Digital Media: Storytelling and Production MA

Program Overview

Digital Media: Storytelling and Production MA

Overview

Our Digital Media Storytelling and Production MA empowers you to become a versatile and entrepreneurial digital media professional, blending advanced production skills with critical analysis of today’s media landscape. This highly practical programme is designed to propel your career in dynamic fields such as content creation, social media marketing, mobile video production, interactive design, and digital project management.

Course Structure

The following subjects are indicative of what you’ll study on this course.

Core Modules

• Interactive and Immersive Storytelling: This module provides you with a theoretical and historical overview of digital and immersive non-fiction narratives. It covers the evolution of factual storytelling since the early 2000s, spanning the platforms that have emerged since (mobile phone, tablet, AR, VR, XR, social media, spatial media, locative audio, interactive spaces and AI). Theories of agency, user experience, interactivity, interface and non-linear narrative structures will be analysed while looking at a multitude of cases studies and engaging in class debate and in depth analysis. By the end of this module you will have acquired a solid understanding of the current breath of digital and immersive narratives; you'll be aware of current and future trends in the field and will be ready to pitch an interactive idea of your choice to the rest of the class. (20 credits)
• Major Project: This module is designed to help you create an extended digital media project and a related industry treatment - taken together these will constitute a piece of professional level work showcasing their skills which you can use as you build your career after graduation. Projects may take the form of more traditional linear media - they can be audio, video or online narratives. But you can also explore and create projects that work in more non-linear ways, using interactive and immersive media technologies. Whatever path you choose, the work you do will build on the work done throughout the whole year, the knowledge, skills, and critical/analytic perspectives you have gained. The project will need to be backed up by research, context analysis and an industry treatment that you will present in person in the form of a pitch. (60 credits)
• Media Storytelling: This module mixes theory and practice as it focuses on traditional linear media storytelling. It critically examines work designed to work on specific media platforms and also across a range of platforms simultaneously. You are introduced to – and develop a critical understanding of - classic narrative theory and its use by a variety of media producers and creatives. You'll apply what you have learned to analyse a range of media stories – from long form features and documentary reports to podcast investigations and video essays, evaluating how effectively they engage different audiences and their social and cultural impact. You will be encouraged to apply the theoretical knowledge gained to your own media story ideas, developing a long form feature and ideas for different media treatments of this story. (20 credits)
• Multimedia News Reporting: You will be taught the professional skills to research, write, and produce multimedia journalism. The module will evaluate concepts and techniques in different fields and for different platforms of news journalism. Techniques for audio and video editing will be addressed and stories will be output for a news website and social channels on mobile and desktop devices. This module includes a series of all-day newsdays which are held within the newsroom and broadcast suite. You will individually and in groups practice professional news gathering, live reporting and news production. It also includes instruction in voice coaching in small groups, trips to court and City Hall, and video presentation skills which are requirements for BJTC accreditation for all students, regardless of pathway. (20 credits)

Option Modules

• Digital Magazine Publishing: This explores the digital tools that are used to build and design compelling interactive content. You will work in editorial teams to produce content for a new digital magazine edition, content-driven app or CMS-based website. You are invited to select the best tools for the output and get instruction in the design of interactive magazine digital editions, app development and website creation. (20 credits)
• Digital Marketing: This module examines the role of Digital Marketing within the eMarketing context. It provides you with advanced knowledge of how to use web-based technologies to develop, run and manage digital marketing campaigns. You'll build your understanding and use research-led and practice-informed approaches to predict future trends and develop an analytical approach to digital marketing. (20 credits)
• Documentary: Storytelling for Impact: This develops your practical production skills further into making documentary radio and television. Instead of reacting to immediate events as you do in broadcast news, documentary requires a more considered approach to the subject and offers time to research and dig into the topic. (20 credits)
• Interactive and Immersive Media Production Skills: This module develops your skills in cutting-edge interactive and immersive media production technologies. You will be introduced to a range of interactive and immersive storytelling platforms. You'll research and explore different approaches to interactive video creation, geo-located audio, audio-visual interaction, and other online and interactive multimedia work. You will also be introduced to extended reality technologies and will have the chance to analyse and experiment with 360 content, immersive audio, AR projects and VR experiences. As the module progresses you'll focus on developing your own interactive or immersive production project, learning how to implement your ideas and design them with a specific target audience in mind. In this module, you will develop theoretical knowledge and practical skills via in-class discussions, lectures and practical exercises, with opportunities for presentation and peer feedback. (20 credits)
• Media Law, Ethics and Regulation: An exploration of the factors that influence journalistic practices in Britain and around the world. There is a detailed discussion of the theory and contexts of media law, ethical issues, regulation, and voluntary codes of conduct that must be followed by journalists. Additionally, there is also a discussion of public affairs – local and national government. (20 credits)
• Podcast Production: In this module, you'll learn about the different facets of podcast making, exploring genres (e.g. journalistic/investigative, personal storytelling, fictional narrative, sports, comedy, interest groups) and the production techniques required for specific formats. You'll also learn about idea incubation, pitching, marketing and monetisation. (20 credits)
• Self-Representation and Digital Practice: This module explores the use of different media practices as a means for people to tell personal stories about their own lived experience. It examines the roots of participatory media, considers different approaches to personal storytelling, explores a range of established practices, identifies emergent practice and enables you to make your own digital story. It also addresses ethical dilemmas within participatory media practices, the impact of social media, the rise of influencers and ‘me media’ and considers the opportunity opened up by participatory platforms for more diverse media representations of identity. Mixing theoretical and practical work, the module helps you to develop an advanced understanding of a specialised area of contemporary media practice and utilise this to create stories about yourself and your experiences. (20 credits)
• Start-up Incubator and Digital Entrepreneurship: This module offers you an introduction to digital entrepreneurship. It builds an understanding of start-ups, SMEs and micro businesses and then explores how they are developed, established and financed. The focus is on the critical evaluation of technical methodologies and entrepreneurship within the creative industries. The module teaches the research methods and transferable skills needed to realise business ideas and plans. It uses readings, research, critical theory and successful case studies to help you come up with your own business ideas and then develop them. Whilst providing you with a theoretical and critical base, the module will also build your practical skills through assessments focused on business plans and e-commerce digital solution(s). (20 credits)
• Introduction to Documentary for Social Change: The module will critically examine the influence, responsibility, and power of journalism with a focus on broadcast media across a number of genres in reporting on and representing gender, sexuality, age and disability. It employs practical exercises, personal examination and critical media analysis to increase awareness and critical engagement with the issues surrounding the reporting of diversity in society. It will engender a critical engagement with visual media and will train students to develop a self-reflective approach to devising, developing and delivering individual and team work necessary to address these issues through the production of an investigative short piece for TV and a short documentary film. (20 credits)

Entry Requirements

• A minimum of a lower second-class honours degree (2:2), preferably in an area of digital or visual media, journalism, or design, but students with other degrees will also be considered. Applicants may be interviewed, set an assignment, or asked to submit a portfolio.
• If your first language is not English, you should have an IELTS 6.5 overall, with at least 5.5 in each element.

Tuition Fees

• UK tuition fee: £10,900 (Price per academic year)
• International tuition fee: £18,000 (Price per academic year)

Research Groups

Our research achieves real-world impact and we are proud to claim a rich and diverse profile of high-quality research and knowledge exchange in a wide range of disciplines.

This course has connections with the following:

• i-Docs research network
• MIT Open Documentary Lab

Facilities

• Melvyn Williams Broadcast Suite: As part of this course, you will have access to our Broadcast Suite. Opened in 2022 with a £1.2+ million investment, the suite is a multifunctional space designed to meet the needs of modern multi-platform journalism.

Location

Harrow is our creative and cultural hub, home to most of our arts, media and digital courses. It houses state-of-the-art facilities for every discipline, including project and gallery spaces, film studios, creative labs, collaborative learning spaces, and the Westminster Enterprise Network.

Harrow Campus is based in north-west London, just 20 minutes from the city centre by train.