A very warm welcome to all students enrolling on the MA Sound Design for Film, Television & Interactive Media course, starting in September. You will be joining our vibrant student community in the School of Creative Arts and Industries. The School offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Our dynamic teaching team involves experts from a range of academic and professional backgrounds who are engaged in national and international research activities. We maintain close links with networks of local and international organisations including with the Canterbury Festival, the Canterbury Cathedral, Turner Contemporary, Screen South, Maidstone Studios, and the Marlowe Theatre. We look forward to welcoming you to our School where you will find a warm, intellectually stimulating and professionally relevant experience. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Professor Agnes Gulyas
Course Director

Key dates

Course start date: 16 September 2024

Academic Calendar: Trimesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays. 

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

We are excited to kick off your journey during the week of 16 September with a programme of welcome activities. This series of introductory activities has been designed to help you transition smoothly into university life. You'll receive crucial information to start your studies on the right foot, meet our dedicated staff, connect with your fellow students, and familiarize yourself with the campus. Dive into the heart of your course and our academic community by participating in as many activities as possible!

Once your University IT account has been activated, you will be able to access our resources, including Library resources and relevant software. On our Blackboard pages (virtual learning environment platform) you will be able to find detailed information about your course, as well as about supporting services and opportunities available to you.

At the beginning of your academic course, you will be assigned to a personal tutor, who will provide you with academic support throughout the course and act as a gateway to support and development services offered elsewhere in the University.

After welcome week you will begin work on your first three modules that you will study in Trimester 1: Sound Recording for Film, Television and Interactive Media; Collaborative Practice; and Creativity, Culture and Community.

In addition to other exciting activities, you will have access to our Creative Agency, which supports students by providing opportunities to engage in paid projects and develop a portfolio of work essential for preparing for your future career. The Agency also facilitates student collaboration, allowing students to contribute to each other's projects across the School of Creative Arts and Industries.

Getting started

The film director David Lynch once stated, "Sound is 50% of a film, at least. In some scenes, it’s almost 100%." Embracing this philosophy, our MA program is meticulously designed to enhance your practical skills in sound recording, editing, and mixing. You will express your creativity through the essential elements of the soundtrack: dialogue, music, and sound effects. The modules you will study will include:

Trimester 1: Sound Recording Here you will explore the world of sound recording for film, television and interactive. Through practical exercises, you'll master recording dialogue on location, voice-overs in the studio, and Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) in post-production. Learn to capture location sound and Foley effects both on location and in-studio settings. Your journey will also include recording music specifically for media, coupled with an introduction to sound editing using Pro Tools, the industry-standard software for sound postproduction.

Trimester 2: Sound Design Building on your recording skills, this trimester is about the art of mixing and designing soundtracks. You’ll experiment with creative sound to enhance storytelling. This module allows you to explore your artistic inclinations by designing sound for diverse film projects, including working in 5.1 surround sound. Supported by screenings and seminars, you'll gain exposure to exemplary professional sound designs in contemporary cinema.

Trimester 3: Final Project In the final trimester of your course you will have the opportunity to focus on a larger-scale sound design project or undertake further research on sound design. This capstone project can be used to further develop your creative and practical skills, and to build your portfolio, helping you to build a career in sound design when you graduate.

Your welcome and induction will be w/c 16 September 2024 - we look forward to meeting you then.

We look forward to welcoming you into this dynamic field where sound shapes the viewer's experience as profoundly as imagery. Get ready to explore, create, and innovate with us at CCCU!

Pre-course reading

There is no compulsory reading you need to do before you join the course, but Michel Chion’s Audio-Vision: Sound On Screen (Columbia University Press, 2019) is highly recommended. In addition, try to watch as many films as you can, and get into the habit of making your own notes about the sound in these films.

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.