Media Production BA (Hons)
- Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
- UCAS Code(s): P312
- Start Date(s): September 2023
- Duration: Three years full-time, part-time options available
- Study Mode(s): Full-time / Part-time
- Campus: City Campus
-
Entry Requirements:
More information
Introduction:
-
100% of NTU's research submitted to the 'Communication, Cultural & Media Studies, Library & Information Management' Unit of Assessment was rated world-leading or internationally excellent in terms of research impact - REF 2021.
-
Opportunities to get involved in award winning student TV and radio, gaining experience along the way.
-
You'll be working in brand new media labs, using industry standard equipment.
This course will develop your skills in digital media production, technology and media analysis, supporting your development as a creative media professional.
This hands-on course inspires your passion for media. You’ll produce a portfolio of work using the latest production techniques and new media developments, working in industry-standard facilities. You’ll work on creative projects across a variety of media platforms, including promotional and informational video; creative documentary practice; experimental video; multimedia design; screenwriting; photography and sound work. Live company briefs will enable you to work with media organisations, providing valuable work experience and supporting your development as a creative media professional. You’ll specialise in elements such as audio / visual content creation or writing for the screen. Through theoretical and historical insight, you’ll understand the changing economic, social and cultural elements that define media.
Our newly refurbished media labs
We have recently moved our media labs from our Clifton campus to the City. Our newly refurbished labs are close to the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism and offer all the same industry-standard equipment which is available for our students to hire out.
What you’ll study
The course covers a range of convergent media including emerging media platforms, social media, sound production and digital film production. You’ll engage with theoretical areas such as representation, authenticity, ethics and screen writing. You’ll develop debating, presentation and pitching skills as well as understanding personal branding and freelancing.
During your first year you’ll be introduced to the four core modules which will develop your theoretical understanding of the Media and progress your technical and creative skills.
The second year builds on your understanding of media production, as you learn to work across media platforms. You’ll study core modules and select three optional modules based on the specialisms that interests you. There’s also an opportunity to spend the second half of the year on international exchange at one of the partner universities.
In your final year you’ll undertake a dissertation on a topic of your choice and select a number of optional modules designed to prepare you for a career in the media industry.
Core Modules:
Understanding Media
This module explores media production and regulation, questions about representation and identity, and the way in which media forms are consumed, as well as what it is like to work in the media. You will work on a project for an external company, providing them with a solution to a real-world problem.
Introduction to Media Production
This module provides a foundation in the skills required for effective media project work. It explores the principal elements of creating media content through understanding narrative, still and moving image and sound, and the practical and theoretical relationship between those elements.
Sound and Media
This module introduces you to the importance of sound design in various forms of media such as the web, gaming, music, television, podcasting and radio. You’ll gain an insight into the expressive power of sound; how sound and music constructs genre; and how it reaches its audience. You’ll analyse sound in various forms and contexts to inform your own practice.
Writing for the Media
This module will introduce various forms of writing across a broad range of media, exploring the principles of writing for creative and professional practice in screenwriting, websites, journals and blogs. It will provide you with the skills needed to write for the media industries, pitch and present ideas for projects, write reports and critically reflect on your work.
Some optional modules may be studied on the Clifton campus.
Core modules:
Media, Theory and Society
Explore how media and cultural theories are used to understand and make sense of our mediated society. The aim is to give you a thorough understanding of how creative thinking underpins and informs the production work that you’ll undertake.
Media in the Workplace: Experiencing Work
This module focuses on self-employment, entrepreneurship and your potential future career. Seminar and workshop exercises will enable you to plan for your future career and build a career development portfolio. In the second half of the module you’ll undertake a work experience placement.
Intermediate Media Practice and Production
You’ll produce a portfolio of work that not only improves your technical skills, but also enables you to make links between theory and practice and enhance your employability. The skills workshops include individual work and group exercises, focusing on photography, web, sound, filming and editing.
Optional modules typically available include:
Creative Documentary
This module will encourage you to examine the key critical issues of documentary production such as authenticity and ethics. To prepare you for your dissertation in Year Three, you'll create a 5-10 minute documentary as a group (or individually) and be encouraged to creatively and critically engage with the given styles and genres of documentary.
Script to Screen
Screenwriting is the foundation for almost all forms of media production, from feature films to TV series; corporate and third sector work, documentary production, commercials, music video and recently developed forms of interactive narrative in games production. This module will introduce you to the key elements all screenwriters are required to understand and address in all forms of narrative writing; story and structure, character, setting and dialogue.
Intermediate Sound Production
This module offers students intermediate skills in audio design and production. A series of lectures and seminars will enable students to understand how sound design can be used to construct genre, and create a sense of time and space. The expressive and emotive qualities of sound will be explored, as well as an understanding of how sound communicates with its audience.
Researching Media, Communication and Culture
This module introduces the key empirical methods and analytical approaches of Media and Cultural Studies. It enables you to produce original research, and to gain greater understanding of the methods you might use in your Media dissertation. It outlines a range of methods, and shows how these can be applied to particular media and cultural case studies.
Some optional modules may be studied on the Clifton campus.
Core module:
Dissertation
This is a substantial piece of independent work made by you in whatever media platform you choose. You’ll be supported by a supervisor to guide you throughout this project.
Optional modules typically available include:
Client-Led Media Practice and Production
During this module you'll be able to focus on the development of skills in media production by completing a media project that will be set to a 'real brief'. This is an opportunity for you to enhance your employability options by participating in live projects with a real purpose. This module will encourage you to make connections between theory and practice.
Branding for Media Production
Through practical exploration, analysis and reflection you will learn how brands build trust using visual identity, personality and experiences. Building on your existing technical skills, you will be encouraged to use new and advanced software features in production of branding assets and will be introduced to new areas of exploration to enhance your portfolio and CV.
Media Production and Tourism
This module enables students to explore and analyse media representations of tourism by the tourist industry and in popular culture such as film and TV. The module provides an historical, theoretical, and critical overview of the major debates which relate media and tourism. The 'gazes' theorised in the disciplines of media consumption and tourism studies are examined and compared, and the role media plays in terms of global access is explored.
You will demonstrate your skills and understanding in this field by working on your own media and tourism production. Clients that NTU have worked with previously include Nottingham City Council, Nottingham County Council and the National Trust.
Advanced Sound Production
This module expands on the skills and understanding acquired and developed in the previous two years. You will gain advanced skills in audio design and production. A series of lectures and seminars will enable students to understand how recording and sound design can be used to communicate with audiences in non-fictional contexts.
You will produce a non-fiction audio piece such as an audio documentary. This project will encompass various audio forms including presenting, recording interviews, recording audio soundscapes and music composition and production.
Screenwriting: Story, Theory, Practice
This module is designed to test and develop your knowledge and skills of screenwriting craft introduced in Writing for the Media and Script to Screen. It will focus on mainstream and Independent screenwriting for Film and TV; exploring in detail forms and formats of Feature Films, Serials, Series, Situation Comedy and Soap Opera.
Experimental and Expanded Media Production
Developing ‘film and TV literacy’ for any vocation in the industry is essential, and the module will provide, through a range of moving image and text samples, a broad historical and global context for professional practice.
Media in the Workplace: Becoming Career- Ready
This module focuses on becoming career ready. It will focus on a broad range of careers (not just those in the media and creative sector). The module will give you the opportunity to start your careers search and it aims to give you some of the practical skills, knowledge and tools to equip you for beginning that search and becoming career ready.
Lifestyle and Consumer Culture
Explore key approaches to understanding lifestyle and the culture of consumption. You'll be introduced to many important theoretical approaches to understand lifestyle and consumer culture and you'll use many case studies such as travel and tourism to evaluate these.
Cultural Policy
Explore a range of debates within the developing field of policy study, which relate to the development of media. You'll examine some of the key institutions within which policies relating to film, television, the visual arts, heritage and other creative industries are determined. You'll explore questions such as: what is cultural value and how important are the cultural and creative industries?
DJ Cultures: History, Theory and Technique
From obscure roots, the art of DJing has in recent decades exploded into the limelight as a major form of popular culture. No prior experience of DJing is required to take this module, which combines a basic ‘taster’ introduction to DJ technology and the practical techniques of DJ performance with a theoretical consideration of various styles of DJing, their histories, their related musical experiences and their wider cultural significance and influence.
Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves
How you’re taught
How you're taught
The creative process is at the heart of how you’ll be taught. You’ll experience interactive lectures; technical, skills and production workshops; demonstrations and screenings; group and individual project work; tutorials and supervisions; production practice; tutor-led, student-led and independent learning sessions. You'll also undertake a work experience placement.
Work experience
The Media in the Workplace module requires you to undertake a period of work experience for your career development portfolio and placement report. We work closely with media companies to provide relevant work placement opportunities to add to your CV.
More student opportunities
International exchange
You’ll also have the option to take part in an international exchange at a partner university. Or you could source work placements abroad. These options will enable you to gain impressive international experience, and broaden your perspective and career ambitions.
You’ll experience other cultures, travel the globe and open your eyes to a world of opportunities. Our exchange partnership with a number of international universities enables you to live and study in another country in your second year.
Learn a new language
Alongside your study you also have the opportunity to learn a new language. The University Language Programme (ULP) is available to all students and gives you the option of learning a totally new language or improving the skills you already have.
Learning a new language can enhance your communication skills, enrich your experience when travelling abroad and boost your career prospects. Find out more about the University Language Programme.
Creative industries in Nottingham
Nottingham has a thriving creative arts scene which feeds the local creative industries. Many successful TV production, digital design and marketing agencies have chosen to base themselves in Nottingham.
The creative industries in Nottingham include organisations like Nottingham Contemporary, Broadway Cinema and Media Centre, Antenna Media Centre and LeftLion.
Contact hours
- Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (23%) and independent study (77%).
- Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (22%), independent study (78%)
- Year 3 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%) and independent study (80%).
All Arts and Humanities students will complete a minimum of 240 hours of work like experience over the three years of the course
How you’re assessed
- Year 1 coursework (100%)
- Year 2 coursework (92%), oral (8%)
- Year 3 coursework (100%)
Careers and employability
Your career development
As one of our graduates you’ll possess many of the attributes demanded in today’s world of work including skills in research; organisation; content production; team-working; communication and time-management. You’ll be articulate, confident in your ability to make informed judgements, and capable of processing complex information.
With the range of academic and transferable skills graduates have gone on to work in a variety of media industries, including film and television production, radio, and interactive games. Our graduates have found work with employers such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BAFTA, and Rockstar Games. Roles include project manager, assistant producer and broadcast executive.
What our students are doing now
Joshua Hallsworth
Josh graduated from NTU in 2018 with a BA in Media Practices (with Specialist Pathways). Since then, he has gone onto become the Senior Creative Director for Mrwhosetheboss - Europe's largest tech-based YouTube channels with over 20 million subscribers.In our catch up, Josh reminisces on his time at NTU, and shares how his involvement with NTU societies and course content helped him get to where he is today.
Suzannah Page
Campus and facilities
Here are some of the free services, student discount and benefits you'll get studying at NTU
We've carefully considered what benefits and services you need for your studies, so when you join NTU you'll get free printing and materials credits, access to our free WiFi, a copy of Microsoft Office, and even borrow a laptop if yours is out of commission.
For life outside your lectures, you'll enjoy access to over 60 sports clubs and 130 student societies, discounted travel and bike hire, free language learning, award-winning student support and an entertainment programme which is second to none.
See all the benefits and free services you will enjoy as an NTU student.
Media laboratories and equipment
We have specialist media laboratories where you will develop multimedia production skills. Equipment includes:
- HD and 4K camcorders
- tripods and monopods
- lighting kit and green screen
- DSLR cameras and 360 Fly 4K action camera
- GoPros, stabilisers and smartphone accessories
- audio recorders and microphones
- iMacs
- Adobe software suite including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Audition
- DJ equipment and turntables
This equipment is supported by technical staff and is available as free hire for student project work.
IT resources
Our IT resource rooms and PC clusters are distributed across our campuses, with PCs providing access to:
- Microsoft Office
- web browsing
- networked file storage
- high-speed online printing services (with a free printing allowance for each student). Resource rooms are available 24 hours a day.
Books and library resources
In our library you’ll have access to an extensive and diverse range of books including those on your reading list.
The library's online resources and NTU Online Workspace (NOW) also provides digital access to the core resources for your modules and a wide range of specialist collections, texts, and databases
Nottingham Trent University has its own Blackwell’s Bookshop which stocks relevant academic texts plus a wide range of bestselling novels.
Societies
Current students run societies in a range of Humanities and Arts subjects including History, Medieval, Film, Filmmaking, Philosophy, Politics and International Relations, and the Book society.
There are also a number of media channels which our students get involved in such as the NTU radio station FlyLive, our student magazine Platform, and TV station TrentTV.
Find out more about student societies at the Student Union website.
Entry requirements
Looking for a place in Clearing? We are accepting applications and would love to hear from you.
To discuss our entry requirements and see what we can offer you, call us now on +44 (0)115 848 6000 or apply online.
- We accept UCAS Tariff points from up to four A-levels or equivalent qualifications.
- GCSE English and Maths grade C / 4.
Other qualifications and experience
We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form
Looking for a place in Clearing? We are accepting applications and would love to hear from you.
To discuss our entry requirements and see what we can offer you, call us now on +44 (0)115 848 6000 or apply online.
You will need the equivalent to:
- We accept UCAS Tariff points from up to four A-levels or equivalent qualifications.
- GCSE English and Maths grade C / 4.
International qualifications
We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:
Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)
If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:
English language entry requirements
You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:
Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3)
You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
Fees and funding
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service on +44 (0)115 848 2494.
Additional Costs
Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert Employability team, and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses.
Library books
Most study modules will recommend one or more core text books, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary and further information is available in the University’s bookshop. Our libraries provide a good supply of essential text books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! There may also be a supply of second-hand books available for purchase from previous year students.
Field trips
All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.
Placements
If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.
Print and copy costs
The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.
Please see our fees page for more information.
Tuition fees are payable for each year that you are at the University. The level of tuition fees for the second and subsequent years of your undergraduate course may increase in line with inflation and as specified by the UK government.
Scholarships
We offer scholarships of up to 50% of your tuition fee. You can apply for your scholarship when you have an offer to study at NTU.
Living costs
Get advice on the cost of living as an international student in Nottingham and how to budget:
Paying fees
Find out about advanced payments, instalment plan options and how to make payments securely to the University:
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
How to apply
Ready to join us? Then apply as soon as you can.
For the full-time route just click the Apply button at the top of the page and follow our step-by-step guide.
If you're applying for the part-time route please apply online using the NTU Applicant Portal.
Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.
Writing your application and personal statement
Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember, we can only make a decision based on what you tell us. So include all of your qualifications and grades, including resits or predicted grades.
Your personal statement is a really important part of your application. It’s your chance to convince us why we should offer you a place! You've got 4,000 characters to impress us. Make sure you use them to show how your skills and qualities are relevant to the course(s) you’re applying for. For more hints and tips, take a look at our page on how to write a good personal statement.
Keeping up-to-date
After you've applied, we’ll be sending you important emails throughout the application process so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
You can get more information and advice about applying to NTU on our Your Application page. Good luck with your application!
Need help with your application?
For admissions related enquiries please contact us:
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 4200
You can apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal.
Application advice
Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example. After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
Writing your personal statement
Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.