ÎÞÂëȺ½»

On this course you will:

• study film from artistic, cultural and industry perspectives, as well as various media institutions and the debates surrounding them;
• engage in deep critical thinking about culture, media and society as a whole;
• develop real-world technical skills in film and creative production, including screen writing, editing, camera and lighting, sound design, directing, photography and podcasting;
• develop essential lifelong skills in teamwork, research, project management and a variety of forms of communication; and
• have opportunities to engage in work-based learning and pursue placement opportunities, so that you can begin to develop your career and future plans while you study.

Structure

All students enrol onto the honours degree, but you can choose to exit with an ordinary degree after three years.

Teaching, learning and assessment

You will be taught in lectures, seminars and in practical workshops. You will be assessed in a wide array of ways across the course, including presentations, reflective diaries, blogs, filmmaking, essays (and video essays) and some written exams.

Facilities

We have superb on-campus resources, and media production equipment, including a recently-upgraded film editing suite and dedicated production and photography area equipped with a green screen and on-site lighting equipment. Our students have access to a wealth of cameras, audio recording equipment and other related filmmaking equipment for both their studies and extra-curricular pursuits. This includes access to Adobe’s Creative Suite software, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects and Audition.*

*subject to availability and agreement with our technician staff.

You will have access to our on-campus Business Gateway and Student Start Up StudioÌýthat together provide business incubation spaces for student-led or graduate-led start-up companies and offer: desk space, a ÎÞÂëȺ½» business address, meeting facilities, ad-hoc rehearsal space and editing facilities, Business Gateway support and advice, a profile for your company on the ÎÞÂëȺ½» website, support with marketing materials and access to entrepreneurial networks within ÎÞÂëȺ½» and other universities (including Enterprise Campus, Scottish Institute for Enterprise, Sporting Chance and Converge Challenge).

Exchange opportunities

Studying abroad through our exchange programme can be one of the most exciting and rewarding challenges for a student to experience. The opportunity to travel and live in another country, learn different customs and traditions, meet new people and future career draws many students into the exchange programme. In Year Three you have the opportunity (subject to availability) to study for one semester at a university overseas. Please visit theÌýExchanges and Study AbroadÌýpages for more information.

Teaching staff, class sizes and timetables

You can read more about the teaching staff on this course at the bottom of this page. Please note that teaching staff is subject to change.

For more information, please also visit ‘How we teach and how you’ll learn’.

Year One

You will:

• be introduced to key concepts in film and media studies, including the emergence of cinema and the establishment of national broadcasting systems, and concepts such as narrative, popular culture and citizenship;
• learn the basic principles of filmmaking, in terms of editing, framing, composition, lighting and story; and
• participate in our annual student film competition, the Silver Swans, where we screen a selection of the best student films and award prizes.

Modules

• Studying Cinema: You will look at key modes of cinema, as well as key ways of reading film. This includes, film as a classical, post-classical and modernist form and, for example, how we engage with suspense, and how we’re affected by sound and music in film.
• Analysing Stories: You will be introduced to a number of theory tools for analysing all aspects of storytelling, using a wide range of examples from film, broadcasting, photography, drama, internet media, marketing and advertising.
• Film Histories: You will discover the development of film as an art form through some of its key moments and movements. We look at different film cultures from all over the world, and what contributions they have made to our understanding of cinema.
• Media and Creative Industries: You will be introduced to the Media and Creative industries, focusing on Economics, Regulation, Ownership and Publicity. Students will consider the historic origins of a range of sectors within the Media and Creative Industries and explore contemporary trends and features through a range of case studies.
• Creative Practice: Visual Storytelling: You will be introduced to the foundational principles of still and moving image creation essential for storytelling. Through a series of guided exercises, students will develop their technical skills in film and photography while critically reflecting on their learning experience.
  Creative Practice: Fiction Film: You will explore the different ways of creating a short fiction film. It will provide an opportunity through group workshop tuition sessions for students to become familiar with the fundamentals of film production, culminating in the group creation of a short film of up to 3 minutes long.

Year Two

You will:

• develop your knowledge and understanding of film and media studies, thinking more critically about the film and media we produce and consume;
• strengthen your film and media production skills and develop more complex stories on film and in media; and
• apply your skills to real-world situations with our ‘Creative Practice: Client Project’ module, where you will pitch and complete a media project for a business or charity.

Modules

• Film Genre: You will examine genre as a key method of film research, scholarship and analysis, as well as one of the primary ways cinema is defined and understood by film industries and audiences. The module looks at different methods and theories for studying film genres, as well as a number of the founding and enduring genres in film cultures across the world.
• Popular Media Cultures: You will discover key media and popular cultural debates, which may include (but are not limited to): celebrity cultures; fandom and fan cultures; consumer cultures and online performance of self; subculture and post-subculture theory; interactive entertainment and digital gaming cultures; issues of representation around gender, class and ethnicity.
• Media, Politics and Culture: You will be introduced to key critical theories about the way ‘the media’ works in relation to politics, society and culture. The aim of the module is to encourage students to develop a critical approach to creative industries through examination of social and cultural contexts in which media institutions function and media texts are produced.
• Creative Practice: Researching Documentary: You will discover the history of theory and practice of documentary as a form of filmmaking. By watching, reading about and discussing diverse types of documentaries from around the world, students will develop knowledge about the form of filmmaking that will inspire their practical skills in the making of a documentary.
• Creative Practice: Documentary Filmmaking: You will explore the different ways of creating a short non-fiction film. It will provide an opportunity through group workshop tuition sessions for students to become familiar with the fundamentals of factual film production. It culminates with the group creation of a short documentary film of up to 3 minutes in length.
• Creative Practice: Client Project: You will get the opportunity to work on a project for a real or virtual client such as devising a social media campaign and/or producing a promotional film or series of film clips for external or internal ÎÞÂëȺ½» clients. Students work to an agreed brief, thereby developing a professional approach to project development and client working.

Year Three

You will:

• learn important research skills to prepare you for Year Four and life beyond University;
• develop a plan for your post-University creative career and understand working in the creative industries;
• choose specialist film and media options in, for example, the video essay, screenwriting, filmmaking and photography; and
• have the opportunity (subject to availability) to study for one semester at a university overseas. For more information, visit Exchanges and Study Abroad.

Modules

• Working in the Film and Creative Industries: You will have the opportunity to think about and plan for their future careers in film or creative industries. We will be joined by guests who work in the creative sectors to help explore your options and hear about the realities of working as a creative practitioner.
• Global Film Cultures: You will analyse film as a global phenomenon whose development has been influenced by a variety of different global film cultures and specific social, cultural and political discourses.
• Designing Research Projects: You will uncover a range of approaches, methods and practices for researching the media, culture and society. It prepares students to develop and design research projects which may support their written or creative practice dissertation or be developed for other purposes.
• plus three electives

Year Four

You will:

• choose further specialist film and media options in, for example, the video essay, screenwriting, filmmaking and photography; and 
• complete a written or creative practice dissertation. Creative practice dissertations can be in film, photography, screenwriting or a video essay. You can choose a group filmmaking dissertation that adds another dimension if you want to specialise in a particular production role such as director, writer or editor.

Modules

• Dissertation: You will undertake a sustained and significant piece of individual research and writing in our Written Dissertation option, c. 9000 words, on a topic of your choosing within film, media and cultural studies. Or you will undertake a sustained and significant piece of individual or group creative practice in filmmaking, screenwriting, photography or videographic criticism, accompanied by a 3000-word critical reflection.
• Modernity on Screen: You will explore the ways screen fictions have represented the conditions of modern life, societies and human identities in the postwar 20th century and in the 21st century. It explores theories about the modern world – ‘Modernity’ - in the West and a range of UK, European, American and world cinema and television from the 1960s to the present.  
• plus three electives

Year Three and Four electives may include:

• Adaptation: Stage and Screen
• Business of Creativity
• Communication, Arts and Activism
• Creative Practice: Short Filmmaking (L3 only)
• Digital Culture and Society
• Experiential Learning Placement
• Film and the Family
• Film and Feminism
•  Film Festivals
• Filmmaking: Pre-production (L4 only)
• Now That’s What I Call 90’s
• Photography and Visual Culture
• Photography Practice
• Screenwriting
• Short Filmmaking
• Student Initiated Module
• Radical Film
• The Headless Way: Eastern Philosophies and Popular Culture
• The Only Way is Ethics
• The Video Essay
• Women, Film and Media
• World Animation

NB The modules listed here are correct at time of last update (Feb 2025) but may differ slightly to those offered in 2025. Please check back here for any updates.

ÎÞÂëȺ½» has specialised in providing courses in the area of media and communications for many years. Our graduates are highly employable, in demand and are making names for themselves in film and television production, media research, PhD and academic research, public relations, marketing, advertising, and arts and cultural management. Employers have previously included the BBC, STV, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Channel 4 and the Leith Agency.

On this course, you will graduate as a critical maker and consumer of film and media. You will be technically competent in the field, with rounded practical skills and ready to succeed in the career of your choice.

Entry requirements

Scottish Higher: Standard - BBBB, Minimum - BBCC

A Level: BCC

Irish Leaving Certificate: H2 H2 H3 H3

International Baccalaureate: 28 points

International: IELTS of 6.0 with no element lower than 5.5

Required subjects: English, Media Studies, or Film Studies preferred at Higher/A level or equivalent. English required and Maths preferred at Nat 5/GCSE at grade C or above. We can also accept National 5 Application of Maths or Lifeskills at the same grade.

Am I a Widening Access student?: We apply the minimum entry criteria to applicants who meet one or more contextual factor. To see if this would apply to you, please refer to the access and application page.

Mature/Access: We welcome applications from mature students with relevant qualifications and/or experience. Visit our College Leavers and Mature Students Advice page for more information. 

Direct Entry:

Year Two

• HNC in a related subject with B in the graded unit
  Scottish Higher: BC at Advanced Higher in relevant subjects plus BB at Higher
• A Level: BBB in relevant subjects

Year Three

• HND in a related subject with CB in the graded units.

For details of related HNC and HND courses, visit our College Leavers and Mature Students Advice page. 

Disability/health conditions

If you have a disability, long-term physical or mental health condition, or learning disability, it should not stand in the way of your studying at ÎÞÂëȺ½». However, if you are not sure whether your disability might be a barrier in your studies or in relation to the professional standards, please contact the Disability Service who will be able to have a conversation with you about reasonable adjustments and supports available to you.

Fee information

Fees: Please follow the link in the 'Course Overview' box for information on fees for 2026 entry.

Special note on RUK and ROI fees: Students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, who are subject to Rest of UK fees will be charged for the first three years of study only. The fourth year is free. 

Application information

How to apply: Application for this course should be made through . More application information is available in the 'Start your Application' box at the top right of this page.

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• The delivery of this course is subject to the terms and conditions set out in our 2026/27 Entry Terms and Conditions (Undergraduate).
• The course information on this page is correct at the time of print (Feb 2025) but may differ slightly for 2026 entry. Please check back here for updates.