Program Overview

Bachelor of Film Production (ARB006.1)

The Bachelor of Film Production at the University of Canberra encourages students to foster their interests in filmmaking, expand their creative thinking, explore the craft of audiovisual storytelling, and collaborate closely with others. The course promotes students to become thoughtful and ethically minded practitioners, considering both the stories we tell and how we choose to tell them by asking the question: “What does it mean to be a filmmaker today?” Students gain knowledge and skills in live-action film making, film and story theory and analysis, collaborative practice, and leadership within a complex creative environment.

About this Course

The course introduces students to film cameras and lenses, tripods, dollies and jibs, lighting equipment, location sound recording mixers, microphones and booms, studio and set construction facilities, green screen studio, compositing, editing, sound and colour grading software and facilities. Students apply theoretical knowledge to their practice through the development of film projects from conceptualisation to production, post-production, and final delivery by following established digital workflows.

Study a Bachelor of Film Production at UC and You Will:

• Explore the question: what does it mean to be a filmmaker today?
• Be involved in creative collaboration that helps develop your interpersonal skills as well as a sense of collective responsibility.
• Work to creative parameters to develop adaptability and flexibility – highly transferable skills in a fast-changing world.
• Analyse and evaluate a screenplay for story, narrative, theme, and character.
• Cast actors and rehearse and direct them in a variety of genres.
• Research your subject and consider the ethical aspects of working within a documentary mode.
• Develop your creative practice in filmmaking and specialise in a technical craft role.
• Learn established filmmaking language, methods, and techniques.
• Choose electives to tailor your degree to more specific future pathways.
• Engage with Work Integrated Learning (WIL) that enables you to form industry relationships and engage with the social and professional world of film production.
• Deploy industry-standard procedures for managing hazards and safety in film production.

Work Integrated Learning

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is at the very centre of the Bachelor of Film Production, with the course content and structure developed with ongoing input and feedback from the Australian film production industry. You’ll learn from industry-active professionals and world-class scholars and will work and study in real-world situations through project work, internships, professional experience, mentorships, and international study opportunities.

Career Opportunities

• Filmmaker
• Creative Producer
• Screenwriter
• Director
• Documentary Filmmaker
• Audiovisual installation designer
• Content Producer
• Researcher (Film / Archival / Academic)
• First Assistant Director (1st AD)
• Director of Photography (DOP)
• Production Designer
• Art Director
• Props Master
• Production Manager
• Continuity Supervisor
• Camera Operator
• Camera Assistant (Clapper Loader, Focus Puller, Data Wrangler)
• Gaffer
• Grip
• Production Sound Recordist
• Boom Operator (1st Asst Sound)
• Sound Effects Recordist
• Post-production Producer
• Digital Imaging Technician (DIT)
• Special Effects Supervisor
• Editor
• Colour Grader
• Sound Designer
• Re-Recording Mixer
• ADR mixer
• Foley mixer

Admission Requirements

Admission to this course is based on an entrance rank. A rank can be achieved by the following means:

• Year 12 ATAR
• Other Australian Qualification
• Work experience
• Overseas qualification

Course Requirements

Bachelor of Film Production (ARB006) | 72 credit points

• Required - 48 credit points as follows
  • Specialist Major in Film Production (SM0004) | 24 credit points
    • Required - Must pass 21 credit points as follows
      • Film Studio, Production Project (11137) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Short Film Production (11139) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Reading Movies - A Practitioner's Guide (11140) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Australian National Cinema (11141) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Creative Collaboration and Specialisation in Film Project (11142) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Documentary Production (11143) | 3 credit points — Level 1
      • The Creative Producer (11144) | 3 credit points — Level 3
    • Restricted Choice - Must pass 3 credit points from the following
      • Films Tools and a Meta-Narrative Vocabulary (11138) | 3 credit points — Level 1
      • Film Tools (12226) | 3 credit points — Level 1
  • Core Major in Film Production (CM0031) | 24 credit points
    • Required - Must pass 18 credit points as follows
      • Professional Orientation (Arts) (10333) | 3 credit points — Level 1
      • Visual Representation Techniques (11041) | 3 credit points — Level 1
      • Professional Evidence (Arts) (11112) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Screenwriting (11116) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Sound Design (11134) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Digital Media Art 2: Image Production (11836) | 3 credit points — Level 1
    • Restricted Choice - Must pass 6 credit points from the following
      • Global Brand Communication (11102) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Word and Image (11119) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Global Environmental Futures (11150) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Global Activism and Social Change (11151) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • The Kids are All Right: Literature for 0-18 (11154) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Impact and Enterprise G (11155) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Heritage Materials and Their Environments G (11160) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • The Cultural Significance of Patina G (11161) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Heritage Materials - Structure and Integrity G (11162) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Heritage Materials - Aesthetics and Stability G (11163) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Professional Practice Internship (11575) | 6 credit points — Level 3
      • Communicating Politics G (11627) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Communication Trends and Innovation G (11630) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Industry and Identity: Challenges and Triumphs G (11638) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Professional Practice (Internships A) (11829) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Professional Practice (Specialist Skills) (11830) | 3 credit points — Level 2
      • Professional Practice (Internships B) (11832) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Professional Practice (Industry and Creative Projects) (11833) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Emerging Production Technologies (11839) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Digital Production Project (11840) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Indigeneity and the Creative Sector G (11863) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Visual Communication for Creative Businesses G (11869) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • UX Design G (11870) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Sports Media and Society (11934) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Deep Dives (12028) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Public Opinion (12030) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Integrated Digital Marketing and Communication G (12033) | 3 credit points — Level G
      • Reputation: Issues and Crisis Communication (12081) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Social Media Campaigns (12082) | 3 credit points — Level 3
      • Professional Practice (Internships A) (12144) | 3 credit points — Level 3
• Open Electives - 24 credit points as follows
  • Must pass 24 credit points from anywhere in the University, as a breadth major, a breadth minor and/or as individual units.

Typical Study Pattern

UC - Canberra, Bruce

• Standard Full Time, Semester 1 Commencing
  • Year 1
    • Semester 1
      • Film Tools (12226)
      • Professional Orientation (Arts) (10333)
      • Visual Representation Techniques (11041)
      • Open Elective Unit
    • Semester 2
      • Digital Media Art 2: Image Production (11836)
      • Documentary Production (11143)
      • Sound Design (11134)
      • Open Elective Unit
  • Year 2
    • Semester 1
      • Screenwriting (11116)
      • Short Film Production (11139)
      • Two Open Elective Units
    • Semester 2
      • Creative Collaboration and Specialisation in Film Project (11142)
      • Reading Movies - A Practitioner's Guide (11140)
      • Open Elective Unit
      • Professional Practice (Internships A) (12144) OR Professional Practice (Specialist Skills) (11830)
  • Year 3
    • Semester 1
      • Australian National Cinema (11141)
      • The Creative Producer (11144)
      • Open Elective Unit
      • Professional Practice (Internships B) (11832) OR Professional Practice (Industry and Creative Projects) (11833)
    • Semester 2
      • Film Studio, Production Project (11137)
      • Professional Evidence (Arts) (11112)
      • Two Open Elective Units

Course Information

Course Duration

Standard 3 years full time or part-time equivalent. Maximum 10 years from date of enrolment to date of course completion.

Learning Outcomes

• Critically identify and apply advanced visual languages and theories, including post-colonial and decolonial theories, in order to produce cinematic stories.
• Demonstrate advanced theoretical and specialised technical knowledge needed to secure a successful professional career in film production, including production safety requirements.
• Reflect on, with reference to ideas of stories being knowledge, and understand both indigenous and non-indigenous ways of knowing and storytelling, with the ultimate goal of being able to answer the question, "what film do I want to make?".
• Evaluate and analyse film theory and technique, and to use and adapt these theories and techniques to creative practice.
• Demonstrate an ability to lead work in creative teams, and understand collaborative principles that are necessary in creative team work.

Majors

• Core Major in Film Production (CM0031)
• Specialist Major in Film Production (SM0004)

Awards

• Award: Bachelor of Film Production
• Official abbreviation: B FilmProd

Enrolment Data

2023 enrolments for this course by location. Please note that enrolment numbers are indicative only and in no way reflect individual class sizes.

• Location: UC - Canberra, Bruce
• Enrolments: 68

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