challenges a student will need to address in their own professional development.

Following on from key editing techniques learned at Level 4, students develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical and historical practices and aspects of cinematic editing both as a technical skill and as narrative convention. The module will focus on the development of aesthetic and practical skills applicable to the filmmaking process and how image construction and structure contribute to creating mise-en-scene.  After a historical overview, students will examine specific areas of editing through lectures and workshops focusing on areas such as: montage, editing of moving image for film and media industries, cutting sound, colour grading and delivery. Students will produce an individual portfolio that demonstrates a range of editing techniques, including narrative and experimental image juxtaposition. Students will research and write a case-study analysing a particular editorial practice or industry practitioner. 

Students will develop their understanding of the effect that well recorded, edited, and mixed Foley and ADR has on a film, and its contribution to the creative process. Students will focus on the development of practical skills in this area; its place in the filmmaking process and how it contributes to meaning in film. After an introductory overview, students will study the specifics of sound production in the filmmaking process through technical workshops focusing on recording, sound design, sound mixing, playback, monitoring, and sound effects. Students will work as a team to record a range of sound elements and environments then put into practice editorial skills, knowledge and creative perspectives that the module provides in relation to sound production. Throughout the module the emphasis is placed on self-evaluation and working to realistic goals. 

This module develops cinematographic skills, acquired from Lv4 study, to inform creative authorship and technical camera operation. Students will understand that the conceptual development of visual narrative in film is a vital compliment to cinematographic technical ability. Utilising examples from contemporary cinematographers, students will critically analyse how practice informs the filmmaking process, this will be realised to produce a short film exercise. Studies and experimentation with genre and semiotics will take place during workshops that explore cinematographic methodologies. These workshops are designed to advance students’ key core skills in lighting, camera, direction, and mise-en-scene, inclusive of a written critical analysis. A formative task to present a developed pre-production plan affords project progress tutor feedback.

This module offers students the opportunity to develop their understanding of the role and attributes of a film’s Director and their relationship with other heads of departments during a film’s production. During both taught sessions and workshops with active industry professionals, students will learn the craft and skills needed to become and work with a director during the production of a film. Working in specific roles based on students’ industry interests, crews will utilise this gained knowledge in combination with skills learned at level 4 to develop a pre-written script into a filmed project for final delivery at the conclusion of the module. The module aims to introduce students to the role of a director, how they work with actors and how their creative vision impacts across multiple departments during the production of a film. 

In this module students will examine how real-life events can be shaped into screen stories of the factual genre. A toolbox of storytelling skills will be practiced, with particular emphasis on techniques for writing narration such as delivering backstory, eliciting the audience's curiosity, and devising emotional cues. Guidance is also given on the early stages of project development including the identification of stories with potential, researching them, and organising a film production as a team of specialised crew roles.  

Bringing together skills and knowledge gained so far at level 4 and 5, this module aims to prepare students for work on a major filmed project with an underlying focus on the student’s project plans at level 6. Students will begin the pre-production process of a major filmed project, to be with an aim to complete at level 6. Students will also be introduced to a number of key processes they will go through when working on a major project such as concept development, crew formation and responsibilities during pre-production, funding sources, off set management as well as a consideration of future distribution avenues and funding of a larger scale version of the project. The module will culminate with students developing a clear strategy for future stages of their final major project.

Students must choose one option:

• Digital Distribution - 15 Credits
• Festivals - 15 Credits

Students must choose one option:

• Work placement - 15 Credits
• Professional Practice - 15 Credits

Students opting to complete the Study Abroad sheme must complete the following module: 

•  Study Abroad Reflection - 15 Credits 

The module provides the opportunity to work as part of a large film group to make a 10 – 20 minute film. Roles will include, director, producer, AD, DP, camera operator, 1st AC, production designer, sound mixer, boom operator, editor, colourist, and sound designer. Starting with the ‘pitching’ and ‘greenlit’ process, you will be expected to work collaboratively and reliably throughout preproduction, production and post-production in your chosen role. The module will mirror, as closely as possible, industry protocols and practise. Being able to work to deadlines, in the form of assignments given in class and throughout the production, will also be an integral part of the process. An Individual Production log will provide the opportunity to chronicle your creative and technical contribution to the film, and to reflect upon what you have learnt throughout the production.

While hardly more than one hundred years old, Film as a medium of mass communication, an industry and as an art has had undeniably strong impact on society, as has it's even younger sibling, television. While media convergence, social media and globalisation are pushing their evolution, it is important to be able to understand where these fundamentally social technologies come from. This module will provide students with a historical overview of the main technological, social and institutional changes in the fields of film and TV and will challenge them to relate the legacy of these developments to contemporary practices.

Following on from level 4 studies in Film Enterprise and level 5 studies on Digital Distribution, Work Placement and Volunteering: Community Filmmaking, this module prepares students for post-study employment opportunities. The module aims to provide students with a realistic knowledge of the current employment possibilities within the film industry and develops the important aspects and understanding of industry requirements needed for graduate entry into the film industry. Professional and current practitioners will advise and tutor students on seeking and securing work within a particular sector, ones that compliment skills acquired on the Film Production degree. To hone interpersonal skills, each student will present their completed website and showreel, inclusive of a reflexive accounting of their creative choices.

This module develops understanding of how advance post-production techniques are deployed in the modern film production process. Using a wide range of Adobe Creative Cloud applications (Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects etc.) you will create a short film sequence utilising and demonstrating post- production techniques. Seminars and workshops will explore examples of post-production techniques in current use and provide historical context to improve understanding. This module will equip students with advanced skills in post- production appropriate to entry into the film and media production industries. A formative task affords project progression tutor feedback.

Students must choose one option:

• Advanced Cinematography - 15 Credits
• Advanced Post-Production - 15 Credits
• Advanced Screenwriting: Adaptations - 15 Credits
• Creative Industry Collaboration - 15 Credits
• Value Studies Module - 15 Credits

Students must choose one option:

• Creative Documentary Practices - 30 Credits
• Professional Creative Practice - 30 Credits

Students must choose one option:

• International Collaboration - 15 Credits
• Television Studio Production - 15 Credits
• Emerging Practices - 15 Credits
• Value Studies Module - 15 Credits