Selection process for BA (Honours) Film and TV Production
What is our selection process?
After submitting your UCAS application, we may ask you to provide additional information to support your application. We make offers based on the information submitted and meeting the minimum academic requirements for entry onto the course.
Do I need to prepare anything in advance?
We may ask for a portfolio or show reel containing examples of your work to understand your creative experience and potential ability. It should evidence your interests in your creative specialism to date. This may include past and current school or college work, other personal projects, work in progress and other work that you feel demonstrates your creative potential.
Take time with your selection when putting the portfolio together. Do not include everything you have ever done, but a good, clear selection that represents your abilities.
What should be in my portfolio?
An edited show reel of examples of your work. This can include work you have undertaken as part of a course and/or work you have made in your own time. It can be any genre – such as drama, documentary, animation, pop promo, commercials, corporate or experimental.
How should I organise my portfolio?
The total running time must be no more than five minutes. We will not be able to accept anything longer. It doesn’t matter if it’s shorter than five minutes.
You can either show one piece of work or a number of pieces as long as the total running time does not exceed five minutes. We want you to select the pieces of work that demonstrate your creative and technical abilities most effectively. We want to understand your approach to storytelling and narrative development as well as camera work, sound and editing. We are therefore looking for completed pieces of work or longer edited extracts of work, not a clips reel cut to a soundtrack.
If you are showing more than one piece of work or clips from films you have made, please make sure each piece has an introductory title clearly stating the name of the film and your production role on. If your work is design or stills based, you can upload a slideshow of still images from your portfolio converted into an AVI or QuickTime file.
If your work is sound or radio based you can upload an AVI or WAV file.
Portfolio commentary
This should be a Word document or PDF, giving a written commentary of 750–1,000 words to accompany the show reel. The invitation email will have the email address that you need to send this to. Please include the following.
- a reflection on your own interest, learning and development in relation to film and TV production.
- a critical evaluation of one or two pieces of work in your show reel, including the key aims and ideas, your own roles/input, as well as the relevance of particular theories, influences or other contexts that you have drawn on.
- a list with titles and brief descriptions of all the samples of your work on your show reel, and your individual contribution to each piece.
- what you want to learn from studying this area and what has attracted you to this course at Sheffield Hallam University.
What are we looking for?
The following list will help you understand how we will assess your abilities and your suitability for the course. We are looking for
- a basic knowledge and understanding of the processes and techniques used in film and TV production.
- a creative and imaginative approach to production work.
- a potential to develop practical, conceptual and analytical skills in the realisation of your ideas.
- an ability to identify the sources you have drawn on.
- an ability to relate your ideas to your own experience.
What decisions can be made on my application?
Our decision will be communicated via UCAS track, so please check your account regularly.
You will receive one of the following decisions.
Conditional offer for the course that you have applied for – you must fulfil certain criteria (usually based on the qualifications you are currently taking) before you can be accepted on the course. If the requirements are met, the offer becomes unconditional.
Unconditional offer for the course that you have applied for – usually made when you have already completed your qualifications and met the academic requirements we are asking for.
Change of course offer for the BA (Honours) Film and TV Production with Foundation Year. If your interviewer decides that you do not yet have the skills and attributes necessary to make a successful start on the degree course that you have applied to, you may be offered a place on this course. This takes the form of a foundation year, run in-house by our tutors, and will build your creative skills and attributes. If you complete this foundation year successfully, you will automatically progress onto the degree course.
Unsuccessful – unfortunately we are not able to offer you a place on the course. We do not feel that you have the necessary skills or experience to be successful on one of our courses. However, this does not prevent you from applying in the future, should you undertake further study to develop your skills and experience.