MA Film, Television and Creative Practice
Course options
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Arts
- Course Length
- 1 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2023
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Course Overview
This MA is for you if you love to be creative and you’re brimming with ideas and concepts – but you want to understand the theory behind your passions too.
Film and television are multi-billion-pound global industries that play a crucial role in shaping how we understand the world around us.
On our MA Film, Television and Creative Practice you will master the essential skills for a career in film and television, in a pioneering centre for the subject.
You’ll develop your creative and critical skills through an exciting mix of practical work and studies of media history and theory.
You’ll graduate with practical and creative skills for the job market combined with a deep understanding of the social, cultural, political, industrial, and aesthetic aspects of film.
Prepare to combine the development of your existing creative skills in film and television production with a fascinating grounding in the historical and theoretical approaches to the two media.
Your core modules will focus on creativity and developing ideas, the study of media forms, short film, and video production – giving you a strong base of knowledge. You’ll then have free rein to pick complementary modules from a range of options covering areas such as gender in media, Hollywood cinema, and national and international film cultures.
One of the most important aspects of your MA is the dissertation-by-practice: an audio-visual project combining your intellectual and theoretical knowledge with your practical skills, supervised by a faculty member. This is your chance to focus in depth on a subject that inspires you and takes you closer to your career goals.
Your studies will come to life in several different ways. As well as lectures, seminars, and film screenings, you will have access to UEA’s Television Studio and our state-of-the-art Media Suite, packed with innovative media technologies including editing suites, cameras, sound equipment, a sound studio, and a digitization suite. You’ll have the opportunity to be fully trained in how to use this equipment, deepening your understanding of how film and television is produced.
We are also home to the extensive East Anglian Film Archive, a unique resource which you can make use of during your time here. And we have close links with the British Film Institute in London.
Graduates from our MA frequently progress to PhD study and have gone on to rewarding careers in various fields including archiving, academia, journalism, and the film and television industries.
Study and Modules
Structure
You can take the MA Film, Television and Creative Practice as either a one-year full-time course or a two-year part-time course.
You’ll have the opportunity to refine your existing critical academic and practical production skills through a series of core modules, which will be followed by a choice of optional modules, allowing you to specialize in the areas that interest you most and align with your career goals.
As a full-time student, you’ll begin by exploring the methods and theories commonly used to study media topics, and the scholarly approaches to studying television’s connections to society. You’ll get hands-on with a compulsory module on video production.
You’ll choose two theory-based modules to tailor your course to your own interests and career goals. On a more practical note, you will also learn how to pitch ideas to industry through a module on the business of film and television.
You will spend the summer producing a dissertation-by-practice – which is an audio-visual project supported by a written portfolio. For this, you’ll develop an academic question, which you’ll then answer using your production and research skills – for example, by making a documentary on your topic of study.
Your dissertation is the perfect way to combine your intellectual and theoretical knowledge with your practical skills.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 60)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
You’ll learn from world-leading academics in many different ways – from the more traditional lectures, tutorials and seminars to regular film and television screenings, workshop-based teaching, production modules and practical assignments. You’ll also have access to our Media Suite, full of cutting-edge media technologies including editing, camera and sound equipment. So prepare to get hands on with these to develop essential skills for the job market and a deeper understanding of how film and television content is produced.
Independent study
We’ll support you to become a fully independent scholar by the time you submit your dissertation. Up until that point you’ll work around 30 hours a week on your MA – with the majority of that time spent on independent research and reading.
You will work under supervision during your dissertation, and over time you’ll take more and more control over the direction of your study. Your dissertation is your opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the area that you’re most passionate about.
Assessment
We know that every student has different strengths, so we use a range of individual and group assessment methods – from essays to presentations and assessed discussions. All these assessments help strengthen your critical thinking and give you skills that are attractive to future employers.
We also use formative assessments, which do not contribute to your overall mark, but do prepare you for the assessments that do. These offer an excellent opportunity to test the knowledge you have learned through your modules and strengthen the chances of better marks at the end of them.
Entry Requirements
- Degree Classification
- Bachelors degree - 2.2 or equivalent
- Degree Subject
- Humanities or Social Sciences
- English Foreign Language
We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:
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IELTS: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in two components only, with 6.0 in the other two)
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PTE (Pearson): 64 (minimum 59 in only two components with 64 in the others)
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests
INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk.
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- Intakes
This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. This course's annual intake is in September of each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
Applicants are expected to have experience of using editing software and professional level cameras. Details of the cameras/editing software that have been used should be listed on the relevant section of the application form.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2023/24 are:
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UK Students: £9,500 (full time)
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International Students: £19,800 (full time)
If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home students).
We estimate living expenses at £1,023 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
To apply please use our online application form.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
MA Film, Television and Creative Practice graduates go on to a wide variety of fields. Some have chosen to work in the film, television, and media industries, both in the UK and elsewhere in the world, in roles in production, press and publicity, publishing (newspapers, books and magazines), cultural heritage and archives, social media, and arts festivals. Many also continue their academic passion through PhD study at UEA.
As well as subject-specific knowledge and skills, you will develop many transferable skills on this course, including high-level communication skills, team working, and self-management, all of which open a wide variety of careers. At our annual event, 'Working with Words', you can meet and hear from a wide variety of successful UEA alumni from across the creative industries.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Examples of careers you could enter after this degree include:
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Film and TV production
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Publicity officers
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Cultural heritage and archives
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Arts festivals
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Social media
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Publishing (books, magazines, newspapers)