Media Production with Foundation Year
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 32 - 56. Every application is considered on an individual basis. For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our General Entry Requirements pages.
About this course
This industry facing course will help provide you with an in depth skill base in media production, incorporating a wide range of disciplines and practices. You’ll use state-of-the-art industry standard facilities and be taught by media professionals as you create and produce content across a range of platforms, from video and audio to photography and online.
You will spend the majority of your time studying at our High Wycombe Campus to develop the knowledge and skills you will need to seamlessly transition from university into employment. However, you may also have the opportunity to study at our teaching base at Pinewood Studios, putting you right in the heart of this world famous creative hub.
This course is offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.
**Why study at BNU?**
During your time with us you’ll learn hands-on practical skills to help you stand out to potential employers. You’ll get to grips with industry-standard equipment including cameras, lighting and sound, ensuring upon graduation you are prepared for your first role. You’ll engage with our dynamic programme of visiting lectures and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities. You’ll also benefit from our expert lecturers who have a wealth of knowledge and experience within the industry.
On this course you will gain the experience and expertise to produce high quality media content in a range of forms and across different platforms, responding to the on-going changes in technology, regulation and societal uses of media.
Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in both your first and second year from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.
**What facilities can I use?**
Whilst studying with us you will create Film & TV content in our industry-standard studios where we use professional Panasonic and Canon cameras. Furthermore, in our private and communal editing suites, you will get the chance to become skilled with all our post-production software. You'll also learn in our state-of-the-art recording studios, from individual edit rooms up to large Pro Tools HD studios with attached live rooms and vocal booths.
**What will I study?**
You'll develop a range of techniques that can be used for online and offline media, covering a broad range of media such as recording techniques, photography, journalism, sound design, podcasting, video and screenwriting.
Technical skills include film and television production, sound design, photography and podcasting. You’ll also gain an understanding of the creative and editorial process in creating content for different platforms. Optional modules allow you to explore the latest technologies, such as Virtual Production.
Your modules offer plenty of options, so you can begin to specialise in the areas which interest you most or which might prove valuable for your chosen career. Depending which modules you choose, you will also spend time studying at our teaching base at Pinewood Studios, putting you right at the heart of the UK Film and TV industry.
**What are my career prospects?**
This course will help prepare you for a range of career possibilities in areas such as:
- TV
- Film
- Video
- Journalism
- Social Media
- Podcasting
- On-demand
- Scriptwriting
- Content creation
- Screenwriting.
Modules
**Foundation Year**
**Core**
Preparing for Success: Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success: Self-development and Responsibility
Inquiry Based Learning
Introduction to Moving Image Production
**Year one**
**Core**
Production Skills with Analysis
Sound Design for Moving Image
Filmmaking 1
Filmmaking 2
Filmmaking 3
**Opportunity**
2 x 10 credit year one Opportunity modules
**Year two**
**Core**
Advanced Technical and Production Skills
Introduction to Photography
Genre Studies for Film and TV
**Optional**
Art Film and Music Video
Sound Design Projects
Advanced Screenwriting and Pitching
Location Sound and Audio Post-Production
Virtual Film Production
Live Events Project Live Performance Technology
Factual Storytelling Broadcast News and Current Affairs
**Year three**
**Core**
Podcasting: Creation and Production AND
Independent Production Project OR
Independent Script Project OR
Industry Practice Research Project
**Optional**
Individual Microfilm and Creative Group Production
Digital Marketing
Non-Fiction and Factual Storytelling
Sound Design Final Portfolio
New Media and Innovation
News and Current Affairs
Creative Skills with Applied Multicamera Production
Assessment methods
On our course the teaching will feature a variety of approaches and technology, blended together to engage your learning in class and beyond, and to encourage your full participation. The teaching and learning strategies have been designed to ensure that there is progression from formal teaching through to independent learning as you progress through the levels of the programme. Guided independent study will include activities such as reading and research, planning for productions, and self-guided production activity on location.
A variety of assessment vehicles will be used as appropriate to the modules you take, including assignments carried out in your own time, in-class assignments, workshops and presentations. Assessments will be appropriate to the task, achievable, motivating and vocationally focussed, forming a constructive part of your learning process.
Assessment approaches include:
group and individual portfolios of written work and media content that will include research, pre-production, production and post-production work submissions
critical self-evaluation and role analysis in the form of individual reflective written evaluations
peer evaluation in the form of discussion of work in groups
opportunity for external placement and work-based learning reports that will enhance each student’s capacity to adopt professional working practices
tasks aimed at the assessment of specific production skills which will target each individual’s career aspirations.
Independent work at the culmination of the degree comprising a short media production.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships
The Uni
Buckinghamshire New University
School of Creative And Digital Industries
What students say
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Media studies
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Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
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Media studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
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Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Media studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£19k
£22k
£21k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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