BA single honours or in combination with another subject Film, Radio and
Television 2019/20

In Year 1 you will get an introduction to film, radio, television and animation production, using our excellent specialist facilities to make films, radio features and television shows.

In Year 2 you will study creative film practice and digital broadcasting alongside optional modules that might include editing, screenwriting, cinematography, American independent cinema or popular television. You also have the option of undertaking a media project abroad.

In Year 3 you will undertake a final project, which will demonstrate your professional skills, alongside optional modules that might include sound studies, art film and video and contemporary TV drama.

Throughout the course you will be encouraged to take up opportunities for work placements across the creative industries.

The programme also offers the opportunity for additional language and cultural training and the possibility of a year studying abroad at one of our international partner universities. There is abundant evidence that such international experience helps to improve academic performance, enhances employability and improves the pace of career progression (Universities UK International (2017).

Core Modules

Year 1

Professional Perspectives in the Creative Industries (20 Credits)

This module focuses upon the key skills, knowledge and understanding for orientation to undergraduate study and research and begins your academic journey in preparation for work within the creative industries. The module will build on your pre-existing skills to enable you to make a smooth transition to Higher Education and the challenges it presents. The module encourages a more independent, reflective and self-managed approach to your study, time management, research and work-readiness.

Television Production (20 Credits)

This module is designed as a hands on practical module teaching you the skills needed to make a live studio television show. You will have the chance to work with presenters, music and create live content. Working as a team, you will be introduced to the technology, equipment and industry procedures used in contemporary television production from the initial idea to the final product.

Radio Production (20 Credits)

This module introduces students the skills needed to design and produce a live music radio show for a particular audience, taking into account current changes and professional practice in the radio industry. As a professional team you will work together to produce a live show. You will learn how to operate the radio studios and myriad playout software, digital audio editing and multi-tracking on Adobe Audition and studio and portable microphone techniques.

FRTV in Context (20 Credits) Core for both Single and Combined Honours

This module focuses upon the historical and cultural contexts of film radio and television. Additionally it aims to give you an understanding of the historical and critical discourses surrounding film radio and television, while also applying critical and theoretical approaches to contemporary developments in the media. Lastly, the module aims to provide you with a critical and theoretical context for your own production work in film, radio and television.

The Animation Production (20 Credits)

The Animation module introduces students to the basic principles and history of animation and its relationship with film. Students are introduced to a range of animation techniques and technology ranging from the most basic 'hand-made' to the use of software such as Adobe After Effects. Students in groups and individually to produce a short animation show reel.

Film Production (20 Credits)

The film Production module offers you the opportunity to engage with contemporary digital film practice introducing you to the effective and safe use of digital film production equipment and techniques providing opportunities to develop creative, technical and organisational skills within the context of digital film production. The module encourages you to acquire team skills and to integrate theoretical concepts within practical production.

Year 2

Creative Film Practice (20 Credits)

This module develops your skills and understandings of specialist moving image production and post-production technologies. You will develop a short creative film from initial concept to post-production.

Digital Broadcasting (20 Credits)

You will develop radio production skills including scripting, vocal delivery, content research and creation, studio and location recording and editing by designing and producing a professional podcast. You will also build on your television production skills, including vision control, graphics, sound, directing and vision mixing, through the creation of a live show suitable for broadcast.

Year 3

Pre-Production for Final Project (20 Credits)

This module is where you will research and plan your final production, which is produced in semester two. You will follow industry-standard planning and pre-production procedures to produce an appropriate project proposal or ‘pitch’. You will develop your proposal into a pre-production portfolio comprising a collection of supporting materials.

Final Project (20 Credits)

This module gives you the opportunity to synthesise the technical expertise you have acquired throughout the programme to work as part of a team to create an ambitious professional production. The Final Project will add to your showreel and act as your ‘calling card’ when seeking professional employment.

Professional Perspectives in the Creative Industries 3 (20 Credits)

The module prepares you for entry in to the creative industries by developing key skills in presentation, pitching, networking, portfolio management, and team-work. The module focuses on work readiness by examining freelancing, self-employment, and setting up a micro-business. You will respond to briefs set by industry experts to simulate the experience of a creative industries pitch. You will have contact with industry professionals who will help to set project briefs and offer feedback on your work.

Likely optional modules

Year 2

Film Sound and Music (20 Credits)

You will examine the theoretical frameworks in which film sound has been understood and relates them to production practices and developments in film sound technology. You will also consider the ways in which sound works to produce meaning and emotional effects for the audience. The module aims to enable you to make critical connections between film and other forms of auditory experience in order to better understand the use of sound in cinema.

World Cinema (20 Credits)

This module aims to introduce you to a variety of international films and develop their ability to critically engage with specific expressions within the context of national identity, industry, genre/movements, themes and style. You will examine a number of movements and styles and be encouraged to interpret the significance of films and place them in the context of the larger cultural systems of which they are a part.

Popular TV (20 Credits)

In Popular TV, you will analyse the industrial practices and cultural contexts of popular programming on British television and evaluate key debates and theories relating to popular formats and genres such as quiz shows, lifestyle programming and talk shows. You will develop an awareness and understanding of the multitude of ways that TV producers engage with the popular audience across a multi-platform medium.

Editing - Practice and Theory (20 Credits)

This module develops your critical understanding of the process of editing through practical exercises and the analysis of cinematic texts. The module introduces you to the theory of editing and provides practical opportunities for you to develop your understanding of the importance of the editing process in film and television production.

Screenwriting (20 Credits)

Provides you with the opportunity to study the theory and practice of the craft of scriptwriting. You will learn the techniques of scriptwriting and build your creative skills to make original and imaginative dramatic narratives while also studying a variety of theoretical approaches to scriptwriting.

Documentary (20 Credits)

This module examines different forms of television documentaries and how they have been shaped by social, institutional and technological circumstances. Drawing on a range of examples, you will critically consider the ethical and contextual issues when filming with real people. These conventions and methods will also help you to create your own short documentary, which aims to engage an ever more demanding audience.

Professional Perspectives in the Creative Industries 2 (20 Credits)

This is an optional module that prepares you for work-related experience in the creative industries, which is an important step towards your future employment. Tailored workshops and industry guests will help you to understand popular trends, issues and markets in order for you to make the best of these opportunities.

Global Experience in Media and Art Design (20 Credits)

This is an optional module that will develop your appreciation of cultural differences and how these affect your professional practice by carrying out a media project abroad. To complete the project you will need to apply the skills that you have learned on the programme so far, and engage with the host culture. 

Watching the Detectives (20 Credits)

This is an optional module were you are introduced to the detective as a literary, film and television narrative and stylistic device. You will evaluate the distinction between the police detective and the private detective and the gender and/or ethnic identity of the detective. The creation of original content by streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon will also be considered to examine how the detective genre is shifting in terms of audience reception, narrative fluidity and genre expectations.

Year 3

Contemporary TV Drama (20 Credits)

This module will develop your knowledge and understanding of contemporary television drama and the way in which its evolving forms affect its consumption and definition. By the end of the module you should be able to analyse examples of contemporary television and understand how contemporary television drama relates to the larger cultural systems of which it is a part.

Laughing Matters (20 Credits)

This module will develop your critical understanding of comedy, humour and laughter, both in terms of comprehending the pleasures laughter offers an audience and the ways it is necessary to structure a given text for comedic purposes. You will study a variety of theoretical positions on comedy, the comic, humour and laughter and the socio-political contexts in which comedy takes place.

Professional Perspectives in the Creative Industries 3 (20 Credits)

The module prepares you for entry in to the creative industries by developing key skills in presentation, pitching, networking, portfolio management, and team-work. The module focuses on work readiness by examining freelancing, self-employment, and setting up a micro-business. You will respond to briefs set by industry experts to simulate the experience of a creative industries pitch. You will have contact with industry professionals who will help to set project briefs and offer feedback on your work.

Critical Practices (20 Credits)

This module gives you the opportunity to reflect critically on your practice during your programme of study. You will evaluate your creative workflow and how your practice has been effective for your chosen target audiences. You will also have the opportunity to evaluate how your work fits within the broader creative landscape.

Sound Studies (20 Credits)

This interdisciplinary, cross-media module develops your understanding of a range of audio production practices and associated critical theories. The module places sound practice in its historical and cultural contexts and introduces you to concepts and theories that will allow you to analyse audio-visual texts and practices. You will produce a practical sound project and relate it to relevant theoretical concepts.

Realtime Visual Performance (20 Credits)

The module aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of the history and practice of real-time visual performance. You will develop the skills and knowledge required to produce and perform visuals for live events, theatre or music performances and gallery installations or to produce digital artworks. The module aims to place real-time visual performance in an historical and cultural context.

Art Film and Video (20 Credits)

This module will enable you to place art film and video within a critical context in relation to the avant-garde in other art forms and to contemporary audio-visual culture. It aims to provide you with an understanding of the historical and theoretical contexts of art film and video production, which will enable you to engage with questions of expression, representation, meaning and affect. The module will allow you to make informed connections between film and video and production, key works in art cinema and video art, and contemporary cultural discourse.

Cinematic City (20 Credits)

You will develop your knowledge and understanding of the meanings of space and place in contemporary cinema, with particular attention to the construction of the cinematic city. You have all visited cities in your imagination through film and television representation and this module explores the theoretical framework for thinking through how the “real” city and the “imagined” cinematic city are intertwined.

Mixed-Media Dissertation (20 Credits)

This module develops your skills in research, analysis and the construction of an academic argument through the production of a mixed-media dissertation on a chosen subject. A mixed-media dissertation may take the form of a written dissertation or an alternate practical form, for example a film that introduces theoretical concepts.

Utopianism (20 Credits)

This module aims to introduce you to theories of utopian representation and develop your ability to evaluate social dreaming in a number of relevant cinematic texts. You will learn to distinguish between utopias, anti-utopias, critical utopias and dystopias and to understand their significance.

Graduates of Film, Radio and Television go on to work in a range of professional roles in the film, radio and television industries, including camera operator, film editor, director and producer. They also progress to a variety of graduate­level jobs in the wider media and non­media industries. Other graduates go on to postgraduate study at Canterbury Christ Church University and elsewhere. The course helps you become multi­skilled, developing your technical and creative skills to the professional level needed for entry into the creative media industries.

Fees

Tuition Fees for 2019/20 have not yet been finalised. Course webpages will be updated with Tuition Fee information once these have been agreed.

• Read advice about funding your degree
• See information about the financial support available for undergraduate studies
• If you would like information about paying your fees, please contact finance@canterbury.ac.uk
• For specific fee queries, please contact fees@canterbury.ac.uk

Additional course costs

Although we aim to minimise any additional costs to students over and above the course tuition fee, there will be some additional costs which students are expected to meet.

Costs applicable to all students

Course specific costs

General principle policy

The University’s general principles policy for additional course fees are set out here

Learning and teaching

The academic year consists of two semesters. You will study three modules in each semester, making a total of 6 modules per year. You will be taught through a combination of screenings, lectures, seminars and practical workshops. You will typically have around 12 contact hours per week.

Year 1 provides you with the opportunity to develop your production and craft skills, network and work in teams.

In Year 2, you will focus your study towards a specialist area of interest.  There is also the opportunity to undertake a placement and study abroad.

Year 3 provides you with the opportunity to extend your skillset and provide professional examples of practice for inclusion within your show reel.

You will use industry-standard software and facilities. You will have access to specialist facilities throughout your course. Seminars in smaller groups will enable you to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures.  In addition, you will meet with your academic personal tutor. 

All programmes are informed by the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015-2020.

Independent learning

When not attending lectures, seminars, workshops or other timetabled sessions you will continue learning through directed activities and self-study. 

Self-study typically involves looking at films, television and animation programmes, listening to radio,  practicing with the production equipment, reading journal articles and books, undertaking research in the library, working on projects, and preparing for coursework assignments/examinations, workshops and seminars.

For the major production projects in years one, two and three, you will work independently and in production groups that are under the supervision of a member of the teaching team. You will be expected to meet with your supervisor on a regular basis.

Overall workload

Your overall workload typically consists of 36 hours per week, including 12 contact hours and a further 24 hours of independent learning and assessment activity.

Total study time averages about 12 hours a week for each 20-credit module.

Academic input

The teaching team is a creative mix of practitioners and theoreticians. Guest speakers from industry, including from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and the independent television sector, provide industry insights and expert masterclasses. The programme’s Industry Advisory Panel ensures that the curriculum remains current and maintains industry standards.

All the members of our programme team hold postgraduate degrees and teaching qualifications and are research-active. They have experience in delivering both theory and practice-based teaching. Many modules are supported by visiting lecturers from industry who bring valuable insight and industry knowledge, which keeps the teaching of practice and process relevant.

You will be assessed by a combination of practical and written assessments. In theory modules this is almost entirely by essay or dissertation. In practical modules you will normally be assessed by practical project accompanied by a reflective essay. Each module provides you with opportunities to develop and evaluate your understanding of the subject through either workshops, seminars, production meetings or tutorials before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark.

There is a formal or 'summative' assessment at the end of each module. For practical modules the assessment typically includes a production project together with a reflective essay. For theory modules the assessment is generally essay or dissertation based.

There are no written exams.

The course uses a fully equipped television studio featuring Sony cameras, Vinton Osprey Elite Pedestals and green screen. The studio gallery has a 2 ME Ross Carbonite desk with Expressions Designer Graphics, Vision 2 Lighting software, Vision Control area, and a Calrec Brio digital sound desk. There are also several radio studios and a dubbing suite.

Portable equipment includes a range of HD digital video cameras including the Panasonic HPX 250, Black Magic Cinema and URSA cameras and the Arri Amira. Postproduction facilities include Avid and Adobe After Effects software on an Editshare network.

Our new art and design building on our Canterbury campus is scheduled to open in September 2018. The building will have bespoke learning spaces for our art and design students and will be equipped with the latest technology.

Film, Radio and Television has an Industry Advisory Panel made up of industry professionals and alumni of the FRTV course who are now senior members of the media industries. The panel advise on curriculum design and contribute to the module Professional Perspectives in the Creative Industries 3, providing briefs for students to work on and assessing the students’ ‘pitches’. Some students go on to take up internships, work placements and full-time employment on the strength of the work they produce in that module, which was used in a recent HEA report as an example of best practice in directed independent learning.

The course is linked with NAHEMI (National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image)  and MECCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association)  

BA (Hons) Film, Radio and Television Studies with Foundation Year

This course can also be studied over four years with an additional foundation year (Year 0) for those without the formal entry qualifications. The foundation year is designed to provide you with the grounding you need to progress on to the degree.