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Film and Screenwriting with a Foundation Year - BA (Hons)
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry. Switch to 2025/26 Entry
September 2024 — UCAS code P3W8
Do you have a passion for writing, creating and filmmaking? This Film and Screenwriting with a Foundation Year course will provide you with the skills and knowledge to start your career in the creative film industry....
48 points required
Calculate UCAS pointsClearing places available
- Level Foundation
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City Centre
- Award BA (Hons)
- Start date September 2024
- Fees View course fees
- School Birmingham School of Media
- Faculty Faculty of Arts, Design and Media
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
Clearing 2024
48 points (or equivalent) is the minimum you will need to be considered for this course in Clearing.
Use the UCAS Tariff Calculator to work out your points.
Do you have a passion for writing, creating and filmmaking? This Film and Screenwriting with a Foundation Year course will provide you with the skills and knowledge to start your career in the creative film industry. You’ll explore fundamental skills such as academic and screenwriting writing, researching, collaborative practice and producing media to prepare you to start the first year of the BA (Hons) degree.
About the Foundation Year
The Foundation Year course option enables you to study for our BA (Hons) degree over an extended full-time duration of four years by including a Foundation Certificate (year one of four). The Foundation Certificate provides a broad study programme that underpins the follow-on degree. To progress to the next year of your degree, it is necessary to achieve a pass in all of the modules of the Foundation Certificate.
What's covered in this course?
The course considers of a wide range of script to screen traditions from theory, practice and industry perspectives.
You will gain an understanding of cinema and television conventions and screenwriting genres (such as romcom, thriller, science fiction and horror case studies You will also be introduced to other international traditions that range from European cinema and television to smartphone filmmaking and beyond.
Focusing on the aesthetic and creative aspects of film and television screenwriting, you will consider storytelling techniques, narratology and screen adaptation.
Modules such as Film Primer and Film Entrepreneurship provide core skills relevant to the film industry. You will have opportunities to work on established film festivals that are associated with the course and have access to film collections that will enrich your course of studies.
How you will learn
You will be taught in a range of lectures, seminars, writing workshops and production sessions, while regular film screenings help you contextualise cinema traditions against your own script creations.
Your formal studies will be enriched by the possibility to work on a range of external events, such as the Cine-Excess International Film Festival. This annual event attracts visiting international filmmakers, as well as hosting UK theatrical premieres on a regular basis. Having previously operated in London’s West End and Brighton, Cine-Excess has now relocated to BCU to operate as a central resource for the course.
Why Choose Us?
- The course combines theory, practice and industry approaches to film and screenwriting, alongside training in both documentary film techniques and film festival programming.
- You will be taught by noted film professors, cinema scholars and established screenwriters. Staff on the programme work together to ensure that you receive a balanced understanding of theory, practice and industry skilling relevant to the field.
- You will be taught at the city centre campus, home to an impressive range of media resources, studios and edit suites.
- You will have the opportunity to work on established film festivals that are associated with the BA. These include the annual Cine-Excess International Film Festival, which features visiting international filmmakers, UK theatrical premieres and industry mentoring sessions.
- You will also have the opportunity to work on film projects completed as part of the Cine-Excess festival. One recent production completed by BCU students and staff was the award winning documentary Tax Shelter Terrors (2017).
- You will have access to film collections that will enrich your course of studies. These include the Cult Film Archive, a collection of 4,000+ resources (including films, screenplays and promotional materials) that have been donated directly from leading filmmakers and distribution companies in the field.
Similar Courses
Open Days
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.
Next Open Day: 28 September 2024
Entry Requirements
These entry requirements apply for entry in 2024/25.
All required qualifications/grades must have been achieved and evidenced at the earliest opportunity after accepting an offer to help confirm admission and allow for on-time enrolment. This can also include other requirements, like a fee status form and relevant documents. Applicants can track their application and outstanding information requests through their BCU mySRS account.
48 points (or equivalent) is the minimum you will need to be considered for this course in Clearing.
Use the UCAS Tariff Calculator to work out your points.
Essential requirements
80 UCAS tariff points
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BA (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 4 years
- £9,250 in 2024/25
- Apply via Clearing
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BA (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 4 years
- £16,085 in 2024/25
Places available to start in September 2024
If you'd like to start this course full-time this September, you can apply through Clearing.
International and part-time students can apply online as normal using the links above.
Want to start in September 2025? You can start your application via UCAS now.
You are not required to submit a portfolio for this course.
Course in Depth
Foundation year
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
This module will introduce you to the underlying principles required to understand media audiences. Audiences are diverse in their make-up and in their motivations for engaging with media. To explore this diversity you will learn a range of techniques for researching audience behaviour, such as survey work, focus groups and online ethnography. Alongside these methods you will explore key concepts to help you to interpret and understand this research data. You will engage with theories of identification and culture in order to understand audience motivations for engaging with media. You will explore the characteristics of audiences and learn how to identify their needs from a production perspective.
To complement this investigation, you will also examine other related concepts such as genres and understand how the wider media industry uses the category of audience to create, market and ultimately sell its products. You will learn how to use your research data to present an idea for a media product that will appeal to a particular media audience.
The purpose of this module is to assist you in developing the academic skills needed to succeed in higher education, and the professional skills required to support your ambitions to be a media worker. You will be introduced to the wide range of academic and practical support that the university offers.
Students will plan and produce a media artifact that will evidence their competence in media production to create a meaningful media artifact. The focus in this module is about understanding how image and sound is edited together to create meaningful narratives. In the module students will develop an idea and implement it as a short audio or video piece. Central to creating this piece is learning how to use relevant portable video and sound production equipment and software. The ability to effectively record and edit a variety of media formats using industry standard equipment software is a key skill to develop whilst at university. This module will introduce students to the practical basics of editing.
This module is focused on collaborative work in a media production context. Through a group production activity students will learn about media production hierarchies and how to behave within a team context in order to produce a successful outcome. The module will explore what makes for successful teamwork in the media. The module will further develop the understanding of media production practice.
Identifying and understanding the connections between media theory, culture, and production is an essential skill for students to develop. Understanding how these concepts and practises interlink is key to succeeding at university and working as effective media workers. This module will introduce basic research practise methods and media theory and will enable students to gain insights into the role these concepts play in underpinning media production and culture. The module offers an opportunity for you to explore theoretical concepts in your own practice.
The media project module will present students with the opportunity to consolidate their learning whilst on the Foundation Media course. Students will be invited to devise, plan, and deliver a practical piece of work focused on their area of media interest. Students will draw from their experience and knowledge gained from their engagement with the course and creativity that evidences their ability to produce effective media artifacts.
Year one
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
Screenwriting for Film Genres is aimed at emerging screenwriters. The course will focus on the popular, commercial end of the film industry market, paying particular attention to audiences and the demands and expectations of the marketplace.
This module provides an introductory course in film narrative and the principles of storytelling. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of narrative cinema. To do this the module will engage with theoretical models of storytelling and examples from narrative cinema.
This module looks beyond Hollywood and America to examine notable film movements from across the globe that influenced cinema on a worldwide scale and left an enduring legacy, continuing to shape contemporary filmmaking. The aim is to develop your appreciation of films rich cultural and social heritage, and the social drivers and rebellious characteristics of the filmmakers leading the charge. You will examine the social, political and artistic drivers behind key works, and the mastery and innovation that they display in pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling at their time of creation.
Screenwriting Primer will introduce you to the essential skills of, and principles behind, writing for the screen. You will study a number of freely available short guides to industry standard screenplay layout and formatting and apply that learning to the practical application of screenplay formatting software. You will create a portfolio of short screenplays, given as writing exercises through the learning schedule, and receive detailed formative feedback on the scripts, which you can use to improve and develop your work for your final portfolio. You will focus on visual storytelling, layout conventions, and be encouraged to identify the formal features of a screenplay in terms of character, genre, tone, plot and theme. You will also illustrate your understanding of elementary marketing principles.
Looking at forms in films, students will learn how visual languages are being used and how to compose shots that are translatable to other mediums such as animation. You will learn to storyboard and create effective animatics and to succinctly convey ideas and vision to produce short a film(s) as a group and individually. Expect to pitch your ideas individually and as a team.
Year two
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 80 credits):
Writing for TV is designed to help students build on the fundamental skills of writing for the screen and direct that skillset to writing for the multi-format world of television. You will demonstrate an understanding of how to structure scripts for 30-minute and 1-hour slots, for drama series, sitcom, continuing and serial dramas, while presenting an adherence to industry-standard TV screenplay convention, and demonstrating expertise in the presentation of marketing documentation. You will also have the opportunity to reflect critically on your creative considerations.
This module is designed to help you develop the skills to read and evaluate scripts for the film and television industry. By the end of this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to assess and evaluate scripts according to industry standards. You will be able to read treatments, identify elements of a script, and write comprehensive script reports and 'coverage' that will be useful to film and television producers.
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff. Collaboration is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries and this module allows you to develop these skills, making use of University facilities and with the support of academic staff. Within this module framework, several kinds of collaborative opportunities are available. For example, with the approval of your supervisor, you can determine a project based on your own interests; your supervisor may set you a predetermined project to enable you to work with other students in a way that is appropriate to your subject area; or there may be opportunities for you to collaborate with staff on research projects. In all cases, you must apply your subject skills to an interdisciplinary project which will be agreed in advance with your supervisor.
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
This module introduces students to the creative and critical processes involved in translating narrative from one medium to another. It gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge of dramatic theory and form through practical work, simultaneously encouraging the development of imaginative screenwriting skills in different genres. Through historical and genre-based case studies, it provides an introduction to ideological and formal questions in the study of adaptation.
This module will provide students with an overview of the cultural relevancy of 1970s cinema. Initially exploring the context of the decade and the fragmented nature of film narratives at the time the module will discuss the emergence and demise of ‘American New Wave/New Hollywood’ but also explore further the style, substance and aesthetics of the varying sub-genres of the time as well as the cultural and creative impact they had on both cinematic presentation and other aspects of the media industry.
This module offers an introduction to some of the ongoing academic debates on media fandom and subcultures. This is a broad-ranging topic, and as such in this module it will be primarily be considered from an audience and reception perspective, including your own. You will have opportunities to interrogate your own fan and/or subcultural identity in class and your own participation in fandoms and subcultures will form a part of class discussion and analysis.
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Year three
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 80 credits):
This module critically evaluates horror narratives in their cultural, historical and generic contexts across both visual and audio traditions, and asks you to analyse how debates in this area impact on creative and production practices in the field.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practice-based portfolio.
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
The module introduces you to the key debates related to the study of global cinema traditions, which have emerged over the last twenty years as a distinct aspect of critical interest within film and media theory.
This module examines the intricacies of film and entertainment finance at product level, unpacking how films are made and how they raise their finance. The aim is to help you understand sources of finance, how finance and recoupment plans are put together and what it takes to attract investors to a project; the typical challenges faced by a producer.
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration &/or your own professional practice. The module enables you to create either an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines or your own self-defined project.
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Download course specification
Download nowAs part of your Foundation Year you will be studying alongside Media, Journalism, Music Industries and PR students and you will be taught by staff from these disciplines.
Film as a subject requires skills from (and a critical awareness of) a wide range of media forms. By interacting with staff from different disciplines and working on projects across a wide variety of media, you will have the opportunity to develop a broader skillset going into your degree- ultimately making you a valuable team member for filmmaking and screenwriting projects, or a more informed film critic.
Classroom projects
During your studies there will be practice-based opportunities to engage with a regional film festival such as Cine-Excess, an annual international film festival and conference on global cult film cultures. You will also be able to access film collections such as the Cult Film Archive during the course of your studies.
The Birmingham School of Media also has an established and inclusive research culture that promotes dialogue and collaboration between staff and students. The Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR) in the School of Media welcomes visiting researchers from across the world and holds regular research seminars which mix presentations from staff, PG students and speakers from a range of our collaborative partnerships. BCMCR welcomes all students to research seminars, which are free to attend.
Employability
The BA (Hons) Film and Screenwriting course is located within the Birmingham School of Media, which has an excellent track record for graduate employment. Within the School, the majority of graduates going into media-related roles. The course builds upon the School’s employability driven reputation, by opening avenues for students interested in potential careers in screenwriting, film journalism, communications, marketing & PR, advertising and teaching film/media studies.
As well as gaining course-specific skills, you could also gain broader tools through our Graduate+ programme, which will help enhance your employment options by helping with careers development, employability activities, volunteering and part-time work experience.
Allied with this course-specific experience, you will also have access to a range of support staff and services from the University’s Careers Service, who can help with:
- Reviewing CVs, covering letters and application forms
- Career planning and decision making
- Preparing for interviews and assessment centres
- Developing portfolios
- Networking with employers
- Advice about self-employment and entrepreneurship
Placements
During your second year, you will have the opportunity to work as part of a mixed discipline team to respond to a brief, as part of an in-house placement element of the course.
In addition to this, there are regional opportunities for visiting and volunteering at film festivals, such as Cine-Excess, and Flatpack, and for networking with producers and distributors who function as guest speakers at such events.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Details of the entry requirements for our courses
- Some of the good reasons why you should study here
- How to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Information relevant to applicants from your country
- Where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
When you join Birmingham City University, the first thing you will notice is the high standard of our campuses.
With an investment of over £400 million across our buildings and facilities, we are committed to giving you the very best learning environment to help shape your experience.
State-of-the-art facilities
You will learn in our state-of-the-art facilities - including the £62m fully-digital Media Centre - located on the City Centre Campus. You will enjoy access to extensive studio and workshop space including four TV studios, six radio studios and broadcast-standard edit suites, as well as cutting-edge equipment and software.
Facilities include the largest TV floor of any university in the UK, a ‘green screen’ and a BOLT JR+ high-speed camera robot.
Our staff
Ellie Tomsett
Senior Lecturer
Dr Ellie Tomsett is a Senior Lecturer in media and film. Before teaching in Higher Education, Ellie worked in the UK film education sector. During this time she delivered training to teachers, youth workers and professional filmmakers across the country and organised filmmaking and theory activities for large organisations such as The BFI, The...
More about EllieRobin Kay
Lecturer
Robin is a Lecturer in Media and Communication with a New Media specialism. He has a background within the music industry having worked for several notable record labels and industry organisations including: Ministry of Sound Recordings, Defected Records, Sanctuary Records and PRS. He has extensive experience within education and teaches creative...
More about RobinDave Harte
Interim Head of English and Media
Dave Harte is Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Studies. His research is focused on local and community journalism, and he has published widely on these topics.
More about DaveDr Sarah Wood
Head of English and Media
Sarah Wood holds degrees from JMU, the University of Liverpool, and Birmingham City University, where she gained her PhD. Her research interests are in feminism and science fiction. She has an article on Octavia Butler forthcoming in FEMSPEC and is working on further studies of Butler as well as of Nalo Hopkinson and slave narrative.
More about SarahRoss Hawkes
Ross leads the journalism pathway. He was previously a sports writer, sub-editor, page designer, news reporter, web editor, features writer and editor, before leading Trinity Mirror's digital programme in the Midlands. He also founded and currently runs award-winning hyperlocal website, LichfieldLive, which has been used an example of...
More about RossHilary Weston Jones
Lecturer in Professional and Academic Development
Hilary specialises in embedding employability within modules across all years and supporting students with securing work placements. Having spent 24 years working as a Television Production Manager (BBC and Independents), Hilary teaches and mentors students within this area.
More about Hilary