Creative Media Production *

Study options

Award

BA (Hons)

Key facts

UCAS code:
I780
Location:
Stoke-on-Trent campus
Study option:
Full-time
Duration:
3 Years
Start date:
25 September 2023

Top 10 for Film and Photography

The Guardian University Guide 2023

Virtual Production Suite

Our cutting edge VP Studio allows you to work in a broadcast environment with physical and virtual elements to create your content

Specialise your skillset

Specialise in areas of journalism and broadcasting to suit your interests and career goals as you progress throughout your degree

* This course is subject to validation

Drama is never far away from the world of broadcasting, whether you’re breaking a major news story or producing a TV soap.

Our Creative Media Production degree will equip you with the essential skills and practical experience to move into this competitive field.

Learn how to write, edit and produce content for a range of audio and visual media. We’ll nurture your talents whether you want to work in broadcasting or online journalism, podcasting or radio, or documentary or drama production.

You could soon be developing a script for the small screen; sorting out studio camera angles, close-ups and sound; and then shooting live footage with the help of student actors. From there, your skills will be needed in post-production.

Try your hand at everything from Netflix-style dramas to children’s programmes and game shows.

The breadth of the course means you will also explore journalism skills. Modules include taking part in news days to learn how to package stories in a fast-paced environment. It could involve interviews for TV reports or live news blogging.

What’s more, you’ll have access to our fantastic facilities, including television studios, radio studios, newsroom and post-production labs. The industry-standard equipment also includes a virtual production suite. It enables you to combine VR backdrops with the real world.

During your studies, you can draw on Staffordshire University’s extensive expertise in film and media, which dates back more than 50 years. Our students have track records of winning Royal Television Society and Student Radio Awards. After graduating, some have also landed work on high-profile TV series, including Sex Education, Love Island and Peaky Blinders.

Creative Media Production builds on this success and is designed to mirror the changing needs of the industry.

The course will give you all-round experience and a wide range of skills. From day one, you’ll also build a portfolio.

You will then choose an area to specialise in for your major project in your final year. It could be a documentary, news-based production or a drama - your calling card to show future employers.

We strongly encourage students to carry out work placements. To help you learn the tricks of the trade, our panel of graduates will also give you an insight into day-to-day life in industry.

And you can draw on strong support from our expert staff too, who all have first-hand experience within broadcasting and the media.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Creative Media Production

Work placements

During your course you will be given the option to undertake a work placement and other career based opportunities, which we will support you with. You can complete your placement locally, nationally or internationally in settings such as media and film companies, publishing houses, television, audio and radio companies, other arts and cultural organisations, or even within the university itself.

Course content

Creative Media Production covers a wide variety of different media outputs, from the live to pre-recorded content, allowing you to build an extensive portfolio of work to showcase your experience and ability to connect to different types of audiences.

In the first year you will start to build your portfolio and explore elements of television and audio production, media employability, writing for multimedia platforms, alongside a focus on media contexts and the legal, regulatory and ethical side of the industry to allow you to create your work.

In the second year you can also select media focus areas, such as drama and documentary, production cultures, digital marketing and storytelling, giving you the confidence to enter their final year of study and maximise opportunities. This flexibility allows a specialism through your production and critical work. In the final year (Level 6) you will engage in a major negotiated Creative Media Project to deepen your knowledge further. In addition there is a media employability focus to allow you to benefit from identifying and reflecting on your next career steps.

Year 1
Creative Media Landscapes
*
Creative Media Landscapes covers an exciting exploration around how popular creative media have been developed and how they have impacted on audiences. How did drama series and soap operas emerge and why do we continue to watch and listen to them? How have comedy shows challenged and entertained audiences? When did documentaries allow us to understand the world around us? Investigates the creative, institutional, economic, and industrial practices which have shaped creative media's development.


Media Regulations*
Media Regulations surveys the regulatory, organisational and distribution of the creative media industries and the key characteristics by which the sectors are defined. The understanding of these broad principles of media regulation will help to contextualise current debates about the impact of digitalisation, convergence and globalisation of media. It also develops an understanding of how the law, broadcasting regulations, codes of conduct, and ethical issues, all have an impact on the decisions content makers have to consider daily.

Film and Media Professional Development

Television Production

Audio Production*
Audio Production is expanding and evolving, engaging audiences in new techniques, designed to reflect contemporary practice within the radio broadcast industry, such as the use of social media, podcasting and creating downloadable content for programming. Using a range of words and language to create content for multi-platform delivery, the module makes use of the technical facilities in the radio and sound studios and Myriad and Adobe Audition editing.


Multimedia Writing & Presenting*
Multimedia Writing & Presenting is designed as an introduction to the practice of writing for different media. It will introduce you to ideas about the importance of storytelling and the many forms that takes in the media today. It deals in broad terms with the more technical and practical aspects of writing, touching upon a range of scriptwriting conventions, the technical requirements of writing for different platforms. It will develop and enhance your presenting skills and focus on the role of presentation, learning about the different elements and software that contribute to creating content.

Year 2
Media Production: Drama and Documentary
*
This module provides you with an understanding of the production process involved in making drama and documentary output. You will be given an overview of the pre-production, production, and post-production elements, with reference to the importance of ideas and subject research, visual composition, and audio production. It aims to provide you with an understanding and overview of the full production process from concept to postproduction and the importance of collaboration and teamwork. You will develop the basic production skills required in camera, sound and editing and the interdisciplinary skills of communication, organisation, and planning, which are vital to successful drama and documentary production.

Digital Storytelling*
Digital Storytelling continues to develop your storytelling skills through developing and creating audio and moving image content. It covers further principles of storytelling and production, and can negotiate your own factual or fiction-based projects. You will develop creative skills in the development of story and presentation of your content while developing an understanding of contemporary, and future processes in production.

Production Cultures

Digital Marketing*
Digital Marketing covers the fast-paced world of content marketing, drawing upon case studies leading global brands and giving you the chance to work on drafting content for a live industry brief. On completion of the module you will be able to blend the theoretical debates in digital culture with contemporary content marketing cases studies to showcase your learning. You will also be able to understand how to design, create and edit content for a variety of content marketing purposes.


Year 3
Media Employment Project

Creative Media Research and Development*
Creative Media Research and Development provides you with an understanding of the research skills involved in producing content for media audiences. You will be building on your understanding of the pre-production, production, and post-production elements from the previous levels, with reference to the importance of research and the evaluation of source materials. The learning experience will involve you extensively in researching the creative media industries in preparation for your Major Project.

Creative Media Project*
Creative Media Project provides you with an opportunity to produce relevant research, planning, scheduling, and pre-production work for production in different media, whether television, radio, or film. You will formulate a personal development plan in the form of a Learning Contract in relation to your chosen medium with a supervisor. You are expected to consolidate the knowledge, skills and experience gained during previous levels, refining your working methods, and adopting a professional approach. You will devise a personal programme of study that demonstrates and exploits the knowledge and experience you have acquired and developed.

News Day*
You will work in collective news teams to devise and present pre-recorded packages, voice reports and live news bulletins. As a collective you will research, record, present and edit packages and story treatments for different platforms and produce both live bulletins and other online materials.

 

*Modules subject to validation

Entry requirements

We use UCAS points in our offer-making and welcome a wide range of qualifications.

112-120 UCAS Tariff points

  • GCE A Levels - grades BBC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • Access to HE Diploma - Pass Access with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points. Applicants to Staffs who are taking the Access to HE Diploma receive a reduced tariff point offer as part of our access and participation plan activity
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma - grade of Merit overall
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • T Levels - Eligible T Level applications will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of P (A*-C) or Higher Pass as a condition of offer

International and mature students with different qualifications and experience are also encouraged to apply.

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country.

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Facilities

Careers

Creative Media Production will prepare you for a range of creative careers, whether in moving image or audio based production.  This includes small screen production (e.g. location scout, director, studio floor manager, researcher, camera and technical operator, production coordinator), media production (from runner to assistant director), radio presentation, screenwriter, archival work and broadcast journalism.  Many graduates also set up and manage their own successful independent media production companies and also work in media-related areas such as communications management, media administration, web design, branding marketing and promotion, training and freelance writing.  

All students have access to Career Connect, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

The course adopts a range of teaching and learning approaches, including practice-based workshops in the different studio spaces, alongside more discussion led workshops and contextual viewings within our flexible teaching spaces.  There are also individual and small group tutorials to provide supportive opportunities to enhance production and project based work.

Assessment

Authentically driven assessments provide ways of demonstrating your skills and knowledge understanding.  This includes group and individual presentations, video essays, portfolio or a pitch proposals/evaluations, practical project work and critical and/or contextual reflections, personal logs, portfolios, reports, scripts, audio packages or programmes, short films, live studio work and other production artefacts.  There are no written examinations.

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include study skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills); written English (including punctuation and grammatical accuracy); academic writing (including how to reference); research skills; critical thinking and understanding arguments; and revision, assessment and examination skills (including time management).

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Feedback

Feedback will be provided through a number of contact points across the year.  This can be within the workshops themselves, as well as through your Academic Mentor during and at the end of each module. Feedback will come in various forms: written, verbal, recorded or audio.  It will always suggest areas to maintain, improve and develop that you can take into your next module.

Independent learning

Independent learning and the ability to self-manage project work is developed at all levels of study.  Independent learning will include: readings, viewings, preparation for workshops, discussions and location/studio based filming and live broadcasts. 

Staff

The teaching staff on BA (Hons) Creative Media Production are highly qualified as teaching and learning specialists.  They are subject specific research academics, with practice as research, along with book and academic journal outputs. The staff also has many industry practitioners, such as presenters, producers, journalists, directors, film-makers and writers.

Stephen Griffiths

Course Director

Stephen's teaching centres on broadcast programme histories and media performance, especially acting on television. His research interests include broadcast light entertainment and comedy, television drama, and children's programming.

Stephen's profile

Dr Mark Brown

Course Director

As well as being Course Leader for English and Creative Writing, Mark teaches on First Year core modules and American literature modules on Crime Fiction, the Contemporary, Modernism and Beat Writing. He also supervises MA and PhD students.

Mark's profile

Gavin Samways

Lecturer

Gavin is a radio presenter and producer. His main areas of interest are podcasting and radio documentary production.

Gavin's profile

Lisa Mcalister

Lecturer

Lisa has spent more than twenty years as a Senior Reporter, working across TV, Radio and Digital Platforms. Prior to joining Staffordshire University in 2020, she had been employed by the BBC since 2007. She leads our broadcast modules.

Lisa's profile

Ian Whittell

Lecturer

I am course leader for the BA and MA Sports Journalism Awards and also still an active national sportswriter, as founder and director of one of the country’s leading independent freelance sports editorial agencies.

Ian's profile

Oliver Walker

Senior Lecturer

Oli Walker is a professional cinematographer previously coming from a successful career creating narrative films, music videos and commercial work. He is always looking to keep at the cutting edge of technology and develop his portfolio of work.

Oliver's profile

Fees

For the course starting on 25 September 2023 the tuition fees are:

Tuition fees for BA (Hons)-Full-time
Study option UK / Channel Islands International
Full-time £9,250 per year of study £16,750 per year of study

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

International students: Tuition fees will remain the same for each year of your course, as long as you complete it in the normal time-frame (i.e. no repeat years or breaks in study).

Accommodation and living costs
Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

For more information on accommodation and living costs, please see: Accommodation

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by visiting: www.gov.uk

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date Apply Link
Stoke-on-Trent campus BA (Hons) Full-time 25 September 2023 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at Staffordshire University, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of Staffordshire University enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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