BA Film Degree

Overview & facilities

FILMMAKING  SCREENWRITING  CRITICAL STUDIES

BA Film at Middlesex in London is a single flexible degree course that meets the interests and ambitions of a wide variety of students united by a passion for film. If you are a developing filmmaker or a screenwriter or film researcher or film critic, we offer a unique degree experience. If you want to be part of a great community of people striving, like you, to be the best and if you want to develop further your passion for film, come to Middlesex.

The degree is unique not only because it is designed to be flexible, accommodating very different kinds of film students, but also because it encourages, indeed requires, collaboration between students with different interests, skills and knowledge.

Content & modules

Modules

• Year 1

  Communicating in Film: Styles and Movements (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To develop an understanding and appreciation of some of the principle film styles and movements, specifically in relation to an investigation of the ways in which film communicates as an audio-visual medium. To develop an historical perspective in relation to the above. To consider specific directors as theorists of film through their film making practices.

  Film Language and Production 1 (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To investigate film through close analysis in order to develop an understanding of film language that will inform students creative and critical work To introduce students to processes, tools and protocols involved in professional film production in order to develop their creative practice. To initiate the Personal Development Portfolio and the required technology.

  Production Theory and Practice 2 (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To develop ideas and practices in film production and post-production from MDA1000, producing work that reflects a growing understanding and application of film language and form. To enable students to manage a short film project to realisation. To develop an understanding of how decisions made in ideas development impact on audiences. To offer students mechanisms for reflection on their own practice and experience with reference to learning from other parallel modules

  Storytelling for the Screen (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To introduce some of the foundational stories of human culture and to identify these as they manifest themselves in screen narratives. To engage in the critical analysis of stories, in particular identifying how they convey their ideology, values and thematic concerns. To facilitate the development of introductory level skills in screen narrative through practical exercises in the preparatory phases of screenwriting.

• Year 2

  Film and Innovation (30 Credits) - Optional

  To enable students to explore innovative, unconventional ways of making and viewing film. To explore critically the relationship between technological innovation and developments in the practices of filmmaking and film viewing including historical case studies. To explore ideas raised in the module through the production of short films and related media prompted by innovation and experimentation.

  Film Form and Filmmaking (30 Credits) - Optional

  To develop through close analysis a more complex understanding and appreciation of the creative choices available to filmmakers in deploying cinematic ideas, articulating with the parallel module, MDA2800 Producing and Directing, To explore the above also in relation to the film spectator To consolidate academic writing and research skills.

  Screenwriting: The Short Film (30 Credits) - Optional

  To expand knowledge of scriptwriting to encompass a practical understanding of the development and writing short films scripts; To explore analytically and critically particular narrative devices in the short form and their impact on the spectator; To further develop competence in the key elements of screenwriting dialogue, characterisation, plotting, visual storytelling and to present screenplays; To facilitate student delivery of meticulously redrafted screenplays to an industry standard

  Television Documentary Form and Practice (60 Credits) - Optional

  This module introduces students to documentary production, exploring key movements and directors in the history, development and current practice of the form. Drawing on national and international examples from the 1920s to the present, the module aims to encourage and enable critical and authorial reflection and give students an insight into the diversity and range of contemporary documentary programmed-making. This includes a strong consideration of purpose/style and the ethical dimension in relation to practice and representation. In parallel, the module builds on the production-centred modules in year one of the degree, with students producing short documentaries of their own. Through lectures, case studies and seminars the module explores the roles and responsibilities of the producer, production manager and researcher in the documentary production team. Specialist workshops address the principles and practices of directing documentary, camera/lighting styles, interviewing techniques, the use of sound and approaches to documentary editing. Finally, in the context of a rapidly-changing and increasingly interactive operating environment, the module looks closely at current developments in content distribution broadcast and unicast , as well as associated audience behaviour patterns and the repercussions of this for documentary practitioners, for the television industry and for students planning a career in factual television.

• Year 3

  Film Dissertation Project (60 Credits) - Compulsory

  To manage a complex and large-scale project from first proposal to completion To demonstrate in the execution of the project high level academic and practical skills as appropriate in the exploration of the chosen aspect of the film medium To present the work effectively to others, both as a work-in-progress and as a completed project, and finally presented publically at the end of the module with a clear sense of audience and context.

  Film Research and Context (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To consolidate and further develop research skills, both in relation to the Dissertation project and in relation to preparing for employment To become more knowledgeable about contexts within which the film creative sector operates including finance, distribution, marketing and exhibition. To bring to completion the Personal Development Portfolio in a form that meets the individual student s objectives in relation to employment and further career development.

  Film Theory (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To reflect critically on film themes and debates from previous modules in relation to film theory discourses To consolidate understanding of specific film theories and to reflect critically on their utility, especially in relation to work-in-progress on the Dissertation Project To develop an historical appreciation of the ways in which Film Studies has been shaped by different theoretical shifts.

Three main pathways can be identified as running through BA Film:

Filmmaking
You will develop skills at Level 1, moving from small-scale-briefs to the making of a complete short film (3-4 min). At this stage you will also learn about ethical and legal issues – such as copyright. At Level 2 you will develop skills in the Short Film, Documentary or Experimentation.  Work from one of these is taken into a follow-up module, Producing and Directing.

Screenwriting
You will develop skills in screenwriting and will also take the introductory production modules – thus anchoring your writing practice in an understanding of the filmmaking process. At Level 1 you will look quite broadly at varieties of storytelling within human culture and relate this specifically to screen storytelling.

Critical Studies
You will develop your critical understanding of film at Level 1 as much through participation in the production modules as through the “film studies” modules. Throughout the course the emphasis is on poetics which “studies the finished work as the result of a process of construction – a process that involves a craft component, the more general principles by which the work is composed, and its functions, effects and uses.” Through Level 2 the theory-practice focus will be maintained while also developing an historical dimension and introducing a variety of theoretical ideas that are significant in critical work on Film. At Level 3 the Dissertation Project is likely to be a well-researched and scholarly investigation of some specialist area of interest.

You may prefer not to identify yourselves closely with any of the above pathways but rather use BA Film as a means of gaining an excellent all-round education in the theory-practice of film. For all students, whether more or less specialised in their participation on the course, the strong emphasis on inter-connectedness between the pathways will be of great benefit as they progress to employment in an increasingly fluid media / film industry requiring a multi-skilled, highly adaptable work force.

Entry & applying

We normally make offers on 260 UCAS tariff points, plus GCSE English Language at grade C. BTEC National Diploma/International Baccalaureate/Advanced Progression Diplomas at equivalent tariff. Access to HE - Pass. Applications from candidates without formal qualifications are welcomed. Additionally overseas students whose first language is not English will need a qualification that demonstrates competence in English, eg IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL 550 paper-based or 213 computer based.

We also offer two 12-week long courses successful completion of which guarantees you a place on this course:

• Foundation in Art and Design, Intensive Short Course
• Foundation in Digital Arts, Intensive Short Course

Apply now

Qualifications accepted

For a comprehensive list of qualifications accepted by Middlesex, see further information under entry requirements

English language requirements

You must have competence in English language and we normally require Grade C GCSE or an equivalent qualification. The most common English Language requirements for international students are IELTS 6.0 (with minimum 5.5 in all four components) or TOEFL internet based 72 (with at least 17 in listening & writing, 20 in speaking and 18 in reading).

Middlesex also offers an Intensive Academic English course (Pre-Sessional) that ranges from 5-17 weeks depending on your level of English. Successful completion of this course would meet English language entry requirements. For more information on applying for the pre-sessional please email english@mdx.ac.uk. 

Entry into year two or three (transfer students)

If you have achieved a qualification such as a foundation degree or HND, or have gained credit at another university, you may be able to enter a Middlesex course in year two or three. For full details of how this works see transfer students

UK/EU applicants with existing higher education qualifications

If you have already been awarded a qualification at the same level as the course you are applying for, you may not be eligible for a tuition fee loan, see fees and funding for more information.

Applying

Applications for UK and EU students should be made to UCAS – the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. The institution code for Middlesex is M80, and the code name is MIDDX. You also need the code for the course you wish to apply for – this is found in the 'at a glance' box above.

International students from outside the EU can make a direct application.  We have a network of regional offices across the world to assist you with your application.  They have worked with people from your region coming to Middlesex before and can help. Read more on international applications

Fees & funding

The tuition fee for the 2012/2013 academic year for UK/EU students is £9,000.
The tuition fee for the 2012/2013 academic year for International students is £10,400.

Click here to find out more about fees, funding and our scholarships in 2012.

Careers & placements

We help you in all kinds of ways to become established such as supporting you in submitting work to film festivals of all kinds - 2010 three of our students had films screened at the Cannes Festival. We will also support your writing, whether critical journalism or screenwriting.

And Middlesex students are successful. Some have gone on to work at major institutions such as the BBC, while others have set up their own small businesses, attracting both commercial work and funded commissions. Some have become music video producers and others are freelancers representing a range of special professions within production and post-production.We help you in all kinds of ways to become established such as supporting you in submitting work to film festivals of all kinds - 2010 three of our students had films screened at the Cannes Festival. We will also support your writing, whether critical journalism or screenwriting.