Bachelor of Art (Hons) in Game Development

at Falmouth University - Penryn Campus United Kingdom

As an independent performer, songwriter and self-producer, you’ll learn how to promote and release your own work, creating innovative portfolios based on experimentation, musicianship and a confident understanding of the industry. You'll study the audio-visual elements of pop and develop ways of critically conceiving and creating 'real' and 'virtual' presences. As someone invested in how pop makes meaning, you'll define a practice that's stylistically sophisticated and future facing.

You will:

• Develop songwriting techniques and performance and production skills.
• Establish innovative approaches to music making, the music business and technology.
• Perform and record in our high-spec AMATA studios.
• Forge industry links with studios, record labels, promotion companies and venues.
• Benefit from visiting lecturers like Bellatrix, Darcus Beese (Island Records), David Toop, Ed O'Brien (Radiohead), Mary Hampton, Jo Hamilton, Martha Tilston, Laura Snapes, Glen Roberts and Jerry Dammers (The Specials)

During this unique business degree you'll get the chance to collaborate with creatives from across the University, including students from our Launchpad business incubation programme, to proactively build your network.

You'll be able to immerse yourself in new ideas while learning theory and applying it to your own practice. You'll explore the social and environmental contexts of business, learn the art and science of building brands and collaborate with peers and professionals. You will be supported to take micro placements, engage with student-run businesses and potentially start your own enterprise.

You will:

• Be encouraged to hone your entrepreneurial skills in a live project environment
• Respond to business challenges informed by the 4th industrial revolution
• Build your business network through collaborative work with other students and external organisations

You will:

• Raise your awareness through learning that’s driven by the environmental, ethical and moral challenges of our time.
• Take your place at the forefront of the industry, with access to resources from industrial, specialist sewing and knit machines, screen printing and a natural dye garden, to ultrasonic welding machines.
• Learn to use the latest digital design technologies, including CLO 3D.
• Thrive by working together on collaborative, challenge-based projects.
• Work on live briefs with leading brands like Fred Perry, Lou Dalton, O'Neill and New York-based Ryan Roche.

After establishing a firm foundation in developing software and hardware, you'll apply your skills to both individual projects and major collaborations. We'll provide you with exciting opportunities to bring your ideas to life by designing engaging human-robot interactions and working prototypes.

You will:

• Apply your skills to inspiring projects spanning creative and technical domains, on briefs set by industry partners
• Build robots that interact with people and environments in novel and interesting ways
• Develop an understanding of the environmental, societal and cultural context for robotics and the implications for the design, engineering, deployment and adoption of robotic technologies
• Implement robotic systems that leverage state-of-the-art artificial intelligence
• Obtain a mastery of programming and physical fabrication by working on practical problems in a bespoke social robotics lab

The outdoors will be your studio and you'll have fantastic locations on your doorstep, as well as opportunities to travel the world. You'll also benefit from the expertise of staff members who are global practitioners, with links to the BBC Natural History Unit and National Geographic.

You will:

• Have the opportunity to take part in regular field trips and residentials to places like Dartmoor, where you'll complete first aid training for the outdoors. There are also optional international field trips, including visits to places like the Cairngorms, the Galapagos Islands and the Red Sea
• Have the option to learn professional underwater photography
• Have the chance to complete a two-week work placement in your second year
• Organise, fund and complete a self-devised project in your third year, mirroring an industry project, which could be based anywhere in the world
• Access our cutting-edge photographic equipment, as well as studios, dark rooms and post-production suites

Throughout your studies we'll help you understand key business and marketing theories. From developing complex problem-solving skills to navigating consumer psychology, digging deep into big data to understand the ethics of your practice, you'll learn to harness creativity, cultural awareness and business acumen to deliver impactful marketing strategies across a range of digital platforms.

You will:

• Be an active part of Gallos, our thriving student-led agency
• Work on live briefs, building your industry network
• Collaborate with digital innovators across the region, including company founders in our award- winning Launchpad programme
• Work with industry connected and research active staff

Business & Digital Marketing BSc(Hons) is accredited by the leading professional marketing body, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). This means students who successfully complete the full undergraduate degree are part-accredited for qualifications CIM offers professional marketing practitioners.

Through this highly practical two-year course, you’ll be equipped with the technical know-how to succeed in many diverse areas of the industry. Led by practicing experts, you’ll be empowered to take a creative, collaborative and proactive approach to your work. 

You will:

• Work in AMATA’s purpose-built professional studios and performance spaces. 
• Benefit from a year-round performance programme, which features respected artists from all over the world. 
• Learn from practicing technical and academic staff and work with skilled technicians. 
• Gain nationally recognised qualifications in equipment use, processes and health and safety. 
• Have the opportunity to interact with professional theatre and production companies, such as Kneehigh and WildWorks, as well as music festivals and producers, theatre venues and tourism events throughout Devon, Cornwall and beyond.

Working with academics from the Academy of Music & Theatre Arts and the School of Entrepreneurship, you’ll explore new music business models and future-facing practice.

Based in our purpose-built facilities – which include space for gigs, recording, rehearsals and business – you’ll be immersed in a hub of creativity and collaboration. You’ll have the opportunity to develop projects with video makers, photographers, fashion designers, graphic designs, dancers and choreographers from across the University. 

You will:

• Gain skills in marketing, publishing, contracts and project management 
• Be able to undertake industry-accredited short courses 
• Learn from lecturers with a wealth of industry experience covering everything from merchandising, music video production and managing micro-labels to international touring and major festivals 
• Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills and apply this to live music business projects  
• Have the opportunity to interact with relevant music businesses, festivals, distributors and labels 
• Have access to the University’s wide range of professional facilities, equipment and creative spaces 

Our academic team members are experienced practitioners, with broad industry backgrounds, who will teach you how to work collaboratively and take a creative approach to organising events, from cutting-edge fashion experiences and music festivals, to weddings, business events and product launches.

You will:

Organise at least four live events over the three-year course

• Study on one of the first courses in the world accredited by A Greener Festival
• Be involved in industry events and take part in workshops with organisations such as Attitude is Everything
• Take micro-placements throughout the course, with previous destinations ranging from Cornwall to California
• Explore the future of sustainable and digital event management
• Be supported to develop creative approaches and specialise in an area you’re passionate about
• Be part of a course in the hospitality, event management and tourism sector where Falmouth holds a top ten ranking in the Guardian University Guide 2021