BA (Hons) Media Arts

Advice from graduate Danny Cooke:

"To be a freelance film-maker, you need to be dedicated and patient. When you start off, it is unlikely that you would be making a sufficient amount of income. When studying, use your spare time to build up a portfolio, this is one of the most important things to help you get clients."

Read more from Danny in his case study.

• Freedom to experiment – you can choose to focus on one medium, develop several or integrate across the range to find your own creative voice. You’ll have the opportunity to develop projects to suit your own creative and career ambitions.
• Open doors to your future career by showcasing your work to the public in exhibitions, and developing a portfolio of work. You can enhance your professional profile further by engaging with our live briefs.
• Advance your technical skills using our outstanding equipment and facilities including a fully equipped cinema, moving image studio with green screen, photographic and sound studios, computer labs, animation rostrums and much more.
• Learn from award-winning tutors from industry, arts practice and academic research. 
• Tailor your degree to match your interests and career goals with an option to specialise in television in your final year.
• Benefit from strong links with the industry such as the BBC, ITV and Royal Television Society along with regional arts and community groups, giving you the opportunity to develop and realise creative collaborations beyond the University.
• This course is assessed by coursework only – there are no exams.
• 100 per cent of students agreed staff were good at explaining things and 100 per cent of students said that staff were good at explaining things (source: 2018 NSS and 2018 DLHE survey results available on Unistats*).
• Exchange programmes in Europe and the USA.
  

• Year 1
• In your first year, practical modules will focus on video, photography and sound. In your second term, you’ll select a medium to develop further in the form of a documentary, beginning to engage in work beyond the University setting. Your practical modules are accompanied by a critical module and a professional practice module.

  Core modules

  • MEDI401 Media Arts Practice

    This module will provide students with a set of challenges to promote understanding of contemporary Media Arts practices and the context in which these practices sit. It will explore how theory and practice interlink as well as giving the students a grounding in relevant methodology.

  • MEDI402 Film School

    This module is a concise introduction to the aesthetics of moving Image production. Students will also be introduced to various approaches for the generation and development of ideas through experimentation.

  • MEDI405 Documentary

    The module introduces forms through which we (as subjects) construct (and are constructed by) representations of truth and reality. Students produce a substantial piece of practical documentary work. The choice of subject matter is open but the realisation should exist as an original document through gathering and analysis of primary (and sometimes source) material.

  • MEDI406 Situating Practice

    In this module students will be required to critically evaluate the skills and experience gained in previous modules and develop strategies for the future. They will be introduced to key critical approaches to presenting work to the public and engage in practice which explores the dialogue between their work and wider contexts.

  • MEDI407 Narrative

    This module will introduce to students the creative possibilities of working with ideas of narrative. This is a practice lead module which integrates appropriate references to narrative theory

  Optional modules

  • MEDI404PP Sound

    Students will be introduced to the material of sound and the way in which it moves and changes within spaces and is transformed using technology. Ideas and practices will be introduced involved in the recording and editing of sound in various contexts, including field/vocal recording, sound editing and the editing of sound with moving images.

• Year 2
• In your second year, you will explore animation and digital media alongside advanced options for video, photography and sound. Creativity, experimentation and developing your own creative voice will be at the heart of this part of the course. You’ll undertake projects in collaboration with people outside of the course and a module exploring media theory will enhance your academic skills. You’ll also develop a professional profile and online portfolio.

  Core modules

  • MEDI501 Critical Dialogues

    Critical Dialogues 2 mixes contemporary debates and media histories in a lively lecture/seminar programme. The module provides exposure to seminal media arts theory / practice and facilitates students to engage critically with their own work, situated in the context of established practitioners.

  • MEDI502 Independent Practice

    This module provides a framework in which to research and develop one or more large-scale projects built on thematic interests (i.e. a sense of personal `practice¿), by means of practical experiments, underpinned by contextual research and ongoing reflection.

  • MEDI503 Professional Engagement

    This module will support students in working in professional contexts. It will strengthen understanding of promotion and audience address. It will require students to review their practice and develop appropriate plans for career progression.

  • MEDI506 Commercial Context

    This module challenges students to produce branding and advertising work in response to a live brief. Students will explore the techniques of this field, as well as critical responses to the `culture industry¿. Students will underpin creative and theoretical approaches with practical skills such as pitching, proto-typing, client liaison and project management.

  Optional modules

  • FTVP504 Something New for TV

    Developments in broadcasting, social media, and IPTV present challenges to programme makers that question established notions of audience, programming and genre. Producers are renegotiating the institutions and agencies of distribution and production. Students will propose and produce a pilot TV programme for a specific context. The emphasis will be inventive and imaginative solutions within clearly identified contexts.

  • MEDI505 International Project

    This module provides a structured context for a period of study in another country than the home one. As part of the module students will be expected to undertake appropriate study at a recognised institute. Additional project work will be approved prior to the commencement of the module but it is expected to reflect the exchange experience.

  • MEDI507 Collaborative Practice

    This module offers an opportunity for students to work collaboratively on projects that will develop and enhance their professional and creative skills in working towards a collective outcome. It places creativity at the core of collaboration alongside the facilitation of new ideas and practices.

• Final year
• In your final year, you’ll complete two major self-directed projects in independent practice and collaborative practice. You’ll write a dissertation and prepare for your future career in the professional practice module. You’ll showcase your achievements in a substantial public exhibition and produce work within a professional context. Alternatively, you can specialise in online television for your final year, in a route delivered in association with leading television company Twofour. All of our students undertake a written dissertation on a subject of their choice.

  Core modules

  • MEDI602 Media Dissertation

    Students will research a subject area within Media Arts in considerable depth, developing their own methodologies in researching, collating and synthesising data and concepts in order to present arguments clearly and persuasively. The outcome will be a piece of written work with illustrations, bibliography, notes and appendices as appropriate.

  Optional modules

  • MEDI601 Major Project: Collaborative Practice

    In this module you will undertake a collaborative project, emphasis will be placed on working processes and methodologies, group interaction, the planning and completion of the project within a defined context. This module provides an important critical context arising from issues relating to collaborative practice, working from a research and development stage through to realisation in order to contribute new objects or forms of cultural production.

  • MEDI603 Major Project-Independent Practice

    Drawing on a growing sense of practice, underpinned by tutorial support, students will develop a large scale project through an application of practical and critical skills.

  • MEDI604 Professional Futures

    This module will support students in their aspirations beyond graduation. Students will identify career /postgraduate aims and further develop their portfolios and professional profiles to effectively promote themselves and their practice in appropriate contexts.

  • MEDI605 Interactive Television

    This module invites students to consider some of the issues raised by the challenge offered by interactive television environments. Students will engage with critical theory relating to these environments and engage in related integrated practical experiments that test some of the salient points. A substantive evaluation will be also be required.

  • MEDI606 The Channel

    Students will work individually and collectively to develop the policy, content and scheduling of a working IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) channel. This will encompass gaining an understanding of the technologies involved, research into the field and application of networking and marketing skills as well as provision of the content.

  • MEDI607 Socially Engaged Media

    This module provides hands on experience of media situated within social contexts. It explores the value of shared experiences, dialogue and social interaction where process, participation and relationships are the primary focus. The module questions and challenges the accepted definition of the term 'social media', giving students the opportunity to realise their own creative forms in a live setting, reinforcing the importance of shared experiences and creativity, informed by digital practices and discourse.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Hons Media Arts Programme Specification 2018 19 0662

UCAS tariff

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