The aim of this module is to introduce and encourage you to make imaginative and inventive use of skills appropriate to a diverse range of media project work. The module will promote an experimental, risk taking creative outlook. You will be encouraged to develop reflective thinking, understanding personal creativity and how this relates to your intended degree route.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

This module encourages you to experiment with a range of creative approaches to media production. You will learn key techniques relevant to a range of production areas. You will also receive brief introductions to the range of subject areas in the department of Media Arts and Communications in the first few weeks of the module. You will be encouraged in the early weeks of this module to experiment with a range of different media techniques and formats

Sample topics could include:

• Storyboarding
• Sketching
• Scripting
• Mark-making
• Life drawing
• Researching locations
• Use of still and video cameras
• Use of microphones
• Storytelling and narrative techniques
• Colour theory
• Understanding visual language
• Writing for different media contexts
• Layout and design
• Basic editing techniques in sound, video, images and digital design
• Working collaboratively
• Ethics, health and safety, risk assessments and release forms

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the academic study of creative media practice. Students will be supported in developing skills of academic research, learning and communication to further their appreciation of the relationship between their own practice and its wider historical, social, cultural and industry contexts.

Indicative Content:

This module introduces students to thinking and writing about their work in relation to the wider media landscape. Students will learn to write in a critical, academic style, using a range of resources to support their arguments. They will be introduced to the idea of academic texts and how to read, analyse and use these sources in their writing. 

Students will be encouraged to engage in secondary research using a variety of library, gallery and media sources and think about their own production in relation to its social, cultural, historical and industry contexts.

This module will be delivered alongside the media project module and is designed to help students contextualise their practice. Students will be expected to research current and historical examples of the medium/genre they are specialising in and to show how their work relates to other examples of creative media practice. They will be introduced to some basic theoretical concepts and encouraged to think about issues in the wider media industry impacting on their practice such as regulation, copyright and distribution.

Students will cover topics such as:

• How to identify relevant literature (e.g. books and articles) to use in assignments
• How to read and understand academic literature
• Essay writing and structuring techniques
• How to use quotes and examples to illustrate a point
• Correct referencing, quoting and use of sources
• Use of libraries, databases, media archives, galleries and other resources
• Introduction to media regulation, codes and laws
• Histories of different media
• How to situate your own practice in relation to others’ work
• Identifying an audience for your work
• Analysing and critiquing arguments/messages in both academic and media texts

This module supports students in the development and production of self-directed creative media or communication project work, allowing them to demonstrate their skills across one or more media platforms. Students will produce a substantial portfolio of work relevant to their chosen area of creative media and communication, informed and supported through research and developed in consultation with a subject tutor.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

You will build on the skills you acquired in semester one to create a portfolio of media production in your chosen specialism. The nature of the work in this portfolio will be devised by you, in dialogue with your lecturers. You will be responsible for all stages of the project from idea generation and pre-production through to post-production editing and a final evaluation of your work.

Projects will be introduced by your tutors and grounded upon self-directed study and research; these form the basis of your practice work. Technical workshops and group tutorials will help you develop your skills and techniques. You will also spend some time in one-to-one supervision with a member of staff who specialises in your chosen area.

You will take part in small group peer review and critique sessions. During these sessions you will discuss your work and that of others, offering support, ideas and constructive critiques to help one another succeed.

During the module you will be encouraged to document your practical work in a research workbook using skills acquired last semester. The workbook can be presented in a format of your choice.

This module aims to support students in the development of independent learning, key study skills and attributes required for effective engagement with degree level study in the Media Arts and Communication subject areas. This module aims to help you to develop confidence in your ability to discuss and present your work clearly. You will be encouraged to reflect upon and gain an understanding of where your own strengths and weaknesses are with regard to your work, and begin to appreciate how to improve your practice and study skills. Through a range of activities and exercises you will be encouraged to take creative risks and to begin researching your ideas so that their potential can be explored. This module provides you with the necessary foundational skills from which all your future creative work can develop.

Indicative Content:

The module introduces the skills and techniques needed for university study and supports students in their development of a creative and reflective approach to their work.

The emphasis of the module will be to encourage students to develop several possible Media solutions that creatively address specified problems or fulfil the criteria of a given brief. Students will be encouraged to explore different ways of generating ideas, and to experiment with creative techniques such as: drawing, writing, creating mind maps, curating material from different sources, collages and more. 

There will be introductions to essential skills in writing, drawing, IT and information gathering as well as techniques for project planning, time management and personal development planning. Students will receive training and guidance in using university resources such as the Learning Centre, student support services and careers services.

Students will be encouraged to set-up a blog or other form of online portfolio during this module that can both be used to reflect on their learning and display their production work not only on this module but throughout the course.

Other topics may include:

• Using the Library, your SHU email account and the virtual learning environment (Blackboard)
• How to access the range of student support services offered by the university
• Appropriate software and associated academic procedures
• Techniques for effective communication including the written word
• How to research effectively
• How to appropriately reference your research and acknowledge sources
• Planning and managing your time effectively
• Using the university careers and employability centre
• Getting the most from tutorials, and understanding the value of constructive criticism
• Working in teams and groups
• Evaluating your own and other people’s work
• Understanding assessment criteria
• Preparing for a presentation
• Speaking to a group
• Generating and selecting ideas
• Record-keeping

Module Aim: 

This module introduces you to creative photographic making and production. You will investigate fundamental analogue and digital techniques and processes, including different types of printing and presentation outputs.  

The module will encourage an exploratory and experimental approach in the development of ideas and project outcomes. The creative application of photographic skills, technologies and materials forms the guiding principle for the remaining duration of your studies. 

You will learn appropriate research methods and the importance of evaluation to help inform and extend your thinking. Your practice will be supported by an introduction to relevant photographic histories, concepts and theoretical debates.  

Module Content: 

• Technical inductions and workshops   

• Safe working and risk assessments 

• Investigation through making and appropriate presentation methods and forms  

• Methods to develop, record and visualise ideas 

• Lecture and seminars introducing historical and contemporary practices, critical contexts and theoretical debates 

• Learn to communicate, evaluate and reflect on your work and that of others  

Module Aim: 

This is the level 4 work experience module and will enable you to work on an Applied Project. 

The module introduces the development of key employability and communication skills, and creative strategies relevant to professional practice. You will continue to investigate contemporary photographic methods and processes, deepening your understanding of the approaches through which practitioners can work. 

You will be supported to work with external partners and collaborators from industry and the cultural sector, to develop work in specific professional contexts and respond to real world challenges. You will consider client and audience requirements and explore the significance of diverse cultural, social and critical perspectives in developing an informed understanding of your field.  

Indicative Content: 

• inductions and technical workshops  

• digital skills and workflow development 

• working with clients and industry professionals 

• research, communication, and presentation 

• critical visual analysis 

• ethical, sustainability, inclusivity, and diversity issues relevant to industry and practice 

Module Aim:  

This project-based module will facilitate you to collaborate with others to tackle sustainable development challenges creatively. With the support of academics and external stakeholders, you will develop your collaborative, creative, communication, and presentation skills. Through multi-disciplinary project work, you will develop an informed and imaginative response to local and global sustainable development challenges. 

Learning will be blended and delivered through teaching, workshops, doing, and independent study individually and in groups.  

Indicative content:  

• Study and consideration of Sustainable Development  

• Exploration and utilisation of collaborative skills 

• Exploration and utilisation of design thinking and creative thinking tools  

• Project management 

• Creative research methods 

• Understanding audiences 

• Communication and presentation skills 

• Working with others, building relationship including with external stakeholders 

• Critical thinking and reflection 

Module Aim: 

This is the level 5 work experience module and will enable you to work on an enhanced Applied Project.  

The module explores a range of contemporary contexts relating to the professional display, installation, and presentation of photographic work in the production of an externally public facing group exhibition. It applies the skills and knowledge developed through creative practice to real world contexts.  

You will consider the various sites, spaces, platforms, and communities in which photographic work is made and shown, and consider the methods through which artists work with different communities, audiences, and participants. By engaging in public/peer review you will further your ability to situate and communicate your developing independent practice in a professional environment. 

Indicative content:  

• development of individual photographic practice  

• activities working with others in particular sites and contexts  

• collaboration, cooperation, co-production, participation  

• exhibition practices – curation, design and dissemination 

Module Aim: 

This module will explore skills, develop knowledge, and expand your abilities in the thinking and making of expansive photographic practices.  

You will consider a range of techniques, materials, and processes appropriate to diverse creative fields of photographic image culture. You will develop your understanding of contemporary photography’s relationship to other mediums, disciplines and forms and consider the critical debates underpinning such practices. 

You will be empowered to subvert conventions, produce new forms of independent practice and work imaginatively, ethically, and sustainably in response to the rapidly evolving discipline of photography. You will analyse the potential of current and emerging technologies in the realisation of creative image production and presentation.  

Indicative content: 

• technical workshops with materials, processes, and emerging technologies 

• refinement of core photographic skills and techniques 

• making in response to expansive practices   

• development of an independent creative practice 

• development of research in the consideration of relevant critical contexts 

Module Aim: 

This module extends and deepens your ability to work independently in the development, realisation, and positioning of a sustained and critically underpinned self-defined practice. You will consolidate knowledge, technical skills, creative and intellectual abilities, to produce a significant body of exhibition-ready photographic work, of a high professional standard.  

The module will support the specific requirements of your practice and enable you to effectively present and disseminate it in a relevant context in the public domain. It will further prepare you for career readiness and life beyond university in the development of your personal and professional autonomy, integrity, and resilience. 

Indicative Content: 

• practical workshops and technical surgeries 

• tutorial support of project development and realisation  

• group critique, peer review, and self-assessment 

• independent research and investigation 

• development and presentation of work for public dissemination  

• engagement with external opportunities, platforms and audiences 

• professional portfolios 
   

Module Aim: 

This is the Level 6 work experience module and will enable you to work on a professional and scholarly research project. 

The module will focus on negotiating and defining a self-initiated practice-based research project which engages with critical thinking and creative testing and is situated in its relevant professional context. You will deepen your exploration of the connections between intention, process, outcome, and context. 

The module will challenge you to develop and refine your personal and professional practice and associated workflows, within an independently driven creative sphere, thus supporting you to consider and explore professional futures, career aspirations and relevant pathways. 

Indicative Content: 

• personal and professional identity and development  

• skills and ideation development  

• research and articulation of critical ideas   

• testing of work in different professional contexts  

• industry and career pathways including alumni/graduate engagement. 

• external visits to galleries, exhibitions and industry or cultural sector 

• methods and platforms for professional presentation and dissemination