BA in Filmmaking
- Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
- London, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,535 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students: £9,535 per year | international: £21,400 for the first year
Key Summary
You'll use our inspiring facilities to produce films in analogue and digital formats.
This creative filmmaking course incorporates multiple approaches to filmmaking, critical thinking, research skills and technical experimentation. Throughout the course, you’ll have access to high-end and high-speed digital cameras, and Super 8 and 16mm film cameras. You can also use our professional studios, edit suites and moving image workshop.
With strong links to the moving image sector, students benefit from work experience placements at renowned organisations and contact with staff who are actively working within the industry.
Why choose this course?
On this course you'll explore the medium of film, developing your own filmmaking practice while acquiring skills for professional work in the creative industries. You will engage with innovative, ambitious ideas, developing successful films in groups and individually, and gain a practical knowledge of a range of filmmaking approaches. Your learning will be supported by technical inductions, workshops with industry professionals, guest lectures and field trips.
You'll be taught by academics who are active practitioners in the film industry. Working as artists, directors, cinematographers, editors and producers, they offer access to unique work experience opportunities. For example, our students have participated in placements at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, BFI Southbank, Film & Video Umbrella, Fly Film and Film London.
You'll participate in an annual curated screening of student film work at a London venue. Since 2015, Filmmaking students have been invited to submit their films for the annual curated Kingston screening at the British Film Institute. Your final graduation film will be screened on campus and at a central London cinema with industry guests.
Our students also have an excellent history of screening their work at external festivals and events. These include the London Short Film Festival, Aesthetica Film Festival, Birds Eye Film Festival, the South London Gallery, Chicago Art House Film Festival, Lisbon Film Festival and the British Student Film Festival.
Accreditation
Kingston University is an ARRI-accredited Film School. As an ARRI-accredited Film School, final-year students can do an additional ARRI Certified Training for Camera Systems module to enhance their camera skills and CV.
We want to ensure anyone with potential and drive has the opportunity to study with us, no matter their background or financial situation. That's why each year, we provide a number of bursaries to help our undergraduate students gain their degree.
- The Kingston bursary
- Bursaries for care leavers
- Bursaries for estranged students
- Bursaries for young adult carers
- Bursaries for Sanctuary Scholars
- Chancerygate Foundation bursary
- Salutem scholarships
- AVSH scholarship
From conception, ideas and creative strategies of engagement, through pre-production and planning, to the innovative creation of bespoke film projects, this course provides you with a comprehensive understanding of filmmaking and key professional roles in the industry.
Throughout the course you will analyse and explore film specialisms, including directing, cinematography, editing, sound recording and production design to find your own unique career path.
You'll learn how to contextualise, engage with and critique the film industry through your own practice and projects, via taught modules and guest lectures. Upon graduation you'll be well equipped to enter film production employment with confidence and in a variety of guises.
Year 1
In Year 1, you are given technical inductions and introduced to film production through creative projects, giving you the opportunity to develop ideas for films and experience a range of production roles. You will develop your research skills and learn about directing, cinematography, sound recording, editing and sound design, running a set in a studio or on location and working with contributors.
Core modules
- Sound and Image
- Visual Storytelling
- Voices
- Contextualising Contemporary Practice: Film
Year 2
In Year 2, you will undertake projects with the opportunity to shoot and process 8mm and 16mm film, use archive, green screen and high-speed video. You will work in groups developing pitches for ambitious productions collaborating with professional actors, developing character and script, and shooting on location. Through the production of these films, you will be encouraged to identify your strengths and explore specialist areas of interest.
Core modules
- Exploring Film
- Working with Actors
- The Personal Camera
- Critical Issues in Filmmaking: Research and Practice
Year 3
In Year 3 you will undertake two short film projects in specialised production roles, culminating in the Graduation Film. You will work to your strengths and develop material for your graduation portfolio. The final graduation films are screened during the degree show on campus and at a central London cinema.
Core modules
- Professional Project
- The Graduation Film
- Independent Research Project in Critical and Historical Studies
This degree prepares you for a range of careers such as director, independent filmmaker, cinematographer, editor, artist-filmmaker, producer, sound recordist, designer and film programmer. The course is also a platform for further study or vocational positions in commercial film.
Student and graduate film festival and award successes include:
- Dylan Friese-Greene was shortlisted for the prestigious Grierson Awards for his short documentary Sian: Portrait of a Photographer.
- Chiemi Shimada's film, Chiyo, screening at Open City Documentary Festival in September 2019, was nominated for Best UK Short.
- Naomi Wong's graduation film, Naturally Lazy, screened at the BAFTA-qualifying London Short Film Festival 2018.
- Chiemi Shimada's graduation film, Fragments, screened at the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival in York 2017.
- Zhao Siyu won Best Film at the London Independent Film Festival in 2017.
- Will Hooper's graduation film won Best Underground Film at Lisbon International Film Festival in 2016.
- Jacob Hesmondhalgh and Marie Hobson won Best Documentary Short at Weyauwega International Film Festival in 2015.
- Ed Chappell won the Young Greenhorn Film Award at Greenhorn Short Film Festival in 2014.
Our Future Skills programme is embedded within the Filmmaking BA (Hons) course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience. As the demands of modern employment continue to evolve, Future Skills will play a role in shaping you to become a future-proof graduate.
The programme aims to provide you with the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability. As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills, learning to demonstrate and articulate to employers how future skills give you the edge.