BA Film Studies and Production

Studying for a Film Studies and Production degree at Queen’s will assist you in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Graduates from this degree at Queen’s are well regarded by many employers and over half of all graduate jobs are now open to graduates of any discipline.

Film Studies and Production, with its practice and professional components, provides an excellent background for work in film, television and other broadcast media and creative industries. A degree in Film Studies and Production can lead to careers in education, training and arts administration as well as offering a wide range of career possibilities including postgraduate study.

Employment after the Course

Our graduates have gone into a diverse range of careers, including the following:

• Lauren McGuigan (Assistant Editor, Yellow Moon)
• Alastair Livesley (Sub-Editor at Virgin Media Presents)
• Stephanie Fitzsimons (Associate at PwC)
• Daniel McCabe (Sound Trainee, HBO)
• Niall McEvoy, (on set VFX supervisor, HBO, Game of Thrones)
• Grace Sweeney (Camera Department, HBO, Game of Thrones)
• Maria Murphy (Assistant Producer, Below the Radar)
• Aaron Bell (Online Assistant at ‘Fifty Fifty Post’)
• Chris McGeown (Content Delivery Operator at BBC)
• Michele Devlin, (Director of The Belfast Film Festival)
• Genevieve Ewing (Business Consultant at CSG The Global Talent Experts)

Employment Links

Film Studies and Production, with its practice and professional components, provides an excellent background for work in film, television and other media and creative industries. A degree in Film Studies and Production can lead to careers in education, training and arts administration as well as offering a wide range of career possibilities including postgraduate study.

Professional Opportunities

Film at Queen’s has built up extensive industry partnerships with local film production companies, which have been experiencing significant growth in recent years. Industry placement forms an important component of the Single Honours degree at Level 3.

Additional Awards Gained

Level 1 students are given the opportunity to pursue a professional qualification in Avid editing software, by completing training in Media Composer and passing the MC101 exam.

Prizes and Awards

Every year there are School prizes for the highest overall mark in this subject.

Students across the department regularly win Royal Television Society (RTS) and other student awards at both local and national levels.

Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills

In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's, you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.

Course Structure

Introduction

The BA in Film Studies and Production is taught through an equal mix of hands-on film production modules and critical film studies modules, with increasing flexibility at Levels 2 and 3. The modules will typically include (*indicating compulsory module):

Stage 1

• Introduction to Film Studies 1*
• Introduction to Film Studies 2*
• Introduction to Film Practice*
• Editing for Film and Television*
• Visual Studies: Theory and Practice

Level 1 students also have the opportunity to take one or two approved modules in other subject areas.

Stage 2

• Cinematography*
• Introduction to Screenwriting
• Experimental Practice
• Non-fiction Film Practice
• World-Cinemas
• Cinema and Modernism
• Documentary Film Studies
• British Cinema: Nation, Identity and Industry
• Film and Sound
• Creative Enterprise in Film and Digital Media
• Introduction to Animation Studies

Students may also be able to take some modules from the BA Broadcast Production programme.

Stage 3

• Advanced Film Practice 1*
• Advanced Film Practice 2*
• Work-based Learning (Placement)
• Dissertation
• Film and Music: Theory and Criticism
• Film Authorship
• Cinema and Postmodernism
• Hollywood Cinema
• British Film: Mainstream and Fringe

Students may also be able to take some modules from the BA Broadcast Production programme.

Learning and Teaching

On the BA Film Studies and Production programme, we provide a range of learning experiences that enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world-class library that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:

• E-learning technologies
  Information associated with lectures and assignments is often communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Canvas. A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree through and could include, for example, interactive group workshops in a flexible learning space; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programmes associated with audiovisual production processes in practical and project-based work etc.
• Lectures
  Introduce basic information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures also provide opportunities to ask questions, gain some feedback and advice on assessments (normally delivered in large groups to year group peers).
• Practical workshops
  Where you will have opportunities to develop technical skills and apply theoretical principles to practical film industry contexts.
• Self-directed study
  This is a vital part of life as a Queen’s student when important private reading, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
• Seminars/tutorials
  Significant amounts of teaching are carried out in small groups (typically 10-15 students). These provide the opportunity for students to engage with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of peers. You should also expect to make presentations and other contributions to these groups.
• Supervised projects
  In their final year, all students take a double-weighted module which provides the opportunity to specialise in a chosen area of moving image production and work collaboratively on a project, to be screened at the end of the semester. You will receive support from a supervisor who will guide you and provide feedback.

Assessment

How you are assessed will vary according to the learning objectives of each module. Assessments may be in the form of essays, learning journals, short films, group projects, video essays, critical reviews, textual analysis or independent projects.

Details of how each module is assessed are included in the Module Outline document which is provided to all students for each module they study.

• Some modules are assessed solely through project work and/or written assignments/video essays.
• Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and end of semester examinations.

Feedback

As students progress through their course at Queen’s they will receive specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module convenors, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and peers. University students are expected to engage with reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:

• Feedback is provided via formal written comments and marks relating to work that you, as an individual or as part of a group, have submitted.
• Face to face comment. This may include occasions when you make use of the lecturers’ advertised “office hours” to help you to address a specific query.
• Placement employer comments or references.
• Online or emailed comment.
• General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
• Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which you can review in your own time.
• Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
• Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
• Once you have reviewed your feedback, you will be encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of your work.