Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production BA (Hons)

Course Content

• Course Details

  This digital media production course has been designed to contribute towards achieving the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

  SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  The Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production BA degree is designed to offer you a choice of career paths. You will start by studying a broad range of media, before specialising in your desired area of interest over the final two years, which will involve learning how to critically analyse your own work. Although there is a practical emphasis for this film and TV course, you will also learn critical analysis of contemporary theories and approaches to media forms, audiences and industries.

  Studies focus on how media content is conceptually conceived, technically produced, edited, distributed and disseminated. Throughout the course, your knowledge of media production, its practices and processes, will grow through learning experiences where creative, technical and professional skills are developed in different contexts and environments.

  Whilst learning the values of traditional craft skills are crucial, so is the ability to recognise the potential opportunities offered by new and emerging technologies. The creative film course will encourage you to be aware of these.

  The material produced on the degree will be diverse, varying from short films to documentary dramas – much of which will be distributed through the Internet. To enhance this sense of realism many of your modules will require you to fulfil briefs to deadlines; some of these will be assessed, some will just need to be completed. Projects, especially in the third year, may come direct from organisations requiring media content or productions. These ‘live briefs’ may be requests to produce a multimedia website, make a documentary film or simply record, in a variety of ways, a particular event.

  Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 24/25. The modules relating to the academic year 25/26 will be available from June 2025.

  • Stage 1
    • Multi Camera TV Studio Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1067

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to allow students to explore the following editorial, technical and production roles and processes: Studio Directing, Vision Mixing, Floor management, Studio Camera Operation, Audio Supervision, Autocue Operation, Presenting, Script Supervision and the role of the Producer.
    • Single Camera Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1081

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is for students to gain basic skills and an understanding of single camera production. The module will consider how these techniques have developed in relation to cinematic story-telling. The latter half of the module will concentrate on managing sound acquisition for in-the-field sound recordings.
    • Digital and Social Media Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1082

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to develop an understanding of the importance of digital and social media platforms, and the relationship to audiences, as well as making considerations of regulations in this area. Students will explore key concepts underpinning digital content while developing creative industry skills.
    • Media and Creative Industries (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1084

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to examine how media products are created, delivered, promoted and received across a range of increasingly convergent formats (TV, Film, Online, Video-games), thereby encouraging students to consider the numerous factors that influence the media with which they engage on a day-to-day basis.
    • Writing the Media (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1085

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to introduce students to key debates around creative thinking and production and examine writing about media within the context of production and reception.
    • Producing Television Drama (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED1087

      Status: Compulsory
      This module concentrates on production techniques exploring industry best practice as applied to the production of location/studio based Television Drama Series. Students will work as production crews, producing a series written by the students.The module will develop student?s understanding of the production of Television Drama through the analysis and creation of an original drama production. They will gain experience in a range of roles and stages required to bring a production to life.
  • Stage 2
    • Short Film Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2092

      Status: Compulsory
      This module will allow students to apply the technical and creative skills acquired in year one in creating an independent piece of work culminating in a short film production. Outlines will be assessed for viability, both creatively and practically. The most successful ideas will then be produced into short films.
    • Creative Video (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2094

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to create a mutually supportive space?a community of practitioners?for exploring and engaging with creative, conceptual and experimental film forms that are primarily made for artistic, rather than commercial reasons.
    • TV Studio Broadcasting (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2108

      Status: Designate
      This module provides an opportunity for students to research, plan, produce, negotiate and stream agreed studio project. Legal and copyright issues will form an essential part of critical and practical understanding of new methods of production and distribution via internet technologies.
    • Documentary Video (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2109

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to engage students in understanding and critically analysing the work of a range of documentary film-makers and exploring non-fiction video-making through their own practice.
    • Advanced Production Techniques (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2115

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is primarily to make students skilled in the application of non-linear editing and enhancement software(s), encouraging them to consider how such techniques and effects can be utilised in both the creative planning of productions as well as in post-production refinement and delivery.
    • Screen Theory (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2122

      Status: Designate
      Students will examine key developments in critical and cultural theory in terms of how these have been/can be applied to the analysis of moving image media. The historical trajectory of these theories is considered, as well as how these conceptual frameworks inform contemporary scholarship.
    • European Screens (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2123

      Status: Designate
      This module provides the historical, cultural and industrial contexts that will allow students to view, discuss and interpret film and other screen media from a number of European movements and national cultures.
    • Researching for Screen Media (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2124

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to familiarise students with a range of research methods and approaches in both professional and academic environments, encouraging development and employability. It also prepares students for the dissertation at Level 6.
    • Gender, Race, Sexuality: Representing Identity in Contemporary Screen Media (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2125

      Status: Designate
      This module will introduce students to a diverse range of contemporary identity theory and encourage them to consider how these ideas might be applied to a range of screen media including (but not limited to) film, television, music video and videogames.
    • Scriptwriting for Film (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2126

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is for students to develop an understanding of the working practices of writing scripts for film, covering aspects of short form and feature writing, via the practical development of a series of scripts and related materials following industry practice and to a professional standard.
    • Visual Podcasting (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2127

      Status: Designate
      This module introduces students to the art and context of visual podcasting and content creation across various platforms. Students fuse audio storytelling and visual media elements to create, produce, and distribute visual podcasts which effectively and ethically engage with the intended audience.
    • Sound for Screen (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED2128

      Status: Designate
      This module enhances students' comprehension of the interplay between sound and visuals, emphasizing their symbiotic relationship in creating meaning and mood. It fosters technical proficiency in recording and audio software while promoting critical listening. Students will create soundtracks and approach visual sequences from an auditory perspective.
  • Stage 3
    • Advertising and Commercial Film Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3046

      Status: Designate
      Students are encouraged to engage with the commercial world and to work in teams that replicate industrial practice for the production of 'promotional' material. The emphasis is on group development of ideas and working in groups creating TV commercials and longer short form promotional films for the industry.
    • Live TV Production (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3047

      Status: Designate
      This module provides an opportunity for students to research, plan, produce, negotiate and stream `live? an agreed major project with a particular focus on legislation, copyright, production and distribution. Students will develop their portfolio of work and `showcase? a project as part of a studio based production group.
    • Community Impact Project (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3052

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to experience small production teamworking, through researching an appropriate community project (charity, voluntary project or social enterprise) requiring Media Production or Creative Industry support in the delivery of a media related Community Impact Initiative with measurable results related to the changemaker ethos.
    • Working in the Creative Industries (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3054

      Status: Designate
      This module explores the routes to gainful employment opportunities available within the creative sector through setting up or working in a limited company, Social Enterprise, or as a Freelancer. Students will develop and reflect on their professional identity and transferable skills supporting their chosen career path.
    • Global Screens (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3060

      Status: Designate
      Expanding on the European cinemas module in both scope and sophistication, this module provides historical, cultural and industrial contexts that will allow students to view, discuss and interpret screen media from a number of International cinemas and national cultures as well as the implications of transnational productions.
    • Cult Media (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3062

      Status: Designate
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to critically examine and evaluate conventions, structures and cycles of `cult? media and how such media relates to wider social and cultural concerns and contexts.
    • Hollywood and Beyond (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3063

      Status: Designate
      Building on the level 4 Introduction to Hollywood module, in this module students will extend their understanding of Hollywood filmmaking from the mid-1970s to present day. Through close analysis and specific case studies, students will critically examine how Hollywood reflects, comments upon, and actively helps shape our understanding of contemporary social and cultural realities.
    • Advanced Scriptwriting (20 Credits)
      Module code: MED3065

      Status: Designate
      This module develops student's screenwriting abilities to produce work to a rigorous professional standard, through analysis and practice of the processes of screenwriting, pitching, commissioning and script editing within the television and streaming industry.
    • Final Major Project (40 Credits)
      Module code: MED4037

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to allow students to develop a progressive and impactful media artefact and writing, based on thorough critical research into an area of personal interest within creative film, television and digital media production.

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• Student Perks

  At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.

  If you join this full time digital media production degree at the University of Northampton, you will receive a laptop when your course begins*. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home.

  Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

  To check out the full list of perks, visit our Student Perks page or dedicated International Perks page.

  *UK fee payers only (see Terms and Conditions for further details).

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• Integrated Foundation Year (IFY)

  The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a TV and Digital Media Production degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.

  If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four year programme which includes an Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need, in order to successfully progress to the full award.

  Our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.

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• FAQs

  How will I be taught on the Creative Film and TV degree?

  For this course, your taught study will be a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops, both face to face and online through blended learning, for at least 12 contact hours per week. We recommend you also spend at least 12 hours per week in self-directed study time.

  Find out more about Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production BA at UON:

   

  How will I be assessed on the TV production degree?

  You will be assessed through practical projects, essays and other written assignments, seminar presentations, pitches, and some examinations.

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