The Film Production (BA) course is only four years old and today we’re delighted to show some of our student’s work. The final year students show great promise and have reached high technical and creative standards in preparation for the film industry. In addition, we will be highlighting some of the Year 2 documentary films which were praised by our external examiner.

In the showcase, you will see samples from the third-year module Advanced Cinematography and examples of third year films from the Final Year Projects. Some of the films were individual projects due to the Covid pandemic, which is a remarkable testament to the students and staff to produce work of such quality in difficult circumstances.

BA (Hons) Film Production is a vocational programme that has been designed for students who wish to work in the film industry and within other areas of the creative sector. This practice-centred degree provides a specialised mix of technical and production skills that are underpinned by theoretical knowledge. The programme places emphasis on developing skills that are readily transferable to other production contexts and genres in a flourishing British creative sector.

In year one, students develop an understanding of Classical Hollywood style through concentrated practical work using the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K camera with prime lenses, the Mix-Pre 3 audio recorder and the editing software Avid Media Composer. In Year two, students continue to develop their practical skills through an exploration of film style looking at French New Wave, New Hollywood and Post Modernism. Documentary is introduced alongside specialist practical options of directing, cinematography and screenwriting and theory options like ‘American independent cinema’, ‘Film sound and music’ and ‘Streaming worlds. In Year 3, students have the chance to further specialise with Advanced Cinematography, Editing and Audio Production and screenwriting. They can also support their practice with theory modules, for example, The Cinematic City or Film, Art and Video. Please do check our website for more details: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/courses/film-production.

Employability skills and insights are introduced throughout the degree. Guest lecturers from the creative industries work alongside the team to deliver relevant classes. Guest talks have included the production company behind The Crown, Left Bank Pictures who discussed their latest BBC 1 project ‘Sitting in Limbo’. This was also partly filmed in the former prison at CCCU and a number of film students spent the day observing the crew. Other opportunities for film students have included watching Bafta and Oscar winning director Steve McQueen and his crew shoot some of the award-winning BBC/Amazon Prime anthology series, ‘Small Axe’.

Finally, students have been back on campus for the ‘Film in 3 Days’ project. Last year the winning students were second year Film Production student, Peroze Gerard with first year Film Production students Lauren Lomax and Alan Michalak. The winning film is called ‘Caught on a summer’s day’. See the film in 3 days competition winners for this year.