Creative Media
BA (Hons)

Design and Creative Thinking (Core)

The ability to respond creatively to problems and challenges is the central key skill that defines the work of any designer. This module will introduce the fundamental principles that underpin successful design, and explore the nature, and development of creative thought, and practice.

Presentation and Perception (Core)

On this module, you will combine theory and practice to investigate the role played by images in today’s society and how technological innovation has changed and challenged their use. You will examine the role of the image in a historical context and investigate how your perception of images is influenced by not only the content of the image, but also the context and ideological framework in which it is presented. 

Digital Cultures (Core)

This module considers the role of digital and social media in 21st-century life.

It will examine some ways of viewing digital media in terms of technological developments, the politics and economy of media, social media, participation and online communities, and the remediation of previous media forms through digital platforms. It also engages you with the ethical and political issues involved in contemporary media production and consumption.

Media History (Core)

This module will examine media products and institutions in light of technological and historical developments. By studying the origins of film and broadcasting industries, you will examine how cinema and visual culture has developed historically. This module will examine key areas of media production and practice and how this might be understood commercially as well as culturally and politically. It will also case study significant mediated forms of popular entertainment and their historical and social context, such as sport and the media, television comedy and popular music. The module will develop your understanding of public and private broadcasting, film standardisation, TV scheduling, press regulation, and the commercial imperatives of film and television production, distribution and exhibition.

Design and Visual Narratives (Core)

This module aims to provide you with a basic understanding of the theory, practice and use of text and images across a range of media productions. Key issues and practices relating to the acquisition, generation, manipulation, production and presentation of digital still images will be explored, and you will be introduced to a range of appropriate digital software and will develop experience of the basic tools and the processes of layout and design.

Digital Production (Core)

This module will introduce a range of concepts relating to the creation, production and editing of digital short films. Whilst taking this module, you will begin to explore filmmaking both as a technical endeavour, and as a creative discipline.

Every step of the process of taking a script idea to the end result of a completed film will be discussed, performed and reflected upon within the lectures and workshops, and in the practical production and the development portfolio.

Popular Culture and Business (Core)

This module explores the relationship between popular culture and the business world. It will examine the cultural industries that are responsible for producing, distributing and exhibiting media texts. Different conceptual approaches to popular culture are considered in order to critically evaluate media representations of business and commerce and how the business world shapes popular culture.

Digital Illustration (Core)

An advanced understanding of the intersection between digital and hand-drawn artwork is a key skill for modern designers. This module will require you to explore the integration of digital imaging skills with older, traditional art and design practices such as drawing, collage and montage in order to develop an advanced understanding of how images can be constructed to represent and give meaning to concepts and feelings.  

Entrepreneurship and Professionalism (Core)

On this module, you will gain the necessary knowledge and practical skills to enter the world of work (e.g. freelancing, self-employment and small business start-ups in the creative industries). This will include: the legal processes of setting up a small production company; preparing business plans and financial forecasts for investors; bidding for creative projects; and resource management and developing entrepreneurial skills. By the end of the module, you will have gained valuable commercial awareness and experience in business management, both of which are vital for employability.

Multimedia Production (Core)

This module will build upon ideas discussed at Level 4 to further your understanding of a range of concepts and practical skills relating to the creation, production and editing of a short media product. You will operationalise this enhanced comprehension of the necessary skill set required by key personnel within a production team and you will focus upon areas of pre-production, shooting, editing and finishing to deliver a media product in a timely and budget-conscious manner.

Magazine Design (Core)

The ability to effectively create pages that combine large quantities of copy, with well proportioned, and sensitively handled images, is a core skill for any successful graphic designer. This module will consider a variety of areas of magazine publishing and provide a conceptual overview of important theoretical concerns in order to analyse issues such as the construction of contemporary gender, class and ethnicity, and how these issues intersect with design concepts.

Web Design (Optional)

Traditional print media companies are now required by readers of different audiences to produce multi-platform content and smaller independent publishers have gained access to the same market by making their material available through the web. On this module, you will be introduced to this dynamic field by studying the principles of information design and how to produce immersive content for divergent audience needs. 

Motion Graphics I (Optional)

The ability to quickly and effectively convey information through titles and other onscreen graphics is an important, specialist skill that underpins the success of a wide range of  online, and time-based media. From the title cards of early cinema to the motion masterpieces of Saul Bass through extravagant digital title sequences and viral ad campaigns, the art of motion graphics has played a vital role in the development of contemporary visual media. This module will provide a grounding in many of the principles and techniques associated with motion graphics.

Cult Media and Identity (Optional)

Film and media's role in representing various identities will be applied to aspects such as costume, the body, and the consumption and reception of media texts, with a particular focus on film and television examples. A particular focus will be on the differing theoretical approaches to identity and the concept of ‘self’. In addition, a focus on participatory cultures, fandom and cult media will be highlighted.

Dissertation (Core option)

The final year dissertation is an opportunity for you to either research and write an in-depth assignment about a topic of your own choice, or produce a body of work that is practice-based with specified outcomes. This module will help develop your communication skills, your intellectual skills, logical thinking, your ability to synthesise material, problem solve and to make decisions independently. 

Advanced Digital Imaging (Core option)

The aim of this module is to enable you to extend your understanding of the theory and practice of digital imaging. The diversity of current digital art practices will be examined within the context of art, history and cultural theory. A series of linked lectures, presentations and workshops will explore how images and meanings are constructed. Theoretical approaches to image analysis, representation, identity and audience will be explored in the context of the impact of digital technologies on cultural consumption.

Motion Graphics II (Core option)

This module will build upon the techniques and concepts covered in Motion Graphics I and further develop your capability to create animated content that is capable of taking advantage of a range of complex objects and behaviours in both 2D and 3D space. You will learn to master all aspects of the virtual multiple camera and lighting setups, understand the nature and use of parameter behaviours and use a variety of native and imported assets to visually communicate using image, sound and narrative.

Magazine Production (Core option)

This module will take the acquisition of key design skills and will ask you to independently apply them to a variety of contexts. Key issues of audience and distribution will be addressed with a larger emphasis given to the magazine industry and the challenges of launching an independent publication.

Sound Design (Core option)

This module is designed to underscore the importance of sound design and sound editing for film, drawing on elementary skills developed in the Digital Production and Multimedia Production modules.

Individual Study Project (Core option)

The final year Individual Study Project has been designed to be flexible in allowing you to either follow the traditional written route or produce a body of practical work around a single topic. If you follow the traditional route, you will research and write an in-depth assignment about a topic of your own choice. If you follow a more adaptive approach, you will undertake research towards a practical outcome.

The Paradox of Horror (Optional)

This module investigates the paradox of horror - why audiences of horror cinema find films which are designed to shock, disgust and frighten so entertaining, enjoyable and appealing. The module will also focus on marketing strategies and the ways that horror film-makers and distributors use online social media channels to engage audiences.

Science Fiction and Fantasy (Optional)

This module considers science fiction and fantasy genres, especially in relation to film and television. Tracing the evolution of these genres in cinema, from silent to the present day, you will consider how at various points, science fiction and fantasy have mediated very current cultural concerns – as much as providing visions of lands far away. Through case studies of landmark film and television, noted cycles of media, and key cultural contexts, you will be encouraged to situate these popular genres in relation to wider cultural and historical contexts.

Industry Placement (Optional)

This is our work placement module with a difference. You will have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience with one of our industry partners. We also prepare you for graduate careers by giving you the opportunity to analyse and reflect on your own personal development using in-depth psychometric testing. The module aims to develop confidence, self-awareness and resilience.

The Enterprising Workplace (Optional)

This module provides you with the opportunity to gain experience in the workplace whilst reflecting on, identifying and improving your own skills, knowledge and professional identity. You will be introduced to the concepts of enterprise, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship and will explore how these exist within organisations.

Disney and Animation (Optional)

This module will begin with an insight into the Disney theme parks and their relationship with the real America that surrounds them. You will then develop a thorough understanding of the historical evolution of animation, including the centrality of Disney to narrative and technological innovations in this mode of moving image, as well as an understanding of the varying aesthetic and formal qualities at play in other animation products.