MA Filmmaking (Directing Fiction)

Program Overview

MA Filmmaking (Directing Fiction)

Overview

The MA Filmmaking (Directing Fiction) is the premier place to develop your skills as a director, working on a range of projects from personal ‘essay’ films to large-scale shoots with professional actors and feature crew.

Why study MA Filmmaking (Directing Fiction) at Goldsmiths

• This Masters, a pathway of MA Filmmaking, will enable you to gain a full understanding of how to collaborate on all stages of filmmaking, from scripting and pre-production through shoot, post-production and marketing/exhibition of your work.
• The programme is housed in a purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the-art teaching spaces.
• We have extensive production facilities and informal rehearsal and meeting spaces where you can discuss and collaborate with scriptwriters, actors, producers and your shoot team.
• We also have established relations with casting directors, agents, production designers and other professionals who will both advise you and provide their skills to enhance your productions.
• You work on at least one film per term in your specialist role, culminating in a major production towards the end of the degree.
• In addition to your specialist area, you attend classes in related disciplines such as film directing and editing, and collaborate with students across specialisations on film projects.

Department

• Media, Communications and Cultural Studies

Length

• 1 year full-time

Entry requirements

• You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least 2:1 standard in a relevant/related subject.
• You might also be considered if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but you have relevant experience and can show you can work at postgraduate level.

Fees

• Home - full-time: £16200
• International - full-time: £30750

What you'll study

• Specialist studies
• Optional modules

Modules

• Directing Fiction: Specialist Skills (30 credits)
• Contemporary Screen Narratives (15 credits)
• Final Project (90 credits)

Optional modules

• Social Activist Film (15 credits)
• Archaeology of the Moving Image (PG, 15 credits)
• Camera Fundamentals (15 credits)
• Film Producing Fundamentals (15 credits)
• Representing Reality (15 credits)
• Sound Design Fundamentals (15 credits)
• The Ascent of the Image (15 credits)
• Doctor Holby: Writing for Existing Continuing TV Drama Series (15 credits)
• Media, Law and Ethics (30 credits)
• Practical Law for Film-makers (15 credits)

Overview

• For two terms you will spend a full day a week in specialised contact with your specific programme convenor.
• These sessions include:
  • Practical demonstrations and exercises
  • Lectures
  • Screenings
  • Small group seminars
  • Workshops
• You will also take three optional modules, taught through practical workshops and hands-on experiences, as well as critical discussion and essay writing.
• The third term will be taken up with your substantive Final Project and you will take part in a series of progress and feedback meetings.

Group film projects

• You will work with other students from across the five MA Filmmaking fiction pathways to create film crews in a professional structure.

Expert guidance

• Experienced tutors enhance the flow of your individual research, experimentation and artistic achievement.

Careers

• On completing the programme you will be equipped to enter the global job market, armed with an enhanced understanding of your practical, intellectual and creative capacities as a director.
• Possibly the most important skill we furnish you with is the rigorous discipline of working collaboratively under pressure as part of a creative team on challenging projects.
• In addition to your practical filmmaking skills, we enable you to develop a variety of transferable intellectual, organisational and communication skills to equip you for a broad range of employment opportunities across the arts and media landscape (film, television, online, the creative arts, advertising and related hybrid forms).

Our graduates

• Recent alumni are active in the film, media and cultural industries around the world as:
  • Directors of photography
  • Cinematographers
  • Camera operators
  • Lighting designers

How to apply

• Apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system
• Before submitting your application you’ll need to have:
  • Details of your academic qualifications
  • The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively a copy of your academic reference
  • Copies of your educational transcripts or certificates
  • A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online
  • Examples of your recent work in a related field (eg moving image samples), preferably via a web link to your online portfolio
  • IELTS 7.0 at the point of application (if you are from a non-majority English-speaking country)
  • Download and complete the Directing fiction checklist (Word)
  • Download and complete a PechaKucha form (Word) following the instructions

References

• Our departmental preference is for referees to upload a confidential reference to the on-line admissions system.

When to apply

• We accept applications from October for students wanting to start the following September.
• Application deadline: 26 May
• Applications are considered from February onwards and are only considered when complete; we strongly recommend applying as early as you are able to, as decisions will take longer the later in the year you apply.

Selection process

• Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK.
• Occasionally, we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.