Cinematic Architecture

Overview
An innovative postgraduate certificate programme focusing on Cinematic Architecture for enthusiastic people who wish to explore future opportunities in NI and beyond in creative industries including film, architecture, game and design,

Course Content
This is a personalised certificate programme for engaged students who would like to make the most of their time at Queen's. The work produced throughout the year will be a collaborative effort between you, your year group, our award-winning academics and practicing architects. This two-semester course encourages you to work both within and beyond the realm of creative practices that you are experienced in. We would like you to push the boundaries of your imagination and the limits of creative media, while working with other architects, filmmakers, designers, and artists.

You will work in two practice-based studio modules, one in each semester, questioning norms through research, analysis, and design. You will be able to use the CineArch studio to experiment with new ideas, technologies and media, and as a gateway to your future career goals.

The course encourages lateral thinking, problem solving, creativity and engagement with design through a self-critical process. It will address issues as diverse as our survival on the planet and alternative ways of thinking about what innovative design practices can be and do.

What will excite you?
Through Cinematic Architecture (filmmaking, cinematic analysis, storyboarding, montage, collage, etc.), you will design projects (film sets, exhibition spaces, buildings) focusing on both tangible and intangible qualities of spaces. You will spend the year designing, collaborating, and producing with people from around the world on our university campus that has celebrated its 175th year a few years back. The university's clubs and facilities including Queen's Sport, Queen's Film Theatre, and the Student Union with its brand new building will also provide excellent opportunities to make friends outside of your course.

The Environment
You will be based in Belfast, a growing city known for its industrial design heritage on one hand and its vibrant arts culture and creative industries on the other. As stated in the Complete University Guide 2022: Belfast is one of Europe's most hip, vibrant and affordable cities, lauded for its energy, and rich in culture and history. Queen's stunning campus is within Belfast's Queen's Quarter, with cafés, bars, restaurants, superb shopping, and entertainment venues. You will enjoy a healthy staff to student ratio, good studios, a world-class library, and excellent workshops for physical and digital manufacturing.

Additional course information:
Now, more than ever, our societies demand innovative designers and creative problem solvers to propose solutions to the challenges we face in a complex contemporary world - health and well-being, climate change, forced migration, public safety and increasing urbanisation, among others. Our school is renowned for award-winning, innovative research and teaching that is academically rigorous, critically informed, design-led, and interdisciplinary. In all this endeavour we seek to develop creative peoples voices in addressing these challenges.

The PgCert Cinematic Architecture course provides a scaffold for our students to develop their own personal position within the broad culture of design, and in doing so, contribute to the ongoing debate that shapes creative industries and our world. Our concerns range from the role of art, design and architecture in communities, environmental, social, and economic sustainability, humanitarian architecture for all, tangible and intangible qualities of space to the mapping and analysis of urban, territorial and global conditions. In all this, media including filmmaking, modelmaking, sketching, and drawing play a crucial role as does developing a self-critical understanding of how each individual works as a designer.

The PgCert CineArch is a studio-based programme, underscoring design and design processes as the core concerns, challenging students to be experimental both in their design methodologies/analyses and their design proposals. The one-year programme comprises of two semesters. The staff cohort is composed of a diverse spectrum of esteemed practitioners and innovative academics supported by external consultants beyond Queen's, providing a further dimension to a rich learning environment. In this context, the students are encouraged to push the limits of their profession as well as their personal capabilities.

Cinematic Architecture Highlights
Architecture at Queen's is ranked 5th in the UK in in Times and Sunday Times League Table 2022.
Industry Links
• Close collaborations with the industry and practicing architects in studio tutoring, project reviews and research, including RIBA, RSUA, Belfast City Council, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, QFT, Film Hub NI and Nerve Centre.
www.architecture.com, www.rsua.org.uk, www.belfastcity.gov.uk, www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk, www.queensfilmtheatre.com, www.filmhubni.org, www.nervecentre.org
Career Development
• If your undergraduate degree is in Architecture, you can continue your studies the following year, take 3 more modules and get the MSc Advanced Architectural Design degree, instead of a postgraduate certificate. These modules are Technical Dissertation (30 cats), Humanities Dissertation (30 cats), and Thesis Project (60 cats). Opportunity to apply to PhD in Architecture at Queen's. If you are interested in this route, please consult the programme director for details.

Learning and Teaching
Design Studio
You may already be familiar with studio culture in art/design/architecture. In CineArch we will particularly emphasise cinematic architecture through creative solutions for the future, critical thinking, and experimentation. The learning environment will be personalised as to your strengths and aspirations. The shared studio environment with other programmes (BSc Architecture and MArch) at Queen's will facilitate your learning.

Technology and Media
Depending on your interests, in this programme, you will be encouraged to use and experiment with a variety of media including filmmaking, animation, casting, performance and contemporary CAD/scripting software. Technology, materials, and detailing will be an integral part of design projects.

Course Structure
Semester 1: CineArch Studio 1 (30 cats)
Semester 2: CineArch Studio 2 (30 cats)

Modules The modules listed below are compulsory. Field trips -within pandemic regulations- will enrich the programme; last year, we have spent a week in Berlin, Germany, and two days in Liverpool, UK.

Students are also encouraged to incorporate other Queen's modules (languages, history, introduction to film studies, etc.) as long as timetables allow.

CineArch Studio 1 (30 CATS), Semester 1/12 weeks
CineArch Studio 2 (30 CATS), Semester 2/12 weeks

Entrance requirements
Graduate
1. Normally a 2.1 Honours degree or above in a creative discipline, including Film Studies, Animation, Design (Product Design, Stage Design, Graphic Design, etc.), Architecture, Interior Architecture, and the Arts (Visual Arts, Fine Arts, Creative Arts, Digital Arts, etc.). Applicants with entry qualifications other than 2.1 Honours will be considered on an individual basis based on their portfolio.

2. A creative background evidenced by a (Art, Design, Film, Architecture, etc.) digital portfolio or equivalent. A video explaining why the candidate would like to do the course (maximum three minutes) may also be submitted to support the application. (The submission of the video is optional.)

3. If eligible for this funded course, you will be invited to an online interview on Monday 4th September 2023.

The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.

International Students
For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country.

English Language Requirements
Applicants for whom English is not their first language must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study. Please see the following link for further information: https://www.qub.ac.uk/International/International-students/Applying/English-language-requirements/

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

• Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level

• Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.

The closing date for applications is Friday 25th August 2023 at 12 noon.

Places available on this programme are limited. Where there are more eligible applications received than places available, the academic selectors for this programme will make offers in rank order based on academic merit and potential as evidenced in the totality of the information provided in each application. We will operate a waiting list as required to allow us to fill all available places.

We may be able to consider self-funded or employer-funded applicants on a case by case basis, as capacity on the individual PG Cert programmes allow. Please indicate in your application if you wish to be considered as a self-funded or employer-funded applicant.

How to Apply
Applications should be submitted online via the Postgraduate Applications Portal for admission to the vast majority of postgraduate programmes.

New applicants will need to register via the Portal to create an application account. If you are already a Queen's student with an active Qsis account, you can log in using your student number and Qsis password. Guidance on how to complete an application is provided within the Portal and it is possible to save application data and return to complete it at a later date, if you wish. After core details about yourself and your academic background have been provided, you can submit an application, or multiple applications, if required.

If you applied in a previous cycle through the Portal and are re-applying, you should use your previous log in details. Please review and update your personal and contact details, academic and professional qualifications before submitting a new application.

Important – please ensure that the email address you provide is correct and active, as this will be used by us to communicate the progress of your application to you.

1 year (Part Time)

Teaching Times
One day a week. Teaching is typically on Tuesdays.

Career Prospects
Employment after the Course
By completing the programme, you will graduate with a PgCert Cinematic Architecture degree within a year from a Russell Group university in the UK. The certificate is ideal for postgraduate students who are interested in the creative industries such as set design, production design, game design, exhibition design, interior design, and architectural design. If you would like to push the boundaries of your education and think outside-the-box, CineArch is for you.

Where might you be in five years?
Anywhere in the world in one of many different disciplines. Our graduates have ended up designing film sets or doing CGI for Hollywood productions, designing game environments as well as working as architects, photographers, editors, illustrators, visual artists worldwide and lecturing/researching in universities.
www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/

Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.