Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Media Production

at University of the West of England - Bristol - City Campus United Kingdom

This postgraduate degree has been co-designed by UWE academics and producers, directors and production managers from the BBC's world renowned Natural History Unit (NHU).

Bristol is the global capital of natural history programme making and the natural place to study for an MA in Wildlife Filmmaking. On this highly popular Masters course you will learn how to develop and pitch ideas, tell great stories and make intelligent and surprising programmes to captivate and engage audiences.

Our partnership with the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) means that, alongside your studies, you will have incredible opportunities to network with professional wildlife film makers, attend talks, film festivals and other events around the city.

Our MA students graduate with the skills, experience and knowledge needed for entry level jobs in all areas of production from online to broadcast. Graduates now work for the BBC, Icon Films, Discovery, Tigress and other top production companies in the UK and overseas.

Why study this course?
The course is based at Bower Ashton, part of the City Campus, in the creative heart of Bristol. Bower has exceptional facilities and resources which include a news studio, TV studio and post production areas which offer the latest technology.

Be inspired by watching some of the Wildlife Filmmaking videos created by students on our Vimeo site.

Alum, Lindsey Parietti, won a student BAFTA for her powerful nature documentary Blood Island, a film created for this course. In this video she talks about what compelled her to tell the story, and the success that followed.

This course was developed alongside industry experts and has produced Graduate Fashion Week award-winners across several categories.

Why study fashion communication?

• The fashion industry employs over 400,000 people in the UK alone, and engages and inspires global audiences through diverse media.
• Fashion brands use a range of platforms and techniques to speak to existing and new customers. To do this, they need professionals with a solid understanding of contemporary culture and fashion.
• Studying fashion communication will introduce you to a variety of roles and specialisms. The knowledge and network you develop will open the door to many careers, including art direction, fashion film, social media, advertising, marketing, copywriting, photography, event management, styling, social media, branding and more.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Fashion Communication is a creative interdisciplinary course based at Arnolfini, one of Europe's leading centres for the contemporary arts.
• Our staff are industry experts and have strong relationships with the fashion industry so you'll benefit from regular input from fashion professionals.
• Exceptional facilities and resources include industry-standard digital media studios. Production and fabrication workshops offer a combination of traditional tools and the latest technology.
• Discover approaches towards communicating and promoting fashion. Work with photography, digital media and film to explore ideas around fashion and its global dissemination.
• Study and apply branding, market analysis and PR to your creative work and investigate the use of digital marketing strategies, future trends and technology's role in fashion.
• Apply new ideas through project development, which can include online marketing campaigns, promotional films or publications. Demonstrate your creativity and fashion knowledge through an extended independent design project.
• We work closely with industry specialists to keep the curriculum current and relevant to industry. Develop professional and entrepreneurial skills, and participate in live briefs and collaborative projects with industry professionals.
• Go on visits to workplaces and sector events where you'll see the fashion industry in action. Gain valuable experience through professional practice and internships.
• City Campus is a creative powerhouse that spans the city of Bristol and is made up of Bower Ashton, Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
• Showcase your work to talent scouts and potential employers at the final year Creative Industries Degree Show, and exhibitions in London.
• Focusing on the avenues that most interest you, through your modules and assessments, you'll graduate with an impressive portfolio of work, ready to take your place in the fashion industry.

Where can it take me?

• Fashion communication can take you in many directions.
• Potential careers include photographer, stylist, trend forecaster, fashion editor, brand manager, online marketeer, online visual merchandiser and events manager.

Study in a studio environment with professional-standard facilities and the focus on the real-world skills you need to succeed in your career

Why study graphic design?

• Graphic design makes a powerful contribution to the cultural and economic life of contemporary society.
• It exists in the public domain, acts as an indicator of current cultural thinking and is a catalyst for social, cultural and political change.
• The role of the graphic designer in society and the professional world is multifaceted; designer as curator, author, craftsperson, editor, educator, collaborator and agitator.
• Studying graphic design is excellent preparation for a creative career in the UK and abroad.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Graphic Design is based at the Arnolfini, at the heart of Bristol's creative and cultural community. You'll learn from practising graphic designers in a professional studio environment.
• Past students have won awards in prestigious national competitions such as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Student Design Awards and the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD).
• In recent years, graduates' work has been exhibited at D&AD New Blood, London, with several being identified as 'Ones to Watch' and commendations received for several collaborative projects.
• Our students are also regularly shortlisted for the Best British Book Design and Production Awards.
• Our City Campus is a powerhouse of inspiration and collaboration, and home to our many City Creatives. It spans Bristol and is made up of Bower Ashton and renowned contemporary arts centres Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
• Our strong industry links with the thriving city of Bristol ensure ongoing input from professional designers, with extra mentoring support also on offer through the West of England Design Forum.
• You won't be working on hypothetical designs. Projects are socially and culturally relevant, whether undertaken inside or outside the university.
• Go on work placements and internships, or volunteer, to gain valuable workplace experience.
• Attend talks from studios like OK/RM, Pentagram, Moving Brands, Mother London, Muf, APFEL and Book Works.
• Showcase your work to talent scouts and potential employers at the final year Creative Industries Degree Show.
• Focus on the avenues that most interest you, and graduate with an impressive portfolio of work, ready to make your mark in the industry.

Where can it take me?

• This course prepares you for an idea-driven, sustainable and flexible freelance practice, or studio career in graphic design.
• Many of our graduates find work with highly respected design studios in the UK and worldwide.
• Others go on to further study, such as a master's in graphic design or graphic arts, or pursue a career in research or education.

This course is affiliated with the leading professional body for photographers in the UK and beyond, the Association of Photographers.

Why study photography?

• Images are everywhere. Studying photography enables you to understand the language of images and develop your 'visual voice' to communicate effectively and with confidence.
• It helps you understand the contexts in which images exist and circulate, and locate opportunities to get your images published, exhibited and commissioned.
• Becoming a photography professional opens doors to a wide range of careers within a global landscape of creative industries.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Photography is based in the city of Bristol, a vibrant arts and media community that will challenge and inspire you.
• The course offers a vibrant, collaborative environment, modern facilities, supportive workshop instruction and expert input, all underpinned by theory and critique.
• Study at Bower Ashton Studios, part of our City Campus, where exceptional facilities and resources include industry standard digital media studios.
• Explore traditional tools and the latest technology in our production and fabrication workshops. Develop your creativity and the high-level practical skills needed to become a successful photographer. Work across all areas of the discipline, from editorial and documentary to fashion, advertising and fine art.
• We'll encourage you to transform your broad-based photographic practice into an individual visual style. On graduation, you'll have a unique and compelling body of work for the marketplace.
• Work to briefs set and assessed by external individuals and organisations, including photographers, filmmakers, publishers, clothing labels, product designers, theatre groups, musicians and festivals. Build your CV with work experience, and access to job opportunities, throughout the course.  
• Our partnerships with Bristol Photography Festival and IC Visual Lab, two highly reputable Bristol-based photography organisations with national and international influence, will provide you with a wide range of work experience placements and live briefs to work on. You'll also have access to industry talks, events and opportunities to display your work at prestigious exhibitions and venues.

Where can it take me?

• Our graduates work in fields from editorial and fashion to movie stills and medical photography. Employers include the BBC, Sunday Times Magazine and the Tate.  
• Past students have assisted photographers such as Steve McCurry, Zed Nelson and Tim Walker, and have been published and exhibited in FT Weekend, Vogue Italia, Oh Comely, The Photographers Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the Tate.
• Graduates have also established important collectives and exhibiting networks such as The Lost Light Recordings, Loupe Magazine and Splash and Grab.
• Some graduates go on to further study at Master's level, including our own postgraduate MA Photography programme

This industry-led master's course offers you the opportunity to explore the politics, business and culture of immersive technologies. You will learn practical skills and develop your craft as a pioneering storyteller in virtual, augmented and extended realities.

MA Virtual and Extended Realities is an industry-led course designed to address increased demand for expertise in immersive storytelling. The course is open to passionate graduates who want to enter the radical world of virtual, augmented and extended reality production.

We welcome students from all disciplines and backgrounds, and are looking for people with ideas about how their unique perspective and diverse experiences can contribute to this young and fast-evolving industry.

Your background may be in journalism, filmmaking, experience design, education, marketing or theatre. Perhaps your specialism is in storytelling, software, sound design or circus.

Whatever you bring to the mix, this is a place for independent thinkers who thrive in experimental, collaborative and hands-on learning environments.

Why study this course?
Virtual and Extended Realities is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. There is a recognised shortage of graduates with the skills and experience needed to support transformation in every sector.

Why UWE Bristol?

• In this one-year, full time course, you'll combine theory and critical thinking with practical experimentation. Throughout the year, you'll learn from pioneering thought-leaders and work with internationally significant industry partners. This collaboration will allow you to create innovative work in virtual and extended realities.
• Previous partners include BBC R&D, Royal Opera House, English Institute of Sport and Ultraleap. You'll also benefit from the support of a personal mentor, hand-picked from our research and professional networks to support your development.

Gain valuable practical experience through live briefs, group work, placements and networking events and graduate ready to make your mark in the industry.

Why study animation?

• Animation is a broad creative subject that offers opportunities to all kinds of creatives, including storytellers, designers, artists, technologists and performers.
• It reaches audiences young and old right across the globe. It educates, entertains and informs. It shows us things we could never see with our own eyes; buildings not yet built, the workings of a heart, a dying star.
• It can help us visualise the dynamics of an unfolding news event, place long-extinct creatures into your very hands, and breathe life into those that have never existed.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Animation is based in the Bristol School of Animation at Bower Ashton Studios, part of our City Campus. Our new animation studio spaces and facilities include digital media studios, production studios and fabrication workshops, offering both traditional tools and the latest technology.
• Studying this in Bristol means you'll be based in a centre of animation production excellence in Europe, with our animation courses forming an integral part of the city's success.
• This practice-based production degree not only develops your creative flair but also provides you with highly sought-after technical skills.
• Learn through making using industry-standard equipment. Practical work is balanced by theoretical study, work experience and research activities, all designed to prepare you for work in a commercial environment. Live briefs, work-based placements and networking events support your transition into professional practice.
• Join a long-established, highly creative animation community in which students are known and valued for their individual creative flair. You'll be taught by a team with extensive commercial animation experience, with regular contributions from commercial practitioners. This, coupled with our strong links with the UK's major animation companies, will ensure you benefit from professional expertise throughout the course.
• Our City Campus is a creative powerhouse. It spans Bristol and is made up of Bower Ashton and renowned contemporary arts centres Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
• Be a part of Bristol's vibrant arts and cultural scene and make friendships that continue long after graduation, developing into partnerships, startups and larger businesses.
• Showcase your work through our online presence, regular networking events and final year Creative Industries Degree Show to impress talent scouts and potential employers.
• Focus on the avenues that most interest you, and graduate with an impressive portfolio of work.
• See some of the work our students produced over the past few years, including a recent project with Avon and Somerset Police.

Where can it take me?

• Animation is a growing sector that extends way beyond traditional TV based media, one that will continue to need a wide range of creatives of all kinds.
• Our graduates have gone on to form careers in the animation industry, graphic design, computer games, illustration and so on, both throughout the UK and across the world.
• Some choose further study at master's level, including our own MA in Animation.
• Read about our graduate Elise's career in stop-motion animation and Sam's career in digital animation.

Explore the screen industry, tap into Bristol's vibrant creative sector, and build an excellent foundation for working on documentaries, feature films, TV and new platforms.

Why study screen business?

• The UK screen industry is booming, with companies like Netflix and Amazon investing huge amounts in creating original UK dramas and content.
• New platforms are also opening up new opportunities, and producers are needed to meet the ongoing demand for high-quality screen-based content in the digital space, animations and video games, as well as in TV and films.

Why UWE Bristol?

• MA Screen Business is firmly embedded in Bristol's vibrant creative sector and is delivered in partnership with Watershed, the leading film culture and digital media centre in the South West.
• Exploring the structure and operations that make up the contemporary global screen industries, you'll learn about areas such as production, distribution and exhibition, as well as the marketing and reception of film and TV.
• Studying this in Bristol, a UNESCO City of Film, means you'll be part of the city's rapidly expanding screen business sector, the third largest in the UK.
• Bristol is home to the BBC's world-famous Natural History Unit, Aardman Animations, the Bottle Yard Studios, and many leading independent production companies, as well as being one of two Channel 4 regional hubs, and the new production base for Netflix.
• The course draws on UWE Bristol's strong reputation in film studies and filmmaking, and the renowned research of our film and cultural studies staff.
• You'll learn about creative entrepreneurship and the practicalities of establishing yourself as a successful producer.
• There'll be opportunities to network with other future creative leaders, working alongside students on our other postgraduate screen courses.
• We hope to arrange a field trip to an international film festival, subject to Covid restrictions.
• Where possible, the course will include company visits and guest lectures by leading industry experts.

Where can it take me?

• You'll develop the skills to work on documentaries, feature films, TV and new platforms, as a production manager, line producer or production assistant.
• You could go into areas such as finance, distribution or exhibition in an established screen business, or set up your own start-up. Or progress onto further research or teaching.

Staff from The Centre for Fine Print Research form the key teaching team on MA Design. The CFPR is one of the country's leading university research centres in Art and Design, combining a multi-technology approach towards novel surface print, design and fabrication in 2 and 3 dimensions.

The broad and practice-based MA Design takes students on a creative journey where you will explore process, materials and context. You will challenge and extend your existing design practice at an advanced level whilst developing a range of artistic and practical skills.

The course is delivered through a series of project-based modules 'Make', 'Play' and 'Live', through which you will engage with real-world problems and issues of relevance to contemporary design practice and work towards the production of a physical object.

The course attracts a diverse range of practicing designers, makers and industry professionals from a range of disciplines, including but not exclusively: ceramics, fashion design, jewellery design, product design, lighting, fine art and architecture and equally broad ranging staff backgrounds in robotics, graphics, product design and fine art. You will work both independently and collaboratively, pushing boundaries and exchanging ideas across design disciplines.

Why study this course?
The course is based at Bower Ashton Campus, part of City Campus, where exceptional facilities and resources include state-of-the-art digital media, production and fabrication workshops offer a combination of traditional tools and the latest technology.

The course attracts a broad range of students from the UK, Europe and beyond, and is an exciting mixing pot for creative ideas and collaborative experience.
This creative and experimental MA in Graphic Arts brings together graphic designers, illustrators, and individuals from related industries to engage with communication design practice at a deeper level. You will research, investigate and debate the nature and dynamics of communication, and explore how they can produce meaningful outcomes using conventional and unconventional forms.

You will develop your design process: from creative strategies for generating ideas; gathering and analysing information; producing text; to producing final outcomes to industry standards. Skills development is embedded throughout and a vital re-skilling stage, a series of technical workshops delivered by experienced technical staff, ensures you are up-to-date and industry-ready.

Students value the experience and expertise of staff and the extensive, cutting-edge facilities and workshop areas covering digital and traditional print, media, film and animation, fabrication, photography, and apple mac suites.

This course is based on Bristol's historic waterfront at the Arnolfini. Situated above this internationally renowned centre for contemporary art you will be at the heart of Bristol's creative and cultural community, with access to UWE Bristol's City Campus and all it has to offer.

 Work alongside independent and BBC audio producers, and award-winning academics, to gain valuable experience, insights and contacts for your career in audio journalism.

Why study journalism (audio, docs and podcast)?

• Today's fast-moving digital age has opened up enticing opportunities for journalists wanting to work in audio and radio.
• Producers are needed to create high-quality programs for podcasts, radio and audio documentaries - and graduates specializing in this field will build a compelling set of skills to develop a highly versatile portfolio career.

Why UWE Bristol?

• Offered in partnership with the BBC, our MA Journalism (Audio, Docs and Podcast) is for graduates with a passion for radio, and an interest in journalism and audio documentary making.
• Working with award-winning audio producers, you'll learn to develop your own radio documentaries and podcasts, as you build experience of audio collection techniques, sound and recording, working in a studio and using digital editing software.
• Based at the arts-focused Bower Ashton studios, you'll be immersed in audio and radio for the digital age, putting your skills into practice, and delving into the cultural industry and its supply chain.
• There's a strong emphasis on developing your technical expertise, alongside the skills needed to compete as a producer, such as commissioning, pitching and getting your documentaries to air. You'll also gain useful online skills to develop your own websites and podcasts.
• You will build experience on placements in some of Bristol's most innovative cultural organizations, get to pitch your work to Radio 4 editors and work on your own projects with mentoring from industry.

Where can it take me?

• By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to secure audio journalism work on a freelance or staff basis, in production companies and post-production facilities. You could work as a broadcast assistant, junior researcher, production assistant or studio manager.