MA Television (Full Time)

2012

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

Television is a rapidly-expanding industry in the UK, with more 1,000 independent production companies, 500 satellite television channels in addition to the mainstream broadcasters and the growing number of internet channels. This highly practical Television MA course aims to equip you with the intellectual, creative and employability skills to embark on a successful career in the television industry.

The production elements of the course have been designed to engage with current practices within the industry, including convergence, multi-platform broadcasting, interactivity, and 360 degree commissioning.  You’ll graduate as a multi-skilled practitioner with a good understanding of the full production cycle.

Our tutors are television professionals with close contacts in the industry, and they will work with you on a one-to-one basis to construct a personal programme of study, which will culminate in a final film project or a dissertation.

You’ll benefit from the School of Media’s established academic and industry links, which provide the opportunity for relevant production based work experience during your studies via Solent Productions| and Solent Creatives|.

Our state of the art facilities, national media industry connections, guest speaker series and highly experienced tutors will ensure that you graduate with the knowledge, skills and contacts to excel in a television broadcast career.

Industrial focus

The MA Television has been designed in conjunction with leading industry practitioners, with a focus on professional practice.
You will learn alongside experienced professionals from the television industry, and benefit from our well established industry links: Solent Productions|; Skillset Academy|; ITV Centre of Excellence; BBC; Glastonbury; Cream Fields; Student Games. ‘Live’ projects and case studies delivered by our partners will ensure that you’ll gain experience in working to real professional briefs.

Course Content

Core Units

Professional Development and Research Skills
This unit will enhance your research skills, and provides 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.

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. You will be expected to present a Project that critically synthesises approaches and methodologies within the discipline and demonstrates initiative and autonomy in its execution.

TV Professional Practice 1 – High Definition Single Camera

You will shoot a short HD film for television within a professional environment. The content of the film can be driven by your own creative vision, or by a live client brief managed via the university’s in-house production team. The first part of the unit will focus on the advanced skills and principles involved in the creation and production of television content to a professional standard, and the latter part will be devoted to post production and the development of your project’s multi-platform potential.

TV Professional Practice 2 – High Definition Studio
In this unit you will develop and shoot a HD television studio project within a professional environment. The multi-camera studio set up offers the opportunity to experience a professional environment enabling you to judge the difference in precision of timing between single camera and multi-camera; the differences in the issues of continuity; and the coordination of a large crew which may include vision mixer, sound, tape, floor manager, teleprompt, Production Assistant and additional camera operators.

Optional units

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.

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Assessment

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

Practical workshops, seminars and tutorials will guide you through a variety of topics and we will be able to advise you on the optional unit which compliment your major project work.  We recognise that you will be developing your skills at an individual rate and we will work with you to ensure that you can strive to reach your full potential.

Key career skills

Initiative, presentation, communication, team work, negotiation, task management, problem solving

Projects/work experience
We recognise that work experience is invaluable to your future employment prospects. This MA does not feature any formal industrial placements, however you will be able to engage in work experience through our two production houses:  Solent Productions| and Solent Creatives| .

Each year our students take part in filming at the Glastonbury Festival|, producing work for Glastonbury TV and providing material for the BBC coverage. For the last two years the University's in-house production company, Solent Productions, has also provided video coverage of Cowes Week| for Cowes TV.

Dragonfly, the company behind the Channel 4 documentary series, "One Born Every Minute" recruited six graduates to work on the production at a local hospital and with a second series commissioned, a further 6 have been offered positions this year.

Solent's special features

• Industry awards
  We will support and encourage you to enter industry competitions such as the Royal Television Society Student Film and Television Awards.
  Our undergraduate students won a 2010 Royal Television Society Award for Best Entertainment / Factual Entertainment show for the studio based Murder mystery game show Motive. This was shot in our High Definition 11 camera studio in front of a live studio audience.
• Staff Expertise
  Our tutors have extensive professional experience within the television and media industry, and are committed to developing your creative futures, skills and talents. You will work closely with specialist tutors who match your specific research interests. The team use their professional networks to attract other high profile practitioners and academics to engage and associate themselves with the course.
• 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. The School of Media has recently welcomed;
  FILM 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).
  TV: Most recently, this has included producers for GMTV and the Discovery Channel, "Gadget Show" presenter Jason Bradbury and a range of other notable guests.
• Southampton Solent Unversity hosts much of the Southampton Film week and this provides an opportunity for you 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.
• 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 Library visits
  • Wessex Archive visits.

Special facilities

Our industry standard media production facilities| provide the specialist environment and equipment for you to experience working at a professional level, and are an excellent forum for research and experimentation. 

• 3 fully equipped television studios, including a full High Definition 11 camera studio with seating for an audience of up to 200 people
• 58 Final Cut Pro HD editing stations
• Fully equipped multitrack sound studios

• High Definition location cameras 
• Outside Broadcasting Vehicle
• Production location support unit with integral generator and mobile studio kit capable of live mixing up to 8 cameras and recording 32 channels of audio.

Fees

Fees for the 2012/13 academic year are:

Full-time
UK and EU students: £6,500 per annum
Overseas students: £10,000 per annum

Part-time
UK and EU students: £3,250 pa
Overseas students: £5,000 pa