Why you should study Film and Visual Effects

If you are interested in film production, technology and visual effects, then now is a great time to study one of our degrees. Located in the heart of Birmingham, we have excellent relationships with industry practitioners and have a wide range of industry-standard production and post-production facilities that you can use throughout your time on the course, to prepare you for the exciting industry of technology!

Here are five reasons why you should study Digital Film Production and Visual Effects with us in Birmingham.

Industry on your doorstep

Being in the heart of Birmingham City Centre is not only great for local amenities, but also being close to potential employers too. Our students have enjoyed work placements at local companies including Second Home Studios and Slinky Production.

Our central location also means you are just a short train journey away from trips and industrial visits, which have previously including Industrial Light and Magic and the London VFX Festival.

State-of-the-art facilities

Student's on our BSc Digital Film Production course have access to a fully equipped DIT cart for on-set colour grading and image control, and make their final year films with Arri's Alexa Mini cinema camera, which was used to shoot the 2019 Academy Award-winning movie Green Book!

You will also have access to industry software such as Autodesk Maya, Side FX Houdini and The Foundry's Nuke - to name a few. Access to these industry-standard facilities means that you will graduate with employable skills and be equipped to go into the work place.

You will have access to a variety of high quality facilities on the Visual Effects degree course including: a range of industry standard software, high specification computers, cloud-based rendering facilities, a Vicon motion capture studio, one of the largest fixed green screen studios in the UK, a BOLT JR+ high-speed camera robot, a variety of camera and lighting equipment and excellent learning facilities with access to substantial library open 24 hours and a variety on-line resources.

Learn from experts 

Visual Effects course leader, Lianne Forbes, has enjoyed a successful international career working with award-winning companies such as Framestore and Animal Logic, and has worked on a long list of Hollywood movies including Beauty and the Beast (2017), Star Trek Into the Darkness and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

She remains connected to the industry through her many links along with associations such as Animated Women UK and Access VFX.

Digital Film Production course leader, Stephen Gordon, has worked as a freelance journalist and scriptwriter for corporate video production. He has been at BCU since 2006 and has created a range of innovative modules across UG and PG courses, modelling the learning activities within them as closely as possible on current industry practice.

Optional placement year 

Our courses offer a one-year optional placement year within the course, so that you can make your CV stand out from the crowd when you graduate. We have a Careers+ department dedicated to supporting you find placements, graduate jobs, and offer support with your CV and making applications.

STEAMhouse

Our brand new £70 million pound building, STEAMhouse, will become the new home for its School of Computing and Digital Technology from the start of the 2022 academic year. Based at our expanding City Centre Campus, this unique centre will give you access to outstanding facilities and equipment, as well as opportunities to collaborate with people and businesses across multiple sectors and work on real industry-based projects.

Apply now

If you're interested in studying a BSc (Hons) degree, or foundation year with us in Digital Film Production or Visual Effects then you can find out more on our course pages and apply.

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