Bachelor of Arts in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Have you grown up with a deep interest in film and television and the thinking that goes into bringing entertainment to homes across the country? Take a step into this fast-paced and exciting industry by studying Brunel’s Film and Television Studies and English BA.

Your degree will give you a thorough understanding of film and television by examining a wide range of recent and contemporary productions for both the big and small screen. You will gain an insight into a range of genres as your studies will explore Hong Kong to Hollywood cinema, science fiction, documentaries, and everything in between.

By opting for this joint honours degree with English, you will also study the major areas of English literature from the Renaissance to the most recent publications in poetry, fiction and drama, whilst developing an informed understanding of current debates in the subject.

This is an exciting, dynamic, wide-ranging course with plenty of flexibility allowing you to follow your own individual tastes and literary passions.

The film and television industries are very hands-on and wide-ranging fields, therefore you will be able to make modules choice accordingly. After the first year, up to 40% of your module choices can be practical so you are able to take the theory you have learned and put it into practice by applying it to your own work.

As well as enhancing your learning by attending screenings at the British Film Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and other cinemas across the capital, you will also be eligible to enter our annual Brunel University Film Festival (BUFF) with categories including Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction and Best Overall Film. This will allow you to put all your practical and theory skills into practice and will give you the opportunity to showcase your talents.

Brunel offers students access to fantastic editing suites with up-to-date production software including Avid with accredited training facilities for Final Cut Pro 10, allowing you to bring your ideas, thoughts and inspirations to life.

As you’ll be taught and supported by academics who are experts in their field, you’ll develop skills that can be applied from the classroom to the workplace. They know the industry inside out, so you know you are learning from experienced professionals who will bring their unique insights into your learning.

Gain an insight into life after your studies by putting your learning into practice by opting for a one-year work placement. You will graduate with valuable work experience to enhance your employment prospects and will be able to develop an understanding the working world within the film industry. We have excellent links with a wide range of notable external organisations, so you will have the opportunity to apply for high quality placements across London.

The Film and Television Studies and English BA is a part of the BAFTA albert education partnership. This accreditation provides students with exclusive access to the industry’s BAFTA albert carbon calculator, a tool used by Netflix, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, UKTV and Sky when producing their content. Participating students will work towards creating environmentally-friendly, sustainable content. Upon completion you will be presented with industry-recognised certification and become an official “BAFTA albert graduate”. This opportunity is provided at no extra cost.

As a graduate of this dynamic degree, you will leave us with the confidence to be able to develop a creative idea and see it through to the end – a transferable skill valuable in any sector.

We all understand that disease and poor health can stop people from living long and fulfilling lives. Through the skills learnt on this course, you could be one of the many professionals working towards improving the health of individuals and entire societies.

On this course you’ll develop the skills to change and influence health policy at a local, national and global level. As science and research progresses, you’ll learn to use these developments to draw your own research conclusions and to address areas of health to really make a difference in society.

You’ll look at local issues such as the effects of the Heathrow expansion on public health and international topics like obesity or contagious viruses. You’ll be at the forefront in developing or improving existing approaches in policy to solve these challenges.

This course covers many aspects of health in its broadest sense including health promotion and public health; health care law and ethics; health and social policy and health service research.

You’ll learn the skills to support individuals, families and communities in their environment whether through public health campaigns, government initiatives or advice on a one-to-one basis. You’ll graduate from this course equipped with the skills to become a key driver for societal change.

This course is also available online, giving you a unique learning experience, allowing you to build connections with like-minded professionals worldwide. Find out more about the Public Health and Health Promotion MSc Online.

Psychology is an exciting subject to study as we are still looking for answers to questions about the human mind and consciousness. At Brunel, you will have the chance to immerse yourself in the accepted theories of psychology as well as the latest research that is expanding our knowledge.

Our Psychology degree is accredited by The British Psychological Society and can be studied full-time over three years. We also offer it as a four year course which is unique in offering two six-month work placements or you can carry out a one year placement within a single environment.

Work experience while studying is a great asset, whether you choose to continue your studies in psychology or seek employment. You will know what it’s like to apply your skills in the workplace, which builds confidence and is attractive to employers. Recent placements have included the Institute of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital and Holloway Prison.

The course will help you to develop specific skills and practical methods before allowing you to tailor your studies to your own interests in the final year by selecting modules and writing a dissertation. This prepares you for the more self-directed study of a masters and specialisation in a particular field should you choose to pursue it.

Brunel offers access to extensive laboratory and technical facilities including brain imaging facilities (fMRI, EEG), psychophysics, and eye tracking. A good understanding of the equipment you may use in your work placement or in research is a useful skill to have for the future.

As an accredited psychology course, should you graduate with a 2:2 grade or higher, you will be eligible to apply for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. Membership will be key if you choose to pursue postgraduate training and become a psychologist.

Our Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Communication Systems) BEng degree is a modern course that has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to work and research in electronic and electrical engineering with specialisation in digital communication systems.This programme will help to develop underlying knowledge and skills appropriate for today’s digital communication systems including introduction to standardised systems.

You’ll gain a good understanding of the different engineering areas, giving you the opportunity to learn more about the fundamental engineering subjects such as design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, electronics and maths and gain skills in technical drawing.

By specialising in communication systems you’ll develop in-depth knowledge of communication systems and apply techniques on individual programmes.

Access is available to modern technical facilities including computer, electronics, and power and control laboratories where you’ll work on your experiments. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in dedicated computer clusters.

Brunel's BEng electronic and electrical engineering (artificial intelligence) course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). This professional engineering institution ensures that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited BEng degree in electronic and electrical engineering can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. The BEng degree meets the educational requirement to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).

We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on an engineering placement year, you will have the opportunity to work in an engineering or technology company.

Understanding customer behaviour and translating this into how a company communicates and operates is the crux of good marketing practice, which in turn, is integral to a successful business.

Brunel’s Business and Management (Marketing) BSc offers you the chance to explore the principles and practices of modern day marketing, such as market research, database marketing, digital marketing, and the marketing of not-for-profit services.

As with all our Business and Management degree courses, you will be equipped with a broad knowledge of business and management fundamentals as well as the analytical and interpersonal skills required to address the problems that today’s companies face.

You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way including numerical methods and how to use statistical software such as SPSS and EXCEL (A-level maths or the overseas equivalent is not a requirement).

A module on Management Enquiry will help you adapt to university study with learning sessions on working in groups, report writing, and time management.

There is the option to take a year’s work placement between your second and third year which could see you working in the marketing department of a leading brand or organisation. This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience and make valuable contacts for your future career. Find out more on our work placement year page.

You may also obtain the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Certificate in Professional Marketing while you study through the CIM Gateway, as this is a CIM accredited course. The CIM is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and CIM qualifications are highly regarded by potential employers.

Our Business and Management (Marketing) BSc is also accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which means you will gain exemptions from some of their professional papers if you wish to undertake further study towards being a chartered management accountant after you graduate.

This course has a placement option. Find out more about work placements available.

All our business degrees include the option of a work placement year between your second and third year.

• In addition to providing the opportunity to put what you’ve learnt in your degree into practice, and to earn some much appreciated money, our students find their work placement experience significantly enhances their career prospects when they come to graduate. In fact many students are offered employment with their work placement company upon graduation. You'll be working in the same capacity as you would when you graduate so it will give you a taste of what's to come, hopefully, including all the challenges and rewards.
• Placements are available at different sized organisations across the public and private sector, so you can choose the type of experience most suited to you. You’ll need to apply for these positions in much the same way as you would a job, so it’ll be useful experience in that respect too.
• The good news is that through our Business Life programme and the University’s Professional Development Centre, you should be well prepared to make the best applications you can.
• Placements tend to last 44 weeks. During your placement, an academic member of staff from Brunel Business School will keep in touch, and your employer will be invited to attend a tutorial day at Brunel with you

The Brunel Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences BSc is designed for students interested in learning how sports science can be used to optimise athletic development, sport performance, as well as how it enhances health and wellbeing.

You’ll learn how the human body works on physiological, biomechanical and psychological levels and how to apply this knowledge to training methods, mental techniques and nutritional strategies that enable people to consistently perform at the upper ranges of their abilities.

Crucially, you’ll gain insight into how the mind and body respond to the demands of sport and exercise and how they react under intense conditions such as strenuous physical activity or competition.

Your studies will be supported by some of the best teaching and sports facilities in the UK that include our:

• State-of-the-art physiology, biomechanics and psychology laboratories
• World-class indoor athletics centre
• International-standard 400m six-lane athletics track with full field event facilities
• Large indoor netball hall
• Multi-use sports centre equipped with squash, basketball and netball courts, as well as a superb climbing wall.
• Members-only fitness suite featuring treadmills, cycles and rowing machines
• A weight-training area with free and fixed weights
• Grass and third-generation (3G) all-weather pitches
• Outdoor tennis courts

You'll also have the opportunity to carry out a placement as part of your degree, giving you the experience to create a stand-out CV. Our Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences BSc offers two placement options: you can choose to carry out two placements during the summer vacations within the three year degree, or a one year placement between years two and three, as part of a four year degree.

Our Sustainable Electrical Power MSc degree has been designed to equip you with advanced knowledge of sustainable electrical power and energy generation systems.

You will gain the skills and knowledge to lead teams which will operate, control, design, regulate and manage the power systems and networks of the future.

You’ll develop the ability to critically evaluate methodologies, analytical procedures and research methods in renewable energy sources; the design of stand-alone, grid connected and hybrid sustainable electrical power systems; power system engineering; power electronics for power quality and grid integration; and regulatory frameworks for power systems and electricity markets.

You’ll have access to our high-performance technical laboratories for the testing of power and control systems. The latest industry standard simulation software is available for you to use in grid computing facilities to investigate and design sustainable electrical power systems.

During your studies, there are site visits to National Grid substations and control centres, and power stations. You will benefit from guest lectures delivered by experts from the electricity industry, and take part in conferences where you’ll deliver poster presentations on your research work.

Our MSc sustainable electrical power degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Energy Institute (EI). These two professional bodies ensure that your degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in sustainable electrical power fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. It can be studied full-time over one year or part-time over two years.

On this Business Computing BSc degree course, you get to specialise in eBusiness, learning about how software and IT systems can support business transactions and drive sales. Through a mixture of theory and real-world practice, you’ll learn how to determine a dynamic mix of processes, which allow information delivery systems and users to carry out business effectively and efficiently. You’ll come to intuitively understand how an organisation’s information systems need to adapt to the changes and developments natural to growth and progress.

In addition to the compulsory business computing content you will learn about the underlying models and latest approaches used by companies in building successful eBusiness platforms.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go down, you can select modules and specialise gradually during your time with us. You can transfer between Computer Science and Business Computing up to the start of Level 2, then should you wish, you can choose a specialism up to the start of Level 3.

We know that when you graduate, you’ll be working on large projects. That’s why one third of each year of our programmes is project-based. On Levels 1 and 2, you’ll build a software solution in a team, and in your final year you’ll carry out an individual project. You’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your projects at the annual Made in Brunel (Software Innovation) event, with awards presented by the likes of Cisco, Sky and Xerox.

As part of your degree course, you’ll have the chance to take a year-long work placement between your second year and third year. We’ll support you in finding that all-important paid professional experience, in the UK or abroad. The feedback we’ve received is that those who have taken a placement are much more likely to find a job for which their degree was a formal requirement as it gives you a competitive advantage. Recent graduates have gone on to work for well-known names such as Accenture, Toshiba, Microsoft, British Airways, O2, and Barclays.

Our programmes are accredited by the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP). The accreditation also allows you to apply for professional membership of the BCS after you have successfully completed your degree. 

The department has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze, recognising our dedication to the advancement of gender equality in STEM subjects. We now have an ongoing three-year action plan to further implement strategies and improve our practices. As part of this endeavour, Brunel’s Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from the industry.

Opt for a one-year work placement while you study to gain real-world technical and soft skills which will set you apart from the competition after you graduate from your Computer Science degree.

• All of our undergraduate computing courses come with the option of undertaking a year’s placement out in the industry. This means that you have the opportunity to experience a real working environment and develop your softer skills like presenting, negotiating and working to a specific brief and tight deadlines.
• A dedicated placement tutor from the Professional Development Centre will work with you to help secure your work placement, which could be in market, product or research development areas. Previous students have taken their placement year in companies such as Microsoft, BMW, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, and Xerox.

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course. 

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK! 

There are guest lectures covering lots of different digital media topics and the visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on a digital media placement year, you will have the opportunity of working in the ever-growing creative industries.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s visual effects and motion graphics course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

Who has political power? Why do they have it? To whom are they accountable? Is violent protest ever justified? If these questions evoke a response in you and raise more questions in turn, politics is the degree for you.

Politics is an exciting and dynamic subject, simulating debate and offering insight into how the ever-changing world around us works. It’s also a degree that can demonstrate your intellectual acumen and understanding of world affairs, which will be an asset in many fields of work.

The broad-based nature of the course at Brunel means you will be studying a wide breadth of modules from British politics to US foreign policy and political change. But you’ll not only be learning about politics – you’ll be analysing politics using the tools of political science to help deepen your understanding and critical thinking.

Opt for a placement year and you'll gain work experience that is highly valued by employers. Brunel students have secured placements in the Environmental Audit Committee, the House of Commons, Directorate of Gender Affairs, HM Treasury and the Competition Commission, to name only a few.

You can also opt to take part of your degree abroad in one of our partner universities in Europe, or participate in an exchange programme to China or the USA to study politics in a different part of the world whilst experiencing a new culture.

Brunel is a dynamic university choice for your politics course. You’ll be taught by politics experts who are often called on to comment on radio and television. The Brunel campus has hosted the filming of BBC’s Question Time and is a political hub during local and national elections.

Brunel politics graduates enter diverse careers. Many of our former students go into politics and the civil service and some are currently at GCHQ and military intelligence. Others work in the public and private sector like the NHS, international banks, business consultancy, law, NGOs and the media. Whichever route you chose, a politics degree with Brunel will set you up for a successful future.