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Universities United Kingdom Cardiff University Courses Digital Documentaries (MA)

Digital Documentaries (MA)
at Cardiff University

Cardiff, United Kingdom

Tuition Fee £ 19,450
Country Rank-
Duration12 Months
Score IELTS: 6.5

Program Overview

Our documentary programme integrates both the theory and practice of documentary production, giving you the opportunity to turn your ideas into innovative films for a variety of audiences.

Industry mentor

You will benefit by being able to pitch ideas to, receive feedback from and engage with a personal mentor in the media industry.

Telling your story

You will gain a portfolio of documentaries defined by your style of film making in subject areas that have relevance and meaning.

Practical excellence

Your training will be led by highly experienced documentarists with national and international experience working across global platforms.

Research excellence

Your studies will take place in one of the UK’s leading journalism research schools, ranked 2nd in the UK.

Documentaries are a vital, successful and constantly evolving media with an ever-growing number of places where they are screened, broadcast and streamed.

With us, you'll be trained in the craft and technical aspects of filmmaking, producing films of integrity and importance.

Hands-on film making

Intensive practical workshops, group sessions and one-to-one guidance will help you locate subjects and stories that matter to you, find a method of making and a mode of encounter with your subject, develop distinct shooting and editing strategies, and evolve your own unique visual language.

On this degree you’ll gain a range of skills including:

Producing, directing, camera, sound and editing.
Learning how to communicate imaginatively through the moving image.
Researching and writing original non-fiction film.
Developing visual storytelling.
Shooting and editing.
Project management, scheduling, budgeting, distributing and fund-raising.

We’ll train you to be an all-rounder, with valuable expertise in directing, production managing, camera operating, recording sound, editing, and pitching your projects to funders and promoting your films to festivals.

The best documentaries are driven by passion

We support all types of filmmaking, including campaigning and issue-led films, long-form investigative documentaries, observational and character pieces, experimental films and documentaries about the environment.

In the final Master’s degree project, you'll be able to present either a long form documentary or a portfolio of shorter pieces of work for different platforms and digital media.

You'll also have the unique chance to work with a mentor from the creative industry, to pitch your idea to them, receive feedback in the making of your film to engage with the documentary industry and improve your CV.

You’ll be taught by the best

Our teaching is informed by practice and academic rigour. Our internationally leading faculty consists of academics and programme makers who are at the forefront of knowledge within their field.

The programme’s tutors have worked in the BBC and internationally, combining a unique breadth of knowledge of both academia and the industry.

Course Content
This course runs from September to September. Between September and May you will study 120 credits of taught modules: 110 credits will be Core and the remaining 10 credits will be chosen from a range of options.

Following successful completion of the taught stage, you will undertake a Master’s Project which will be supervised until the end of July, and submitted at the end of August.

The modules shown are an example of the typical curriculum and will be reviewed prior to the 2022/23 academic year. The final modules will be published by September 2022.

In the first semester you will study three modules worth 20 credits each.

You will learn the practice of documentary film making, how to light, film, record sound and edit your film that is submitted at the end of the first term. The film will be a poetic piece of work that reflects your creativity and understanding of the technical skills required to make a documentary. You will go on to learn the production skills necessary to research, plan, script, budget, and schedule your film, as well as how to use stills to create a story board for a film.

You will also examine the theories of sound, image, ethics, and truth, as well as the issues and debates in the history and theory of documentaries.

In the second semester you will build on your knowledge of documentary practice, developing your camera, sound and editing skills to make a short film about a real situation or event. You will also begin thinking about your Master’s project and will work with a mentor from the broadcast industry.

At the end of the second semester you will produce a short trailer for your Master’s project: you will pitch your proposal to a panel and then receive feedback from mentors and staff.

There is also an optional module allowing you to choose subjects of special interest to you from a pool of those available related to journalism and media.

The taught phase concludes in May and subject to successful completion you will progress to your Master’s project where you can go on to make your film, or series of films for your portfolio. The portfolio will be accompanied by a business plan, the relevant production paperwork and a reflective commentary. This will be submitted at the end of August.
Entry Requirement
Academic requirements:

Typically, you will need to have either:
- a 2:1 honours degree in a relevant subject area such as, journalism, media or film studies or an equivalent international degree
- a university-recognised equivalent academic qualification.
English Language requirements:

IELTS with an overall score of 7.0 with 6.5 in all subskills, or an accepted equivalent.

Application deadline:

We allocate places on a first-come, first-served basis, so we recommend you apply as early as possible.

Selection process:

We will review your application and if you meet the entry requirements, we will make you an offer.
Fees & Scholarships
Fees for home status

Tution Fees - £10,700
Deposit - £

Fees for overseas status

Tution Fees - £19,450
Deposit-£1,000
Career Prospect
The documentary is one of the forms of media which is expanding across all platforms. Most businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGO's) use videos to inform their internal and external audience about what they do.

An MA in Digital Documentaries will offer a wide range of opportunities for those who not only wish to become filmmakers, but those who want to use this exciting medium for a wide range of different purposes.

Cost Of Studying At Cardiff University

Interest rates as low as 8.9% ^*

250K+

Students Assisted

800Cr+

Loan Amount Disbursed

5000+

Loans Sanctioned

Check Loan Eligibility

Digital Documentaries (MA) at Cardiff University