What you will study
This integrated course covers the histories and global contexts of the moving image, and theoretical, critical and practical approaches to creative writing in an interdisciplinary context.
Modules
Each level is made up of four modules each worth 30 credit points. Typically, a student must complete 120 credits at each level.
Year 1
In Year 1 you will begin to develop practical skills in creative writing through analysis of published writing and consideration of language and style. You will also be introduced to key issues and approaches for the study of film within the wider context of visual culture, and you will acquire habits of writing, self-reflection and revision necessary to the successful professional writer.
Core modules
Introduction to Creative Writing I: The Writer's Toolkit
30 credits
This module centres upon practical work designed to develop the skills appropriate to the undergraduate study of creative writing. These skills will be focused in the following areas: the analysis and use of published writing; language and style; seminar/workshop practice; and habits of writing, self-reflection and revision. The module will investigate how writers think about their craft and the techniques they use to write most effectively in their various mediums. Weekly lectures will be given by practicing writers who will introduce students to their own published work as well as that of a wide range of other authors. Students will read, analyse and discuss poems, short stories, plays and essays, and will develop a greater awareness of language and style in writing through a variety of exercises. These workshop exercises will allow students to establish guidelines for constructive participation and encourage co-operation and self-reflection.
Writing that Works
30 credits
This module is designed to familiarise students across the humanities with a range of rhetorical strategies, aesthetic techniques, redrafting and editing skills, while also providing the opportunity to practise writing and editing in a number of critical, literary, creative and professional forms. In "Writing that Works" students are introduced to key techniques for writing effectively and they develop their ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in writing by studying exemplary texts in each form. The first strand of the module focuses on writing, techniques. Students create a piece of original writing and this work is then developed in weekly workshop sessions that align with interactive lectures focused on different aspects of writing. The impact that language choices make on the effectiveness of writing will lead on to the discussion of audience, social context, identity and voice. In the second strand, the focus turns to writing in professional contexts. The interactive workshops focus on writing in a number of professional contexts and students practise using a range of techniques and strategies to produce professional documents. The framework of the module, and the core content we aim to transfer to students, is a firm grasp of rhetorical strategies and how to employ them to the best advantage depending on the form in which they are writing, the intended audience for their work and the ideas they hope to share.
From Pre-Cinema to Post-Cinema
30 credits
This module takes students from the pre-history of film, and its 19th century origins in photography, science and optical toys, through to the post-digital, multi-platform era of the 21st. Encompassing both Hollywood and key cinema movements from around the world, the module will explore the development of cinema in relation to its surrounding culture. It looks at how technological and economic changes shaped film throughout its history, and how it evolved into its current form.
Authorship and Active Audiences
30 credits
This module asks where the real meaning of popular stories lies - with the original author, or with the audience's interpretation. It begins by exploring theories of authorship in literature, and traces the development of these ideas through the film studies of the 1950s and 1960s to concepts of the ‘showrunner' in contemporary television. It then surveys the ways in which screen audiences have been studied, from World War Two propaganda to present-day work on fan videos and fan edits, mash-ups and tributes.
Year 2
In Year 2, you will develop a more sophisticated and focused understanding of your subject areas and the synergies between them. You will study four modules across the year, experiencing a variety of learning and assessment methods.
You will have the opportunity to progress your creative writing skills by exploring the relationship between theory and practice across arrange of modes and genres.
You will also learn from industry specialists in a range of fields such as film journalism, scriptwriting, festival management and archiving, and will feed this learning into your own portfolio of written and creative work.
Core modules
Screenwriting
30 credits
Film is often seen as a director's medium, rather than a writer's. This course doesn't debate the relative claims of either - it retains a strong commitment to the visual - but its primary focus is on the construction of script and, in particular, the screenplay of the mainstream narrative film. The cornerstone of the module is an exploration of what makes an effective screen story through analysis of dramatic structure. The tutors on this module, both experienced screenwriters, contend that all genres of screen narrative use essentially the same core principles of storytelling and that an understanding of how these principles work is a creative tool: we can use them to create our own stories and adapt them to different forms. First, through close study of several successful films - focusing in particular on structure and character - you will be taught the contribution of the screenplay to how a film is constructed and why it succeeds. Second, with particular emphasis on dialogue and the craft of visual storytelling, we will guide you to the creation and completion of your own short screenplay, providing you with models (in both film and script form) from a selection of short films, and teaching you how to present and format your script.
In your final year, you'll take the Dissertation module, enabling you to work in-depth on a topic of your choice under the supervision of a subject specialist.
Seminars provide a more intimate forum for the detailed exploration of texts, with student presentations and discussion.
Independent Creative Writing
30 credits
This is a dissertation-style module, taught through a combination of small-group sessions and individual tutorials, in which students will have the opportunity to work on a sustained creative writing project of their choosing. They will produce a substantial piece of writing in a chosen form, having undertaken contextual reading in that form and engaged in other research as appropriate, such as location scouting, conducting interviews, or visiting archives and specialist collections. Through group workshops and presentations, as well as one-on-one tutorials, students will receive constructive feedback and guidance on how to plan, structure, write, revise, and edit their projects, and gain advice in developing the skills and habits necessary to working independently. In addition, students will learn how to plan strategies for the possible dissemination and promotion of their projects in the world outside the university, as professional authors would, such as through various methods of publication or performance. By learning to work independently and by planning the dissemination and promotion of their projects, students will acquire the entrepreneurial skills and abilities necessary for success in self-employment and in other professions.
Writing about Film
30 credits
Students will have the opportunity to work with a series of guest professionals from the film cultures industry, including festival programmers, reviewers, scriptwriters and journalists, to develop their own portfolio and shape their future career aspirations.
Global Film Cultures
30 credits
What artistic innovation has emerged from the diverse cultures of 'world cinema'? The module explores the dynamic between local and global, and the need to balance cultural specificity with a more cosmopolitan appeal. It examines the changing relationship between world and national cinemas, the influence of Hollywood and American culture, and new trends from other media and visual art forms that might resist this dominance.
Year 3
Year 3 is a ‘capstone year' during which you will complete a major self-designed creative writing dissertation project. You will use the practical, critical and analytical skills developed across years one and two, to research a topic of your own choice.
Other modules will help you to manage your research and introduce you to further ideas and ways of working that may influence your career choices.
Research is key throughout the third year, in both the modules delivered and in the increasing focus on your extensive, independent study.
Core modules
Box Set Drama: Writing for Television
30 credits
This is the module that can make you rich! On terrestrial and digital platforms, in both drama and comedy, the returning drama series remains TV's holy grail, pulling viewers in for episode after episode, season after season, box set after box set. For producers and writers – and the ‘showrunners' who are both – a returning series can be a goldmine. So how do these TV blockbusters get made? What makes them successful? And could you write one?
Taught by two highly experienced professionals, Box Set Drama is a practical and creative module which explores how a returning drama or comedy series is conceived and constructed – and gives you the tools to write one. Through close study of a few successful shows (and some not so successful), you will learn how to structure a series, build characters and stories, hook an audience, and dramatise action for the screen. Building from concept to treatment to script, with the aid of practical exercises and regular feedback, you will then develop a pitch for your own original show, aimed at the current television market. If you are keen to understand screen narrative and genre, find out how television drama works and explore writing for a visual medium, this module is for you. You will be taught basic principles of scriptwriting and storylining and, after two stimulating and entertaining semesters, will have generated a pitch and supporting portfolio for your own idea, written to industry standards.
Creative Writing Dissertation Project
30 credits
Creative Writing Dissertation Project is a year-long 30-credit module which showcases and synthesises students' practical skills, knowledge gained, and creative talent nurtured and developed throughout their creative writing degree. It documents them in a unique portfolio that can be presented to a range of audiences, potential sponsors and employers. The specific nature and dissemination of the project is influenced by the type of joint-honours degree you are taking and this is reflected in the proposal initiated and developed by you yourselves in discussion with your supervisor. The project also builds on accumulated experience in research and creative writing in an inter- and transdisciplinary context, as it encourages you to make use of lateral thinking in order to draw on knowledge from across your course in conceptualising and producing their creative dissertation. It fuses creativity, initiative and imagination cultivated in a practice-based writing course with skills gained in joint disciplines in a way which resonates with the demands of contemporary creative economies and job markets.
In its format, the portfolio of work included in the Creative Writing Dissertation Project reflects stages of project development and execution encountered in a range of creative and research industries (proposal/bid, creative practice, dissemination and evaluation). Specific phases are designed to strengthen initiative and enterprise, in a process which benefits from employability-related skills gained in Level 4 and Level 5 modules such as, but not limited to, Writing that Works and Independent Creative Writing.
Throughout the project, you will gain knowledge of the most effective ways of presenting creative work to a wider audience including employers, sponsors, and commissioning bodies. Against the increasing dominance of self-publication, you will learn how to operate successfully in the literary market without traditional networks of support. The work on the portfolio emphasises transferable skills and employability, as well as entrepreneurship and self-reliance, whether you are preparing to enter the job market, work freelance or progress to postgraduate study.
Power and the Image
30 credits
The module explores the relationship between politics and the image, from a range of critical approaches including post-colonialism, post-modernism, and post-humanism. We look at a range of films that run counter to dominant discourses in relation to race, gender, sexuality and the body, including mainstream and European cinema, science fiction and neo-noir.
Special Topics in Film Cultures
30 credits
This module is research-led and changes year on year in response to changes in the industry and the research environment. Students will be able to create a range of responses to the module in their assignments, including the production of media artefacts accompanied by critical commentary.
