Filmmaking with a Foundation Year - BA (Hons)

This module introduces you to Hollywood film through its early, classical and post-classical traditions. The module is structured around the examination of these three stages of development, with a range of debates that also allow you to evaluate American cinema through its stylistic, generic, industrial and historical features.

Looking at forms in films, students will learn how visual languages are being used and how to compose shots that are translatable to other mediums such as animation. You will learn to storyboard and create effective animatics and to succinctly convey ideas and vision to produce short a film(s) as a group and individually. Expect to pitch your ideas individually and as a team.

This module introduces students to the core principles and workflows of post-production for screen media. It provides a structured and accessible foundation in file management, picture editing, basic sound work, and export procedures, supporting students as they transition into more independent filmmaking and media practice.

The module emphasises post-production as both a technical and creative process, focusing on organisation, clarity, rhythm, and finish. Students are encouraged to develop good working habits from the outset, including disciplined project setup, attentive listening, and intentional editing decisions.

A key aspect to understanding filmmaking, is the actual process. This module will provide you with an introduction to conventional filmmaking techniques, such as lighting, camerawork and sound recording. This also includes an introduction to pre-production operations. This will be in the form of visual and sound acquisition techniques, as well as strategies to plan for this. You will be expected to operate a range of equipment, reflecting typical processes to do with narrative and documentary filmmaking. This foundation can be built upon to support future production endeavours.

In this module you will explore the development of the film and television documentary by critically investigating the medium through a range of lectures, readings and screenings, and applying this to produce your own short documentary. We will consider different genres of documentary, such as direct cinema, mockumentary, investigative, ethnographic, docu-soap, experimental, docu-drama, reconstruction and the music documentary, as well as some of the contemporary issues facing documentary film makers. We will engage with a variety of academic debates that relate to the documentary, which include realism, representation, ethics and ideology, and the social, political, economic and technological contexts in which documentary can be critically located.

This module will examine the role film festivals play in garnering critical acclaim, enabling audience access and acting as a trade hub for film, playing a part in the financing, distribution and marketing of independent titles. The aim is to unpack the culture of film festivals from the lavish, major international affairs through to grassroots events. You will examine the drivers, objectives and investment that underpins them and their strategic importance for relationship building, launching and generating PR for film.

This module follows on from the year one module and helps move you further towards your professionalism. Whereas introduced you to fundamental operations, this module introduces you to ways in which you can utilise filmmaking equipment to consider and enhance the aesthetics of production. Through the study of Light, Colour, Area, Depth, Time, Movement and Sound, you will be expected to consider these as a way to further enhance your production skills.

The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff. Collaboration is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries and this module allows you to develop these skills, making use of University facilities and with the support of academic staff. Within this module framework, several kinds of collaborative opportunities are available. For example, with the approval of your supervisor, you can determine a project based on your own interests; your supervisor may set you a predetermined project to enable you to work with other students in a way that is appropriate to your subject area; or there may be opportunities for you to collaborate with staff on research projects. In all cases, you must apply your subject skills to an interdisciplinary project which will be agreed in advance with your supervisor.

This module facilitates a transition from foundational filmmaking (Level 4) to a rigorous, in-depth engagement with the dual pillars of production sound and post-production design: a dynamic environment of integrated practice and research that encourages creative experimentation alongside the mastery of the 'aural half' of the cinematic experience.

This module follows on from Foundations of Filmmaking, but introduces you to the key elements of cinematography in greater detail. Whereas Foundations of Filmmaking introduced you to fundamental, wider aspect of production and associated operations, this builds upon these, yet purely focusses on the duties within the field of cinematography.

This module will provide students with an overview of the cultural relevancy of 1970s cinema. Initially exploring the context of the decade and the fragmented nature of film narratives at the time the module will discuss the emergence and demise of ‘American New Wave/New Hollywood’ but also explore further the style, substance and aesthetics of the varying sub-genres of the time as well as the cultural and creative impact they had on both cinematic presentation and other aspects of the media industry.

This module will teach you the essential skills of, and principles behind, the writing of short films. Although these principles apply primarily to screenwriting for film and television, this module will instead be concerned with the writing of short films. You will study a number of freely available short guides to screenplay layout and formatting and be trained in the practical application of screenplay formatting software. You will write three short scripts, given as fortnightly writing exercises, and receive detailed formative feedback on one of the scripts, which you can use to improve and develop your work for your final portfolio. You will focus on visual storytelling, layout conventions, and the issue of writing to scale (budget). You will also be encouraged to analyse, but also critique, dramatic construction in terms of character function, motivation and genre.

This module will teach the skills needed to take a screenplay through to principal photography via the process of pre-production. To be an effective filmmaker, knowing how to turn the words on a page into reality so that you can shoot requires an essential wide range of skills. Starting with a screenplay, the students will be taught to first build their vision through mood boards / look books, sizzle reels, reference clips, casting ideals, costume & art dept plans before evolving this newly formed vision into things such as scheduling, budgeting, legals & compliance, location scouting, casting and managing a team of creatives. In essence, from theory to practical reality.

This Module focuses on the post production element of filmmaking. Specifically areas concerning editing techniques, colour correction and grading to aid narrative. Students will learn both the technical skills of audio and video editing as well as the grammar and structure that belong to the art in order to become better storytellers.

The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration &/or your own professional practice. The module enables you to create either an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines or your own self-defined project.

The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practice-based portfolio.