Contemporary Media Practice BA Honours

• Build industry connections
  Our dedicated work-based and placement learning modules help you to develop strong links across the media and creative industries.
• Study multiple media practices
  Our focus on multi-skilled media production prepares you for adapting to dynamic changes in the creative industries and making the most of every opportunity.
• Employers around the world
  The University’s Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers and supporting them to achieve your full potential.

Industry links and work experience

Based just a 20-minute tube ride from the heart of the city, you'll have easy access to the wealth of media and creative industries located in London.

You can experience cultural life in London while also gaining work experience and building your professional networks, which is crucial for success in the media industry.

We sustain a range of formal and informal partnerships with industry through visiting professionals, work experience, staff exchange and consultation.

Graduate Success

Our graduates have gone on to find a wide range of work across the media and creative industries. Notable recent alumni include:

• Kadri Mahmood, Kiran Mandla and Chris Toumazou, who founded the commercial and video production company Compulsory soon after graduation, and whose clients include Adidas, Hugo Boss, Google, Universal Music and Warner Music Group
• Alexandra Penelope, Partnerships Manager at Little Dot Studios, a premium digital content producer for the BBC, NBC Universal and Sony
• Katie Mitchell, Project Coordinator at the visual effects and animation company DNEG, which has worked on several major films, including Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina and Interstellar
• Rémi Paringaux, Brand Developer and former Brand Image Director at Gucci

The Contemporary Media Practice BA has also produced several recipients of prestigious international awards, including filmmakers Rebecca Graham, Reema Sengupta and Sybilla Patrizia; journalist and filmmaker Joshua Baker; photographers Ori Gersht, Zed Nelson and Jonathan Simpson; Tom Roope, co-founder of Tomato Interactive and former Group Creative Lead at ZOO Google Creative Services, and film and television director and producer Annand Tucker.

Job roles

This course will prepare you for roles such as:

• Digital content creator
• Digital and web designer
• Events manager
• Moving image producer (film, video and animation)
• Social media manager
• Graphic/Motion designer
• Production designer
• UX designer
• Video editor
• VR developer

Graduate employers

Graduates from our course have gained employment or worked with many high-profile companies and organisations, including:

• BBC
• British Film Institute
• Channel 4
• Disney
• Guggenheim Museum
• ITV
• Marvel
• Mail on Sunday
• Netflix
• The Times
• Vertigo Films

Our graduates have also gone on to postgraduate study at prestigious institutions such as:

• Columbia University (USA)
• National Film and Television School
• Royal College of Art

You'll be taught through a mix of workshops, group and individual tutorials, and lectures supporting the development of your practical and conceptual skills.

Assessment methods include submission of practical projects and research material, live crits, seminar presentations, visual essays and online study tasks.

Year 1

Your first year is concerned with establishing core media production skills and supporting your transition into higher education with skills in research and analysis of media culture. Alongside technical workshops in a range of moving image, photographic and interactive media, you will develop practical projects around given themes. These projects introduce key skills in conceptual development and will challenge your creative abilities.

Subjects of study include:

• Creativity and Collaboration
• Developing Contemporary Media Practice
• Introduction to Contemporary Media Practice
• Media Explorations
• Screen 1: Production Design for the Screen
• Screen 1: Visual Effects and Animation
• Screen 1: Working with Actors

Credit Level 4

Year 2

In the second year, you will cement your identity as a multi- and interdisciplinary practitioner, developing knowledge of specific media in-depth, but also engaging with the frontiers of media practice. This will include challenging existing approaches to media practice, testing the possibilities of new creative technologies and developing strategies for reaching and engaging audiences. All students undertake work experience in the second year, along with the opportunity to study abroad at one of our international partner institutions.

Subjects of study include:

• Media Frontiers
• Convergent Media
• Research and Synthesis
• Work-Based Placement Learning
• Critical Perspectives on Media
• Transmedia Practices
• Scriptwriting for Media
• Screen 2: Camera and Lighting Skills
• Screen 2: Identities: Race, Class and Gender in Film and Television
• Screen 2: Short Form Film and Video

Credit Level 5

Placement Year

Between Years 2 and 3, you may undertake an optional year-long placement. If you take advantage of this option, you’ll undertake an additional year-long Industry placement year module running parallel to your work placement, and your final degree award will be BA Honours Contemporary Media Practice with Professional Experience.

Year 3

By your third year, you are sufficiently experienced and skilled to determine your own themes and sustain substantial high-level work over a longer period. Your Final Project and Dissertation are the culmination of your studies; typically, our students create interactive projects, installations, short narrative films, documentaries, and many other hybrid forms. This work is then presented to the public through a student-led physical and digital exhibition.

The following subjects are indicative of what you will study in this course.

Subjects of study include:

• Major Project Research
• Major Project
• Research Project
• Professional Launchpad

Credit Level 6

International Opportunities

Many of our courses offer international study and work experiences, and the University provides other global opportunities that all students can apply for - so whatever you're studying, you'll have the chance to go abroad.

Opportunities could include:

• Taking part in a semester or year-long exchanges at institutions around the world
• Attending an international summer school or field trip
• Developing your CV through volunteering or work placements abroad

International experience broadens horizons, boosts self-confidence, and improves global understanding, alongside being fantastic for your career.