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LOCATION
Docklands Campus
Location Fees and Funding
Here's the fees and funding information for each year of this course
Overview
If you are passionate about media production and hungry for industry experience, BA Media Production at UEL combines advanced technical knowledge with the opportunity to collaborate with local partners to give you the knowledge to embark on your media career.
Building your skills across photography, videography, social media and digital production, this course brings together a number of skills to future-proof your career for the ever-changing nature of the media business.
With learning by doing at the heart of the programme, you can improve your skills, collaborate with local businesses and graduate as a media production ace ready for the world of work with a portfolio full of real-life case studies.
What makes this course different
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Knowledge
- Acquire a fundamental grounding in a wide range of media production methods
- Discover how practice can be a form of research
- Adopt a practical approach to employability and entrepreneurship
Thinking skills
- Critically and practically engage with a range of perspectives, concepts and ideas across media and visual culture.
- Consider a range of approaches to production and commercial problem-solving
- Consider your practice within a wider media landscape
Subject-Based Practical skills
- Research and present industry-based pitches and ideas
- Develop a business model and plan based on a creative enterprise
- Collate a portfolio of work through production projects
Skills for life and work (general skills)
- Gain work experience within the creative industries
- Develop transferable teamwork skills
- Pitch in front of colleagues and industry professionals
DOWNLOAD COURSE SPECIFICATIONS
COURSE SPECIFICATION - BA (Hons) Media Production
pdf, 160.69 KB
MODULES
- Core Modules
Storytelling CloseStorytelling
Production Lab 1 CloseProduction Lab 1
Creative Content CloseCreative Content
Media Cultures CloseMedia Cultures
This keystone module provides you with the contextual knowledge essential to your subject area. The module will introduce a range of perspectives on contemporary media cultures and landscapes to develop competencies appropriate to your field of study and to the world of work. The module will introduce you to core study skills and practices including how to identify, access, collate and evaluate evidence, understanding academic writing conventions and how to express a range of ideas through appropriate means of communication.
Mental Wealth: Agency 1 CloseMental Wealth: Agency 1
Developing the key psychological and physical determinants of human performance is increasingly critical for successful graduate-level employment, entrepreneurship and career progression in the 4th industrial revolution.
This module will provide students hoping to work in the creative industries with the opportunity to learn and apply the full range of skills, competencies and experience required for successful progression into in a range of potential future career areas.
Students will learn about conventions and expectations in the creative industries, focussing on areas specific to their programme of study. They will also advance their own personal professional development through taught and workshop activities, and explore possible strategies to further develop their reflective skills and self-awareness.
Students will have opportunity to select an in-house microbusiness to join in the role of 'Apprentice'. In this position they will focus on the importance of research in the creative industries. Students will practice key methods including digital and other research and qualitative methods used in industry today, including trends, news coverage and customer reviews. Students will also learn the conventions of research and analysis in order to develop a pitch or proposal in response to a client brief.
Social Media & Branded Content Design CloseSocial Media & Branded Content Design
You will learn a range of established and emerging approaches from the field of digital media design and social media, and also engage with critical theory of digital and social cultures. The module will cover key subjects related to advertising and branded content including; brand identity; brand positioning; integrated marketing communications, emotional branding and user engagement and interactivity. You will formulate a digital media strategy in response to a brief that has engagement and interactivity at the heart of its production. You will work in groups to present a piece of media intended for social or digital dissemination and consider the role of audience engagement in its conception and production.
- Core Modules
Narrative 2: Advanced Narrative CloseNarrative 2: Advanced Narrative
This module provides the opportunity for students to develop their media narrative skills in a more advanced and professional context. Students will develop a project voicing themes of identity within contemporary culture. They will then be supported in key areas of project development and selection. Finally they will progress through all relevant stages of production. Narrative and conceptual structures will be delivered at a higher level than in Level 4 and technical support will be provided to enhance the students' craft skills relating to professional practice. The module will structure the development of key media skills as well as a deeper understanding of the creative process relating to the students' chosen narrative genre. The course will end with a peer group evaluation, enabling the students to critically reflect on their achievements a means of progression into Level 6.
Production Lab 2 CloseProduction Lab 2
Employment and Enterprise (Journalism) CloseEmployment and Enterprise (Journalism)
- For students to gain experience of the changing media landscape
- For students to equip themselves with promotional tools and the online presence necessary to compete effectively in the journalism-related job market
- For students to apply for a work placement (or College-based work experience with a client external to the Journalism sub-cluster)
- For students to undertake a work placement (or College-based work experience with a client external to the Journalism sub-cluster)
- For students to escalate their preparations for professional life
Mental Wealth: Professional life: Agency 2 CloseMental Wealth: Professional life: Agency 2
Best learning experiences follow a 'learning by doing' approach followed by reflection and assimilation. Building upon the competencies and skills identified at level 4, this module supports effective professional development through practical experience.
You will work on live project briefs to produce media content which is informed by appropriate research in the field of study.
Professional understandings and skills sets will be furthered through practical work enabling you to strengthen key graduate skills such as teamwork, organisation skills, digital skills, effective communication, and professionalism.
Through reflective practice, you will evaluate your ongoing progress as a learner and as a practising professional.
Introduction to scriptwriting CloseIntroduction to scriptwriting
This module introduces you to the script in a variety of forms. It explores the script's function as a technical document, written by and for professionals. It discusses the various elements that scripts for different media require.
You will produce a portfolio of work in which you will apply the concepts and techniques introduced in the module to various scriptwriting styles. You will hone their critical skills through analyses of a variety of readings, as well as editorial input into the work of other students. You will also increase your own self-reflexivity through a written analysis of their voice and creative process.
The skills introduced in this module will be developed in the Script Development module in the second term.
Photographing the city ClosePhotographing the city
The module introduces approaches to contemporary photography to use as a method of practice-research in exploring one's own practice. You will learn psychogeographical approaches to understanding the city to apply to a photographic collection of work, informed by the principles of street photography. You will create and pitch a spreadable campaign promoting 'My London' drawing on personal experience of the city.
Optional ModulesIndustry Placement (Sandwich Year) CloseIndustry Placement (Sandwich Year)
- Plan, prepare and undertake a work placement in industry that is pertinent to their career objectives.
- Research, identify and pursue appropriate realistic placement / employment opportunities.
- Enhance professional practice through experiential understanding and development of employability and practical skills.
- Recognise and report on their understanding of various roles within a professional team.
- Give opportunity for possible networking environments that may lead to a form of mentorship/sponsorship.
- Record and reflect upon experiences whilst on placement in order to enhance their ability to contextualise the working environment.
- Core Modules
Final Project: Completion CloseFinal Project: Completion
The module will lead on from the development stage of your self-identified research project based on your preferred choice of production, for example a written dissertation that engages with contemporary debates in media or a complete practice project, produced through a developed programme of research supported by a verbal demonstration of the critical discourses it speaks to.
The aim of the module is to extend knowledge in the chosen field of research, to produce or write the project according to your planning and to complete and present the final research project within the given time frame. You will have the opportunity to demonstrate your skills in an accompanying project portfolio, including production folders for practice projects or reviews of existing academic literature on the written dissertation topic and a comprehensive bibliography.
Projects will be developed through subject-specific supervision and peer support.
Professional Practice CloseProfessional Practice
Mental Wealth: Professional Life: Agency 3 - Freelancing at UEL Creatives CloseMental Wealth: Professional Life: Agency 3 - Freelancing at UEL Creatives
This module is delivered as part of UEL’s creative agency, UEL Creatives, where students will work on live projects that will develop their employability skills and give them experience of working with industry.
Students can apply for a range of projects suitable to their skill-set and will be matched to at least one project as part of the unit. Working either individually or as part of a team to meet the brief set by a real client, students learn how to work as a freelancer and manage their own workload.
This will include practical information such as how to manage intellectual property as well as best practice on communicating with clients, working as a team and planning for the future.
In addition, students will be required to reflect on the experience, helping them to develop key enterprise skills including reliance and problem-solving.
Optional ModulesCreative Mobile Media CloseCreative Mobile Media
This module seeks to understand the development of mobile phone technology as part of a new creative and cultural practice and its application in networked communities.
Aims are:
- To develop production /technical skills through the realisation of a mobile media project
- To critically engage and reflect on a range of practitioners and theorists relevant to the module and wider studies
- To develop an understanding of the aesthetics, ethics and creative medium of mobile technologies and their wider applications in both real and virtual communities
Transmedia and Digital Futures CloseTransmedia and Digital Futures
In this module, you will examine various theories both on transmedia storytelling as well as on complex narratives that underpin these types of intercompositional narratives, analysing the impact of convergence culture on the way in which we produce and consume media.
The module encourages you to employ experimental and imaginative approaches to concept, process and final realisation of your projects - skills essential to the creation of digital artworks and to the creative industries in general. It also provides you with a greater awareness of the creative context in which to locate their work. You will produce a transmedia narrative working across multiple platforms and formats, including but not limited to video, sound, music, animation, and photography.
Horror and Science Fiction CloseHorror and Science Fiction
The module is designed to involve you with the history and theory relevant to the development of the Science Fiction and Horror cinematic genres, and its negotiation of human, non- and post-human identities. You will come to know and analyse some of the key examples of these genres, and others that exceed and revise its generic conventions and themes. One key theme you learn about is the use of the alien and the monster as a narrative carrier of the social (or the human) other. The identities of the other/s, social, sexual, political and cultural, will be investigated through an examination of the historical genre and its contemporary iterations; special attention will be given to the topics and tropes of birth vs creation, the human vs animal/alien/robot/monster, and the gendered identities of the alien/monster in many of the iconic SF and horror formative period films, as well as later film.
Urban Film CloseUrban Film
The module will examine urban film as a global phenomenon, tracing both the historical development of the genre, and the mimetic flows between different national cinemas, including those of the US and Hong Kong. The course aims to critique and go beyond dominant Media and Film Studies' theories of representation by exploring the relations between cinematic form and affect, other media forms, and constructions of race, gender and national identity. The urban crime film will be explored as a particularly visceral and immediate form of cinema, within the historical contexts of modernity and postmodernity, and different national cultural identities. The module will utilise theories of the city and geo-politics to explore contemporary theoretical and political questions of the body, and identify historical changes in the cinematic construction of the body of the viewer, and "on-screen" bodies.
HOW YOU'LL LEARN
You'll be taught by a range of staff, many of whom are practitioners in the area they teach. Some of the assessments focus on practical skills and are presented as 'live or simulated briefs'. This ensures that the practice-led teaching is relevant to industry and the world of work. Our staff are well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contacts. Each module is designed with practical components and a reflective component, with the intention that students develop an ability to comment on and justify their creative process
Guided independent study
When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, specialist facilities, such as edit suites, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.
Academic support
Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.
Dedicated personal tutor
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of the academic course team who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.
Workload
Each year you will spend around 280 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.
The approximate workload hours for this course per year are:
- Scheduled teaching - 284 hours
- Guided independent study - 916 hours
Your timetable
Your individualised timetable is normally available within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Class sizes
To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 25 new students per year. Lecture sizes are normally maximum 40 students.
In the classroom you will be taught in groups of 18-20 students. However, this can vary by academic year.
Normally teaching is mainly face to face on campus. Some teaching is online, supported by interactive learning resources.
HOW YOU'LL BE ASSESSED
As a predominantly industry-focused course, you'll be assessed by practical outputs aimed at building your portfolio and your employability. These include workbooks, production projects and business plans.
Students will be guided to define their own area of focus and encouraged to think both entrepreneurially and independently in setting the aims and objectives for their future career. Simultaneously, UEL will facilitate links with industry that will put your production skills into practice.
- Breakdown assessment, eg. 50% coursework, 50% practical
Coursework will include practical outcomes, e.g. individual or group-based films, artefacts, presentations, written assignments, podcasts or research-based assignments.
The approximate percentages for this course are: 100% coursework
- Feedback summary, eg. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days.
You'll always receive written or audio feedback, outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days.
CAMPUS and FACILITIES

Docklands Campus, Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD
WHO TEACHES THIS COURSE
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.
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What we're researching
At the University of East London we are working on the some of the big issues that will define our future; from sustainable architecture and ethical AI, to health inequality and breaking down barriers in the creative industries.
Our students and academics are more critically engaged and socially conscious than ever before. Discover some of the positive changes our students, alumni and academics are making in the world.
YOUR FUTURE CAREER
We pride ourselves on teaching such a range of key skills that you'll find many doors to stimulating future employment open to you after graduation. You will learn self-starting skills in how to develop, pitch and look for funding for freelance projects. UEL graduates have gone on to succeed in areas like media industries, film production or even in their own business ventures.
We encourage our students to be entrepreneurial in their outlook and you can foster an array of contacts during the course. Many students have managed to land jobs after making an impact with employers during their work placements.
The course will arm you with a wealth of industry knowledge together with a deep understanding of creative cultures. So it is little wonder our graduates are in demand to work in a range of industries.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.