Filmmaking and Screen Writing
Entry requirements
A level
For year 2 entry, BBB required
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
For year 2 entry, 28 points required
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
For year 2 entry, DDM required in relevant subject
Scottish Advanced Higher
For year 2 entry
Scottish HNC
Entry to Year 1 with HNC in one of the following titles: Creative Industries; Professional Writing Skills; Media & Communication Entry to Year 2 with a HNC with B in the graded unit in one of the following titles: Creative Media; Communication with Media; Media Analysis & Production
Scottish HND
Entry to Year 3 with a HND with B in the graded unit in one of the following titles: Creative Media; Communication with Media; Media Analysis & Production
Scottish Higher
T Level
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About this course
**OVERVIEW**
UWS's BA Filmmaking & Screen Writing will help you develop the essential creative, critical and professional skills required to work in cinema, TV and related industries.
Throughout the course, you will not only learn how to make films, but also study cinema as art, culture and commerce.
The degree will develop your skills and knowledge as a filmmaker and cinematic storyteller and has a explicitly international curriculum concerned with a trans-national form and globalisd industry all of which is explored in local, regional, and national contexts.
The practical focus of the degree will help you build up a portfolio of work and provide you with experience of post-production, research, scriptwriting and camera operation.
Modules are taught by industry professionals and our range of masterclasses are led by internationally-acclaimed directors, cinematographers and writers.
As well as having access to the latest digital film technology, you’ll also have the opportunity to work out of UWS’s teaching space at Glasgow’s Film City – Scotland’s filmmaking hub.
**PRACTICAL FOCUS**
The degree is highly distinctive in the way that it offers a balance of practice and theory that allows students to develop industry-accredited skills whilst pursuing their passion for cinema.
You will develop essential creative, critical and professional skills important within cinema, TV and related cultural industries. You will gain experience in production, including research and script-writing, camera and sound operation.
In addition, you will learn post-production techniques and build a portfolio of work that will give you an edge in the creative sector.
In addition, in Year 3, a Work-Related Learning module offers you the opportunity of relevant work experience incorporating the application of learning and theory in practice. This can either be in a working environment that you may work in on a part-time basis or in a new working environment that you secure for the purposes of the module, or through the completion of a university-based project.
Finally, throughout the course, you wil have access to guest lectures and masterclasses which are led by internationally-acclaimed directors, cinematographers and writers.
**PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION**
Our course is accredited by ScreenSkills - the industry-led skills body for the screen industries.
**CAREER PROSPECTS**
**Jobs**
The combination of specific filmmaking skills, general communication skills, enterprise awareness and professionalisation ensures that you will be prepared for suitable employment in the creative industries. Some Filmmaking graduates have found employment in technical areas such as camera and sound departments, post-production houses, as production assistants, and as directors. Many graduates continue to work independently as filmmakers and increasingly they set up their own production companies.
Some graduates chose to look beyond the creative industries and find graduate-level careers where they can use their skills of research, analysis and presentation.
**Further Study**
Filmmaking and Screen Writing is a suitable qualification for progression to a wide range of postgraduate study opportunities in Film, Media and Cultural studies.
Modules
Year 1 prepares you for success by introducing essential skills concerning digital filmmaking and screenwriting. Technical skills are developed in modules covering digital video production, sound recording and editing. Creative writing skills are developed across a range of production contexts. Students also undertake critical studies that complement practical filmmaking by encouraging the close, detailed analysis of how films are constructed and how a wide variety of films tell stories through techniques of narrative organisation, cinematography, editing and sound.
In Year 2, you further develop your creative skills in the contrasting contexts of drama and documentary production; you'll also benefit from specialised teaching in scriptwriting. Skills of critical analysis, research and writing are developed in film studies modules, with a specific emphasis on innovation and creative achievement and the relationship between craft and cultural artefact.
Year 3 allows you to bring together skills that have been developed in previous years and engage in more ambitious filmmaking and scriptwriting projects. You are encouraged to develop skills and understanding concerning film-related ethics, business planning, distribution and finance. Modules will address story development, pitching, product marketing and promotion. A key aim of this level is to develop students’ awareness and understanding of the professional contexts in which filmmaking creativity is exercised, and student creative work simulates industry practice.
The major component in your final year of study is the completion of the integrated creative research project for which students develop a folio of creative and critical work that provides evidence of a high standard of achievement in areas such as scriptwriting, cinematography, sound, editing, producing, and directing, and theorisation and analysis. The emphasis here is on creative and critical specialisation, enabling a close and deep engagement with areas of personal, intellectual and professional interest. A range of optional modules also provides further opportunities for you to dwell in specialist areas of interest, completing a rich undergraduate experience whilst opening the door to professional employment or further study.
Assessment methods
BA (Hons) Filmmaking & Screen Writing engages students in enquiry-based learning in which personal and creative interests are explored and developed in relation to the discipline and rigour of professional and academic contexts and processes. At level 7 practical digital filmmaking is used as a vehicle for students to formulate research questions and to collect and consider information prior to its formulation in writing – treatments, scripts, production diaries – and images – films, storyboards – all of which is done within goal-oriented groups.
This process reoccurs throughout the four years of the degree on practical and theoretical modules in which students explore a wide range of materials and sources, drawn from a range of academic and non-academic sources. There is an integrated approach with a balance between theoretical contextualisation and practice activity alongside the development of both analytical and practical skills in media production.
Learning and teaching methods include: lectures, screenings, demonstrations, tutorials, group and individual project work, multi-media and ‘e’ learning, and screen practice. A very strong emphasis is placed on students using digital technology across all modules and developing digital expertise and literacy to a professional standard in specific skills areas where appropriate. Students are encouraged to engage in the pedagogical and professional use of social media including, for example, participation in autonomous collaboration platforms such as forums embedded in the Aula VLE, Googledocs, Vimeo, Crowdfunders and Facebook groups. There is a mixture of large and small group and individual learning and teaching situations including tutor-led, student led and independent learning sessions.
Tuition fees
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Extra funding
Visit www.uws.ac.uk/scholarships
The Uni
Ayr Campus
Business and Creative Industries
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Journalism
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£24k
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