Film and Media Production MA

Postgraduate

This course welcomes creatives with a passion for storytelling and who seek to engage new forms of the spectator within the context of remediated traditions of film and media practice.

Year of entry

2023-24 2024-25

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time
Part-time
Sandwich

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time
Up to 2 years, with professional experience

Course code

AHT088

Start date

May 2024

How to apply

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Course overview

Designed to develop the skills required for the ever-changing, fast-developing new media landscape, this exciting course fosters individuality, confidence and creativity.

You will have the option to apply for a ‘professional experience’ opportunity², designed to further develop your skills and knowledge with the aim of maximising your employability prospects. See the ‘Modules’ section for more information.
You will experiment and develop new forms that take account of the analogue world and new digital tools that, when placed together, infer possibilities that are innovative, raise questions and have impact.
You have the opportunity² to join our community of critical thinkers and makers, taught by staff who are themselves film-makers, authors and artists, who continually challenge traditional and emergent practices in their own work (staff may be subject to change).

Joint Top Modern University for Career Prospects

Guardian University Guide 2021 and 2022

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

Top 5 UK Student City (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2023

Why you should study this course

The course places emphasis on experiential learning and offers a creative space in which experimental and innovative ways of working can be accommodated. It is based on critical practice and invites you to respond to the problems of media production now and how it has been shaped by key historical practitioners.

All student work is outward-facing; productions from every semester are shown publicly using our state-of-the-art media base at The Tank.
These regular screenings and actions ensure real-life public reaction to the work produced that in turn, influences practice in progress.
You will have the chance to access professional equipment⁴ via our dedicated Media Loan Shop and studios. The Media Loan Shop has state-of-the-art equipment including GoPro camera kits, Canon and Nikon photographic and video cameras (inc. DSLR), Blackmagic Ursa Mini 4.6K EF camera collection Edirol recorders, and a range of photographic lenses, lighting and filters.

What you'll study

The course seeks to enhance your understanding of filmmaking and related media practice in the context of new forms of production and exhibition, including new screen practices, moving image in the gallery, 360 cinema and Go-Pro aesthetics.

Seen through the lens of traditional analogue formats, the emergence of new technologies has been seen to put these in crisis. However, the centrality of filmmaking and narrative storytelling in a culture of streaming, fragmented exhibition, and glitching visuality has never felt so strong.

The course will develop your skills through an exploration of the following themes: non-fiction as a critical media practice, documentary and exploratory cinemas, experimental sound and moving image in traditional and contemporary practice, and storytelling across traditional cinematic and contemporary media platforms.

Modules

Critical Media Practice - 20 credits

The module explores emergent forms of media production and alternative strategies for project realisation in terms of subject matter, content, style, medium, scale, technical characteristics and impact. The module begins from your current knowledge and practice, raising questions about your processes of 'making'.

Compulsory

Research Methods - 20 credits

Creative Futures and Social Change - 10 credits

This module explores the changing world of work which Arts and Humanities students enter after study. New technology and the changing global economy mean that jobs and skills are changing and evolving quickly and will continue to do so. This is an exciting and new world, and this module is designed to empower you to realise your potential in it.

This module provides tools for you to develop into changemakers, thrive in a changing world of work and participate in creating a better future for society. You’ll be guided through a process of reflection that explores four possible futures for the world of work and how to situate your own professional identity as the future of work changes through your careers. This module is designed in collaboration with The RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), and upon successful completion students will receive RSA digital badging.

Compulsory

Collaborative Social Challenge Project - 10 credits

This project module aims to allow you to develop your independent and collaborative working skills through a focused application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within the School of Media and Performing Arts MA courses and/or external collaborators², you will seek to develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief² generated by addressing and engaging with a social challenge.

Compulsory

Emerging Media Practice - 20 credits

This module focuses on a range of contemporary experimental approaches in combining audio with moving image creatively with new media interfaces. The module requires you to experiment with forms, conventions, techniques and practices and critically formulate how your work can develop and extend into these new forms.

Compulsory

Final Project (Research and Planning) - 30 credits

The aim of this module is for you to develop a body of research-informed work in a specialism of your choosing, which demonstrates a critical awareness of current developments and trends in your area of practice/specialism. This work will form the basis of your final project.

Compulsory

Collaborative Community Project - 10 credits

This project module aims to allow you to develop your independent and collaborative working skills through a focused application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within the School of Media and Performing Arts MA courses and/or external collaborators², you will develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief² generated by engaging with a community issue with the support or guidance of a local group or organisation.

Compulsory

New Media Narratives - 20 credits

The module focuses on the construction of new forms of storytelling, through the combination of traditional screenwriting techniques with the affordances of digital technology. The module will introduce you to new possibilities of storytelling and new potential in hybrid forms that allow for alternative viewpoints, collaborative working and new forms of distribution and exhibition.

Compulsory

Final Project (Production and Sharing) - 30 credits

Collaborative Enterprise Project - 10 credits

This project module aims to allow you to develop your independent and collaborative working skills through a focused application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within the School of Media and Performing Arts MA courses and/or external collaborators², you will develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief² generated by exploring opportunities for enterprise within your practice. You will explore potential routes to monetise your work and consider your role as a member of the future media and performing arts workforce.

Compulsory

With professional experience option

The professional experience opportunity² enables you to apply for optional professional experience in semester 1. If your application is successful, it will extend the duration of your master’s to either 16, 20 or 24 months. The professional experience provides an opportunity for you to develop expertise and experience in your chosen field with the aim of enhancing your employability.

Please note that the optional professional experience modules incur an additional tuition fee³, which for one semester of professional experience is £1,333.33, for two semesters of professional experience is £2,666.67, and for three semesters of professional experience is £4,000.

Professional experience may also be subject to additional costs, visa requirements being met, subject to availability and/or competitive application. Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed but you will benefit from the support of our Talent Team in trying to find and secure an opportunity. Find out more about the professional experience option.

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

You will engage with a series of different learning activities and resources which include:

Group critiques
Artist talks and lectures (subject to availability)
Masterclasses (subject to availability)
Seminars
Tutorials
Workshops

This course can be offered on a part-time basis. While we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Request further information about part-time study.

Teaching contact hours

The number of full-time contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around eight contact hours per week in the first year. These will comprise seminars, talks and lectures, as well as workshops and skills training. As you develop your final major project these modules will become primarily tutorial-based. This course operates on a 'flipped classroom' basis, and you will be expected to undertake guided reading and preparation tasks ahead of classroom sessions.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 300 hours each semester, depending on the demands of individual modules e.g. working on course assignments, group project activities, reading and maintaining your own public facing digital profile. This will be supported by skills sessions.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

A variety of assessment types are included on the course so as to facilitate your development into a professional world which may demand work to be presented, formatted, proposed or submitted in different forms. You will encounter a variety of coursework forms on the programme which may ask you to produce among other elements:

Artefact/Bodies of work
Contextual documents
Portfolios
Proposals
Presentations
Research books

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2023/24 entry.

Applicants to this master’s degree should normally possess an honours degree (2:1 or equivalent) in a relevant subject. If the degree is in an unrelated subject, applicants need to demonstrate appropriate industry knowledge and experience in their application documentation.

Candidates with professional/industrial experience, and/or other relevant training and experience may be admitted with lower qualifications.

Non-traditional entry students are welcome: applicants without formal qualifications but professional/industrial experience may be admitted on the basis of an interview and submission of supporting material.

Each application will be considered on its merits and the final decision will be made by the course director.

Portfolio

Each applicant will be required to include a short statement regarding their interest in studying on the Film and Media Production MA course at Coventry University (300-500 words) and are invited to include a link to an online portfolio so that the course team can get to know their practice. All applicants will be offered a video conferencing conversation as part of the application where they will have the opportunity to meet with a member of the course team and ask questions about the programme of study.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications; speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Russia and Central Asia

You can view our full list of country-specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Typical entry requirements

Candidates with professional/industrial experience, and/or other relevant training and experience may be admitted with lower qualifications.

Each application will be considered on its merits and the final decision will be made by the course director.

Portfolio

Each applicant will be required to include a short statement regarding their interest in studying on the Film and Media Production MA course at Coventry University (300-500 words) and are invited to include a link to an online portfolio in order that the course team can get to know their practice. All applicants will be offered a videoconferencing conversation as part of the application where they will have the opportunity to meet with a member of the course team and ask questions about the programme of study.

English language requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall (with at least 5.5 in each component area)

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2023/24 tuition fees.

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man	£11,200 \| £15,200 (with prof. experience)	Request fee information
EU	£11,200 \| £15,200 (with prof. experience) per year with EU Support Bursary £18,600 \| £22,600 (with prof. experience) per year without EU Support Bursary	Not available
International	£18,600 \| £22,600 (with prof. experience)	Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees³ and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

Any optional overseas ﬁeld trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the government's Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

You will benefit from studying on our well-equipped, modern campus. Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities in a dedicated environment⁴. We have a well-stocked Media Loan Shop so you can borrow an extensive range of specialist professional equipment, including 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment and lighting⁴.

Television Studio

Where applicable, you’ll have access to our on-campus TV studio The Tank, with its specialist TV studio equipment, including large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.

Photography Suite

The photography suite is a superb facility that includes virtual drum scanning, photography studios, black-and-white print darkrooms, free black-and-white film processing, and a digital print bureau.

Media Loan Shop

As a student, you’ll have access to Coventry University’s specialist Media Loan Shop. This well-stocked facility offers an extensive range of specialist, professional photography and film equipment.

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion of the course you will be able to:

demonstrate the ability to work creatively and effectively within a range of emergent media forms
demonstrate the technical, organisational and creative skills required to function as an independent digital media practitioner in an international context
think critically and reflexively about the full range of factors that impinge upon creative activities within digital media
apply specialist knowledge in order to engage in new media practices in the field with communities of interest reflecting local, national and international concerns
engage in radically challenging media practice through continuing innovative approaches of engagement and impact
apply a continuing experimental approach to hybridity between conventional and new media forms to creatively interrupt entrenched conventions.

Preparing our master's graduates for onward careers is central to our approach to learning and teaching on the course. This includes developing authentic assessment, collaborative opportunities², placements², and advice and guidance for onward study on PhD programmes here and internationally (subject to availability).

Our three collaborative modules provide opportunities² to work with students in photography, VR/AR, media management and media/communication studies. You will be able to take advantage of cross-school connections and collaborations, as well as placement and onward opportunities² with the support of our Talent Team.

Where our graduates work

Our students have gone on to work in digital music services in The Netherlands as research posts at the Five College Women’s Centre, Massachusetts USA, in PR companies in Saudi Arabia, in government organisations and broadcasters in Africa, and as producers in TV stations in China. Our graduates also regularly go on to set up their own companies across the globe.

Further study

Recent graduates have gone on to doctoral study in the UK, Africa, China and America.

Graduate Immigration Route visa

Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.

How to apply

UK students

To apply to study for a postgraduate course at Coventry University, you can apply online.

Full-time applications

Part-time applications

For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

+44 (0)24 7765 2222

ukadmissions@coventry.ac.uk

Chat with our admissions team

Complete our contact form.

International students

Full-time international students applying to start in September should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.

How to apply

For further support for international applicants applying for postgraduate degree view our International hub.

You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.

Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.

+44 (0)24 7765 2152

applications.io@coventry.ac.uk

Chat with our admissions team.

Complete our contact form.

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London Campus, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the “University”) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

¹Accreditations

The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.

²UK and international opportunities

Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or International opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel COVID and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

³Tuition fees

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For International Students, we may increase fees each year but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

⁴Facilities

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2023/24 contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.