Film & Creative Media

Overview
The Master of Arts in Film and Creative Media (90 ECTS, NFQ Level 9) is an innovative specialised programme designed for practitioners and new entrants to the creative industries. The programme provides an exciting creative space within which to develop creative skills, knowledge and experience, and build up a strong portfolio of high-quality creative work in and across selected creative areas. This career-focused programme blends focused creative development, leading-edge critical research, and applied creative industries practice.

The creative practices and artefacts learners will typically engage with match the expertise of faculty and our technologies. They are listed below and the list is non-exhaustive:
• A feature script
• A 30 minute documentary
• A Television pilot
• A film for multi-platform delivery
• An artist' film and video project
• An audio/radio project or an album release of a collection of new songwriting
• A digital book
• A mixed-media gallery installation
• A digital dissertation
• An artistic event or performance
• Theatre staging involving film or creative media
• A music video
• An ephemeral film project for social media

The programme team encourage you to engage with the faculty should you wish to explore other practices.

Designed for media and arts graduates, and graduates from a wider range of disciplines with a demonstrable interest in creative media, seeking to establish their creative identities and their careers in the creative media industries. This programme is also relevant for existing industry professionals seeking to enhance, update or diversify their skill sets. Learners gain the necessary critical awareness, creative focus and contemporary production skills to advance their career paths. A significant feature of this programme is the exposure to experienced Creative Media and Film practitioners and professionals both from within the DBS faculty alongside external guest lecturers and industry instructors.

Most importantly this programme will facilitate learners’ visual voice to contribute their choice, medium and format of visual expression through the completion of a visual story that contributes to the compendium of stories that record and describe our world for others. This may be an avant-garde, commercial, artistic or traditional treatment. The public dissemination of creative work will place their practice within a community and network of creators that will mediate their practice and place them amongst the work of others.

The specific programme objectives are as follows:
• Provide a rich and stimulating environment of critical creative practice across film, audio, photography, design, and media and will provide a foundation at postgraduate level for learners who wish to develop their careers in film and creative media.
• Introduce learners to the history, theory, values, aesthetics and ideology of the moving image.
• Expose learners to new media research tools and develop a critical approach to the use (and misuse) of these technologies in film and media.
• Highlight current issues such as gender representation, ethics, editorial judgement and sustainability in Film and Creative Media.
• Assist learners with hands-on experience to develop proficient production skills, while simultaneously acquiring analytical expertise and knowledge of film and creative media.
• Develop hands-on learner experience and understanding of the current cultural changes in media production and consumption.
• Prepare learners for the challenges of our society and of our evolving technologies in the future of work.
• Help learners relate communication technologies with narrative possibilities and a perspective on telling stories to defined audiences.
• Inculcate professional practices and ethical codes of learner and employee behaviour within the industry.
• Develop learners’ knowledge of the theoretical and methodological skills necessary for producing rigorous research on new and emerging media.
• Connect learners to a network of artists, producers and practitioners.

The Master of Arts in Film and Creative Media provides students with a flexible, multimodal, active, peer-led, experiential and reflective learning environment. In addition to teaching sessions, e-learning activities complement the lab, studio and classroom sessions.

Semester 1
• Visual Content Creation (10 ECTS)
• Audio Content Creation (10 ECTS)
• Writing for Screen Industries 1: Film and TV (5 ECTS)
• Screen Theories 1 (5 ECTS)
• Film & Creative Media: Contemporary Industry Practices (10 ECTS)
• Creative Events Operations (5 ECTS)

Semester 2
• Visual Content Creation (10 ECTS)
• Audio Content Creation (10 ECTS)
• Film & Creative Media: Contemporary Industry Practices (10 ECTS)
• Writing for Screen Industries 2: Video Games and Animation (5 ECTS)
• Screen Theories 2 (5 ECTS)
• Research Methodology (5 ECTS)

Semester 3
• Creative Project: Digital Story Worlds (30 ECTS)
• Dissertation (30 ECTS)

The Applications are welcome from any suitable qualified learners from any discipline with a Primary Honours Degree award of at least Second Class Honours Degree (H22).

You must have the minimum requirement in the English Language which is greater than or equal to B2+ in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for admission where full-time study has been conducted in a language other than English or applicants whose first language is not English.

We are now accepting applications for programmes taking place in 2024.

Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2 years

Next Intakes: September 2024

Career Opportunities
While many graduates will operate as freelance, project or portfolio-based workers, examples of current vacancies (at the time of research, 2022) suitable for typical graduates are:
• Online content creator
• Senior Videographer
• Multimedia Producer
• Digital Content Creator
• Project Manager in Video Production