Media Production BA (Hons)

Program Overview

This comprehensive Media Production BA (Hons) program at Bedfordshire equips students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in digital design, production, and media theory. Through coursework and hands-on projects using industry-standard equipment, students develop their abilities in film-making, sound production, and digital media creation. With opportunities for work experience, live projects, and industry networking, graduates are well-prepared for careers in the rapidly evolving media industry.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

Success in the media industry means creating powerful products that communicate with target audiences through a constantly evolving range of media platforms. This broad-based course focuses on the production process while giving you the theoretical grounding you need. So you study practical units such as digital design, making sound and images, film-making and experimental production, combined with units ensuring your understanding of media theory, digital cultures and future digital production.

Outline:

• Facilities and specialist equipment:
• High-spec multi-camera television studios
• Mac-equipped newsroom with radio news booth and transmission gallery
• Industry-standard radio facilities
• Digital video-editing suites including Adobe Creative Cloud software (Premier Pro)
• Netflix-standard Sony FX6 cameras for broadcast-quality film and television content
• Sony FX3 Cinema Line camera with full-frame sensor and enhanced mobility for easy solo hand-held shooting
• Industry-standard sound and lighting equipment
• Student experience:
• Develop live projects and enjoy work experience opportunities at industry organisations including the BBC (The One Show and Radio 1); Coolr social media agency; Pooja Studios; Luton Town FC’s Media and PR department; MK Dons FC; and MKFM radio station.
• Participate in and contribute to student festivals and competitions, building your experience and portfolio.
• Take advantage of field trips to studios and course-related destinations including MKFM, BBC Broadcasting House, BT Sport, and Sky.
• Course options:
• with Professional Practice Year:
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
• Only available to UK/EU students.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
• What will you study?

• Studying our Media Production BA (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and expertise around media theory, digital design and production.
In core areas of study, you will develop your understanding of a range of film and media theories in our Media Theory and Research unit while also exploring the cultural and historical contexts of contemporary film and media. With a critical approach, you will also consider Contemporary Practices and Debates in The Media in the context of their cultural, political and socio-historical developments. In practical areas of study, you will develop your digital media production skills in our Future Digital Production unit while also building on your project management and analytical skills. This closely links to our unit in Experimental Production where you will have the opportunity to create a short experimental production based on approaches around surrealism and expressionism as well as production practice beyond the mainstream.
• Furthermore, you will learn the core skills to design and evaluate web-based media and digital imaging in our Digital Design Skills unit.
This will be particularly useful in our Reading the Screen unit where you will be introduced to the principles of audiovisual material. Moreover, you will also critically examine Non-Fiction Filmmaking and explore theory and practice around how reality is represented in the media. This unit will allow you to experiment with digital recording and editing equipment while also exploring how it is used in documentary practice. You will explore the potential of stills in portraying narratives and movement alongside the use of soundtracks.
• Finally, you will have the opportunity to produce a piece of practical media production work or a media studies dissertation in our Special Project: Media Production unit.
If you prefer to work on a practical project, you will have the option to choose the type of production you want to submit, and this could range from a documentary film to a script supported by a 3,000-word contextual study. With the dissertation option, you will be able to explore a topic of your interest that is strongly relevant to media studies while working on this with a supervisor. To help you with this, our unit in Research, Development and Industry will develop your skills in production research, documentation and development. To prepare you for the real-world environment, our unit in Becoming a Freelancer will support you in building the confidence to establish contacts in the creative industries while introducing you to the nature of freelance work. With the help of a tutor, you will work on your CV, engage in explicit networking and create a professional development plan to secure work in the field.

Assessment:

Assessment is an integral part of your learning. Your assessments will follow the pattern of teaching and learning. As you complete each stage of your production we will give you feedback and give you advice on how to further develop and improve your work so that you can take it to the next stage. We will assess both the processes you use to produce work and the quality of the final production. The media industry expects high quality work completed to absolutely fixed distribution deadlines. We will reflect this in our assessment of your work and so whilst the way in which you work is important, ultimately it is the quality of what you produce that will be the main influence on your grade.The theoretical aspects of the course will be assessed through essays, presentations and computer-based examinations. As the course progresses we will move from well-defined conventional production briefs to more open-ended challenging briefs that require you to generate new ideas and new ways of working. You may also be required to research the availability of new production tools and apply them to your work. We will always expect your production work to be contextualised. You will normally be required to submit a written evaluation of your production work along with some reflection on its strengths and weaknesses. You will also be required to relate your work to current genres and practices.

Careers:

• Industry links with sector leaders such as the BBC, ITV, the Royal Television Society, Reuters, Bloomberg and UK newspapers.

UK 2024/25 The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year. See www.gov.uk/student-finance International The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.