Film, Radio and Television
The works included in this showreel are drawn from students in the final year of the Film, Radio and Television BA. The programme pays special attention to employability and students are encouraged to work both individually and as part of a team. This helps to develop the transferable skills that are vital in the constantly evolving creative industries while simultaneously providing the opportunity to explore and develop an individual relationship with the respective medias. The tutors are a creative mix of theoreticians and practitioners and all students have access to professional standard production equipment. The Programme is taught in the Powell Building, which is named after local filmmaker Michael Powell and opened by his widow Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell, who is Martin Scorsese’s film editor and an Honorary Fellow of the university. Thelma occasionally visits the School to deliver masterclasses and guest lectures. The Programmes offer access to industry professionals to advise students and teach alongside fulltime academics. The programmes provide a blend of practice and theory and offer a highly marketable mix of technical, production and academic skills. The creative industries are a thriving sector of the UK and global economy and there is high demand for multiskilled and engaged students in this sector.
The Year 3 Specialised Study by Practical Project allows final year students specialising in film the opportunity to create a group project developed in semester one and produced and edited in semester 2. Each project is meticulously planned and co-ordinated with regular weekly tutorials as the students build individual role specific portfolios designed to showcase their talents. Once shot, the films are edited and readied for festival submission. The two films presented here [Apollo and Retrospect] showcase the creativity, resilience and production talents of the students involved.
The Year 3 Specialised Study by Practical Project module also provided the opportunity for students specialising in television to make a longer and more sophisticated programme than in previous years. The TV students worked together during both semesters to produce Battle of the Voice, a live music programme inspired by The X Factor. Filming live music during a pandemic was challenging and this necessitated the programme being made in sections during class sessions. The finished programme provides a compelling and interesting take on the X Factor format.
Radio is taught as part of the FTRV programme which delivers a curriculum focused on Film, Radio, Animation and TV production. Students learn through practical creative projects in radio production including location, remote and studio work, where we have professional standard radio studios and an Adobe Audition editing suite.
In the first year, students produce a live music show for our student station CSR and learn how to script, record, present, edit and mix audio work, core skills which they develop further in year 2 when students make bespoke podcasts as part of the Digital Broadcasting module. In year 3 students can work on individual final projects in radio documentary, podcast or drama, where they are supported to make professional style work. You can hear examples of podcast and documentary work in the year 3 final project examples below.
Television & Radio Production: Final Project Year 3
Written and Produced by
- Sophie Evans
- Shania-Jo Billett
- Mia Fiore
- Lauren Baugh
- Johnathan Higgins
- Rickie Hitchcock
- Tomas Spacil
Written and Produced by
- Poppy Greenstreet
Poppy Greenstreet produced and recorded this fascinating Pleasure Podcast episode on ASMR during lockdown speaking to some of the key industry voice artists about how we listen.
Written and Produced by
- Tone Blakesley
The Real Jurassic Park’ is an engaging and insightful radio documentary edited and produced by Tone Blakesley, who examines the origins and stories behind some of the world’s rarest fossils, including dinosaurs, discovered on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Tone worked alongside geologists and researchers from the University of Edinburgh whom he interviewed, intricately mixed with music and atmospheric sound effects and ambience from the island as well as incidental music he composed. It’s a highly crafted documentary which uses radio to its fullest potential
FRTV Final Project - Film
Students were asked to create a ‘final project’ in their chosen medium. They had the option to shoot and record their own material, or make a new film, with new meanings, from exisiting archival material.
- Sam Bennison - Director
- Avgoustina Kotzia - Director
The Screening - Film in 3 Days Competition
Between 9th – 11th June five groups from FRTV and Film Production took part in the ‘Film in 3 Days’ Competition. The groups had access to the same kit and had to include a shot of someone drinking from a water bottle. The films had to be up to 90 seconds in length, excluding credits.
BA (Hons) Film Production
The Film Production (BA) course is only three years old and today we’re delighted to show some of our final year student’s work who will be graduating later this year. The final year students show great promise and have reached high technical and creative standards in preparation for the film industry.
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. Many 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 were back on campus for the ‘Film in 3 Days’ project. Do see the material in the link above. 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’. Well done to all of the Film in 3 Days entries.
The Screening - Film in 3 Days Competition
Between 9th – 11th June five groups from FRTV and Film Production took part in the ‘Film in 3 Days’ Competition. The groups had access to the same kit and had to include a shot of someone drinking from a water bottle. The films had to be up to 90 seconds in length, excluding credits.
Advanced Cinematography Student Work
- Jake Harris | Cinematographer
- Eva Sgouraki | Cinematographer
Final Film Project - Year 3
Phil Hanson - Adventus
Esther Smith – Sunshine and Serenity
Max Barrett – Still, My Darling (epilepsy warning - contains flashing lights)
Luke Hill – Musing
