Film and TV Production with Foundation Year

Course summary

• Consider the key techniques and skills required to make different types of films and TV.
• Understand how theory and practice inform and inspire each other.
• Study a practical course with intellectual rigour at its core.
• Learn sustainable filmmaking with a founding member of the BAFTA albert HE Partnership.
• Develop your understanding of working in the creative industries.

On this course, you’ll be inspired and empowered by film and television. You’ll own your own learning, while working collaboratively, and graduate with realistic, confident expectations of what your next steps will be.

How you learn

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

The course is suitable if you don’t meet the entry requirements for our BA (Hons) Film and TV Production course, or you want extra preparation before starting degree-level study. You share the first year with other media arts and communication foundation year students, then move on to the degree.

This programme offers a distinctive approach to Film and TV production for multiple platforms and a variety of audiences.

The focus is on practice-based learning and professionalism, independent as well as group practice. This reflects industry standards while encouraging innovation and risk taking.

You’ll be trained as an independent creative and technical thinker. You’ll graduate as a fully rounded, collaborative and employable professional — with the skills, knowledge, contacts and experience you need to start an exciting career.

You learn through

• group work
• lectures and seminars
• technical workshops
• industry visits and field trips
• independent study
• practice based learning and group work
• public screening events and film festivals
• distributing and exhibiting your work in the public realm
• our own cinema, The Void

In the foundation year, you’ll study wide-ranging media arts and communication topics, while also focussing on your particular subject area and completing assignments in that field. You’ll grow as a creative, and begin developing a professional portfolio. You’ll also become familiar with Hallam’s exceptional facilities and staff, so you’re fully prepared for undergraduate study.

Course leaders and tutors

Chris Cooke

Senior Lecturer in Directing and Screenwriting

I teach screenwriting, directing and researching exhibition and distribution

Applied learning

Live projects

On the full degree course, you will work on real projects, making documentaries, training films and online content for local and national companies. Recently our students have produced work for the NHS, Sheffield City Council and the Royal Society for the Blind. You can also have your work shown on Sheffield Live, a TV station which broadcasts to the region on Freeview and all digital packages.

In your final year, you’ll make a final, graduation piece, crewing up with your peers and exhibiting your work in a public space, normally The Showroom Cinema. You will engage with industry practices including distribution and exhibition.

Field trips

On each year of the course you take a field trip at no additional cost. In recent years these have included filmmaking in locations such as Liverpool and the Peak District, and trips to film festivals including Glasgow, London and Aesthetica in York. UK field trips that are a required part of the course will be included in your course fees, though additional costs will be required to attend further UK and overseas field trips that are not compulsory, such as the Berlin Film Festival.

Networking opportunities

We are a BBC partner and a sponsor of Sheffield Doc Fest, and also work closely with media companies such as Envy Post Production and Warp Films.

You will develop a two year strategy for your own future development as a filmmaker after the course and you will have the opportunity to visit major studios, post production houses and media businesses and to build professional networks and contacts.

Future careers

This course prepares you for a career in

• film and television production
• the creative industries
• marketing and communications
• academia or further studies

Previous graduates of the full course have gone on to work for

• Pathe
• Lionsgate
• The Mill
• Illuminations
• 2AM Post Production
• BBC
• ITN
• Warp Films
• Tiger Aspect Productions

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of online lessons and face-to-face teaching with access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

City Campus

City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.

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Location

Howard Street
Sheffield
S1 1WB

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Adsetts library

Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.

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Entry requirements

Modules

Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change. When selecting electives, your choices will be subject to the core requirements of the course. As a result, selections may be limited to a choice between one of two or more specified electives in some instances.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

Fees and funding

Additional course costs

This link allows you to view estimated costs associated with the main activities on specific courses. These are estimates and, as such, are only an indication of additional course costs. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.

Legal information

Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.

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