BA

Photography / Film and Television Studies

This course is available through Clearing.
Call free phone: +44 (0) 800 121 40 80

BA Photography / Film and Television Studies Code WW66 Attend an Open Day Attend an Open Day Clearing places available – 0800 121 40 80

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You are viewing this course for September start 2023

Key Facts

WW66

  • UCAS Tariff

    120 - 96

  • Course duration

    3 years

Further details on entry requirements

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Photography and Film & Television Studies at Aberystwyth University combines a practical and theoretical approach to the study of media production, film and photography in a specialised interdisciplinary degree. Drawing upon the combined expertise of the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies and the School of Art, this exciting and stimulating course will allow you to acquire advanced technical skills in the use of cameras and digital editing software alongside a broad grounding in the academic study of the mediums of film and television. In studying Photography and Film & Television Studies you will develop a deep appreciation of both the still and moving image as art form and industry, while acquiring a range of practical skills, creative attributes and critical awareness that will open up numerous employment pathways in the creative arts.

Course Overview

Why study Photography and Film & Television Studies at Aberystwyth University?

You will be taught and mentored by a team of internationally known experts and practitioners.You will benefit from our complementary learning experiences where theory and practice feed into each other.

You will have access to our superb facilities and resources for practical film work: three rehearsal studios, each with flexible technical facilities; 2 large professionally-equipped studios with digital lighting rigs controlled via ETC Congo and Strand Lighting consoles, Yamaha and Soundcraft PAs, Sanyo AV systems and Strand lighting and two NXAMP; and costume and wardrobe facilities. You will benefit from our connections with key industry partners, such as the BBC, S4C, BAFTA Cymru, Tribeca Film Festival (New York), Fiction Factory, Tinopolis, Edinburgh International Film Festival, the National Broadcast Archive of Wales at the National Library of Wales and Avid. These partners provide an excellent opportunity to network and liaise with those in the industry before graduation. You will benefit from access to The Screen and Sound Archive at the National Library of Wales, which houses a wide-ranging and unsurpassed collection of films, television programmes, videos, sound recordings and music relating to Wales and Welsh culture.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre, situated on Penglais campus, is one of the largest Arts Centres in Wales, and regularly presents screenings, talks, master classes, exhibitions and film festivals. The National Library of Wales, which is located next to Penglais campus, houses the largest collection of photographic images relating to Wales, and holds a copy of all works published in the UK.

Our School of Art Museum houses a vast collection of rare and original photographic prints which are used to inform our teaching.

The School of Art at Aberystwyth University has been awarded Accredited Museum Status by Arts Council England. This demonstrates that its collection care and management are at the highest standard.

Our Staff

Our teaching staff are practicing professionals. As exhibiting artists, publishing researchers and curators, they provide an informed and stimulating learning environment. This ensures that the skills you learn at the School of Art are practice orientated, relevant and applicable.

For further information, visit our individual staff profiles.

All academic staff at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies are research active and/or involved in Knowledge Transfer projects and have either relevant academic qualifications at doctoral level or equivalent professional experience and expertise.

Modules September start - 2023

Please note: The modules listed below are those currently intended for delivery during the next academic year and may be subject to change. They are included here to give an indication of how the course is structured.

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Making Short Films 1 FM11520 20
Photographic Practice 1: Presence / Place AR11520 20
Photographic Practice II: Identity/Face AR11620 20
Photography Begins: European Genius and the Birth of a New Aesthetic AH11820 20
Studying Film FM10120 20
Studying Television FM10220 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Movements in Film History FM11120 20
Studying Communication FM10720 20
Studying Media FM10620 20

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Documentary Photography AH24020 20
Photographic Practice III: Constructed Images AR24320 20
Photographic Practice IV: Documentary Storytelling AR24420 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Art Cinema FM24420 20
Digital Culture FM25520 20
LGBT Screens FM20120 20
Media, Politics and Power FM22620 20
Stardom and Celebrity FM21520 20
Television Genre FM20620 20
Youth Cultures FM22320 20
Creative Documentary FM26520 20
Creative Fiction: Horror FM20920 20
Creative Studio FM25420 20
Work in the Media Industries FM23820 20
Writing for Film and Television FM21620 20
Thinking Photography AH22820 20

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Exhibition 1: Graduation Show AR30130 30
Photography 5 - Photo Directed Practice AR32130 30

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Contemporary Film and the Break-Up of Britain FM30020 20
Contemporary TV Drama FM30320 20
Cult Cinema: Texts, Histories and Audiences FM38220 20
Experimental Cinema FM34520 20
Gender and the Media FM38320 20
Independent Research Project FM36040 40
Television History FM32620 20
Videogame Theories FM38420 20
Documentary Production FM33740 40
Experimental Media Production FM33540 40
Fiction Film Production FM34240 40
Scriptwriting 1 FM37020 20
Scriptwriting 2 FM37120 20

* Also available partially or entirely through the medium of Welsh

Careers

Studying Photography and Film & Television Studies at Aberystwyth University will ensure that you develop specialist technical knowledge and first-hand practical skills in photographic and film production, while deepening your creative and cultural understanding of different media forms. The skills you acquire will afford you many career opportunities, including: Broadcast engineer, Film director, Film/video editor, Documentary filmmaker, Sound technician, Television camera operator, Television floor manager, Television production coordinator, Magazine journalist, Newspaper journalist, Press photographer, Magazine features editor, Media researcher, Film/video editor, Graphic designer, and Web designer.

Teaching & Learning

What will I learn?

In the first year you will explore the ways in which film and television relate to their wider historical, cultural, political and social contexts, and develop an understanding of the key concepts, theories and critical methodologies as applied to the academic analysis of film and television. You will develop essential photographic skills focusing on presence and place and identity and face and will be introduced to the principal techniques of media production with an emphasis on screenwriting, directing, cinematography and editing.

In the second year you may choose from a wide range of option modules relating to such topics as documentary filmmaking, celebrity culture, the emergence of the press, film and broadcasting in Wales, digital media or writing for film and tv. You will extend your own photographic skillset, while acquiring the critical apparatus to evaluate photographic imagery as an art form.

In the third year you may opt to take a more practical skills route by choosing to hone your technical ability in video production and editing, or film or documentary making. Alternatively, you may elect to enhance your scriptwriting abilities or pursue a more academic study of television, cinema and other media forms. At the same time, you will develop your curatorial skills by preparing an exhibition of your own photographic work in the Graduation Show at the School of Art.

How will I be taught?

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, demonstrations, and practical sessions.

Your photographic portfolio of prints will be accompanied by your working notebooks detailing your process experiments, image plans, drawings, written and visual material, demonstrating both thematic and technical research and experimentation in technique, format and media.

Other forms of assessment may include essays, presentations, media projects, video productions, scriptwriting, critical reflections on your work, and exams.

Typical Entry Requirements

UCAS Tariff 120 - 96

A Levels BBB-CCC and a satisfactory portfolio

GCSE requirements (minimum grade C/4):
English or Welsh

BTEC National Diploma:
DDM-MMM and a satisfactory portfolio

International Baccalaureate:
30-26 and a satisfactory portfolio

European Baccalaureate:
75%-65% overall and a satisfactory portfolio

English Language Requirements:
See our Undergraduate English Language Requirements for this course. Pre-sessional English Programmes are also available for students who do not meet our English Language Requirements.

Country Specific Entry Requirements:
International students whose qualification is not listed on this page, can check our Country Specific Entry Requirements for further information.

The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma or T-level qualifications, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas or T-levels as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
Our inclusive admissions policy values breadth as well as depth of study. Applicants are selected on their own individual merits and offers can vary. If you would like to check the eligibility of your qualifications before submitting an application, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for advice and guidance.

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