MA Film (Part Time)

Course overview

If you are a visual arts or media graduate, or you currently work in the media, and you would like to explore the creative and commercial possibilities of your work, then our MA Media Programme is ideal for you. 

The MA Media Programme includes the following awards:

• MA Film
• MA Media
• MA Popular Music
• MA Television

Our flexible Film Masters programme enables you to tailor a pathway of study that reflects your individual career aspirations, as well as Media industry requirements.

It’s all about choice. You may opt to pursue a production based, theory based or blended pathway of study. Whatever you decide, our supportive tutors will work with you on a one-to-one basis to construct a personal programme, which will culminate in a final film project or a dissertation.

The production elements of the course engage with current practices in the Film Industry, and encourage independent filmmaking, connecting with the Film Festival sector of practice in which Solent University’s film practitioners are successfully engaged. Our industry standard facilities are an excellent forum for creative experimentation, and you will be encouraged to utilise our High Definition cameras, editing facilities, and 16mm film production facilities.

The theoretical units have a bias towards new areas of study, particularly in the areas of sexuality, genre studies and post 9/11 culture, and draw on the specialist expertise of the Film and Television teaching team. You’ll study across a diverse range of cutting edge research areas and engage in critical thinking at the forefront of film research.

Established academic and industry links within the School of Media will ensure that you have the opportunity to complete both production and research based work experience during your studies.

Course content

Core units

Professional Development and Research Skills

This unit will enhance your research skills, and provide the specific terms of reference for the successful completion of your major project. Emphasis is placed on research methods and techniques that can be used in the development of strategies for employment in the Media Industries. Tutorial guidance will develop the skills pertinent to your aims and objectives in professional development.

Masters Project

You will design, execute and present an individually demanding piece of work that deploys a systematic and in-depth understanding of the skills and debates relevant to your particular discipline of study, whether in a theoretical or historical area or in film practice. This project will enable you to demonstrate to employers that you have relevant skills in practical areas of film making or in the research and collation of new material.

Production pathway

• Finding Fiction
• The Politics of Non-Fiction Film

Theory pathway

• Conflict Cinema
• Contemporary Film and Culture
• Film and the Fantastic
• Sexualities on Screen

Option units

Whichever pathway you study, you’ll able to choose one of the following options from across our MA Media courses:

• Producing Television
• Digital Studio
• Documentary History, Form and Practice
• Experimental Film History, Form and Practice
• Digital and Multi-platform Storytelling
• Script to Screen
• Contemporary British Film and Television
• Global Popular Music
• Popular Music and Performance

Assessment

Assessment is through coursework in the form of essays, practical production projects, group and individual research projects, seminar presentations, pitches, portfolios and reflective writing projects.

You will receive consistent feedback through formative assessments in weekly sessions, as well as through the summative assessment at the end of each unit.

We recognise that you will be developing your skills at an individual rate and we will support you to ensure that you can strive to reach your full potential.

Special features

• Choice
  You will choose your own pathway to your final project, and may decide whether to take a full production pathway, culminating in a final film or a full theoretical pathway, culminating in a final dissertation. Alternatively, you may choose to combine theory and production. Whatever you decide, our supportive tutors will work with you in the first term to tailor your choices in line with the skills requirements for your final project. Each unit provides the scope for individual development and unique research.
  The course offers High Definition or 16mm film making opportunities for all students wishing to take a production pathway.
• A focus on professional practice
  This MA focuses on professional practice to ensure that you graduate with the skills that employers require, whether these are in film production or writing on film.
  You will work with experienced film researchers and historicans who are currently writing and researching new areas of study and who will share those ideas and insights with you, as well as discussing established ideas and contexts in film theory and history. Your production skills will be developed by experienced practitioners from the film and television industry, and you will benefit from our well established industry links with, for instance; The Skillset Academy; ITV; BBC; Talent TV; Glastonbury; Cream Fields; Student Games. You will also have the opportunity to gain work experience (research and production based) on client projects through Solent Productions and Solent Creatives. Recent partners in these projects include: B & Q, Fat Face, Ikea, Glastonbury, Cowes week, and Camp Bestival.
  Throughout the course we will encourage you to foster your personal style of thinking, writing and film making, and there is a focus on experientation in the early units to allow you to fulfil your creative potential. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with music and media postgraduate students to network, and benefit from a full range of expertise to fulfil your ambitions for your final project.
• Guest Speakers
  Our regular programme of high profile guest lecturers aim to inspire and inform your work by conducting workshops and providing current industry informed feedback.
  Lectures and workshops have recently been delivered by;
  DIRECTORS Michael Apted, Ken Russell, Alan Parker; PRODUCERS Claire Lewis (7 UP), Nik Powell (The Crying Game), CINEMATOGRAPHER Brian Tufano (Trainspotting), EDITORS Alex Mackie (CSI, Downton Abbey), David Gamble (Shakespeare in Love); FILM/TV COMPANIES Channel4, Film Council, Polygram, Working Title, National Film Archive, BBFC, Greg Dyke (BBC).
  Southampton Solent Unveristy hosts much of Southampton Film week which provides an opportunity to network with industry professionals, and to become part of local film culture. The 2010 festival featured a lecture from world renowned director, writer and producer Michael Apted, as well as multiple screenings, features, shorts, art and film, world cinema, and workshops.
• Staff Expertise
  Our staff consist of Directors, Screenwriters, Scriptwriters, Producers, Cinematographers, Researchers, Film Analysts, Historians, Theoreticians, and Writers, and you will benefit greatly from their academic expertise and professional experience. The team use their professional networks to attract other high profile practitioners and academics to engage and associate themselves with the course.

Attendance

Flexible modes of study are available, enabling you to combine study, and career or family commitments.

This course may be studied on a full-time basis for 12 months, or a part-time basis over 24 months. Workshops and seminars will normally be time-tabled over one full day.

Special facilities

Our industry standard facilities|, including a newly updated digital studio, provide an excellent forum for research and experimentation. These resources provide the specialist environment and equipment for you to experience working at a professional level.

• Three fully equipped digital studios, including a full High Definition studio with seating for an audience of up to 200
• 58 Final Cut Pro HD editing stations
• Fully equipped multi-track sound studios
• Full 16mm Film Production facilities
• High Definition cameras. 

Field trips

Field trips are a regular feature of the course and may include: 

• Bristol Short Film Festival
• Rotterdam Film Festival
• New York Tribecca Film Festival 
• Berlin Film Festival
• London Film Festival
• Sheffield Documentary Film Festival
• British Film Institute visits
• British Library visits
• Wessex Archive visits

Industrial placements

There are no formal industrial placements, however you will be encouraged and supported to engage in work experience through our two production houses: Solent Productions| and Solent Creatives|. Opportunities arise for writing, researching and producing projects, as well as practical film production both in the studio and on location. We recognise that such work experience is invaluable to future employers.

Fees

Fees for the 2011/12 academic year are:

Full-time
UK and EU students: £3,625 pa
Overseas students: £9,400 pa

Part-time
UK and EU students: £1,815 pa
Overseas students: £4,700 pa  

 

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