ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZAAABACADAEAFAGAHAIAJAKALAMANAOAPAQARASATAUAVAWAXAYAZBA
1
1. Admissions/ Management Information
2
Title of the programme – including any lower awards
Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award.

See guidance on programme titles in:
3
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/programmedevelopment/Framework%20for%20Programme%20Design%20-%20PG.pdf
4
Masters MA Digital Film and Television Production.
5
Postgraduate Diploma Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Film and Television Production.Please indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
6
Postgraduate Certificate Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Film and Television Production.Please indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
7
Level of qualificationLevel 7
8
This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:2018
9
Awarding institutionTeaching institution
10
Unviersity of York University of York
11
Department(s):
Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department		Board of Studies
12
Lead Department Department of Theatre, Film and TelevisionTBC
13
Other contributing Departments: N/A
14
Route code
(existing programmes only)		PMTFTSDIG1
15
Admissions criteria
16
2.1 or higher in an undergraduate degree (or equivalent overseas qualification); a short portfolio of creative work (commonly a short film) on which canddiate has had a major creative role (director, producer, editor, writer, cinematographer). For non-UK candidates, an overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in all units.
17
Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
18
ProgrammeLength (years/ months) Status (full-time/ part-time)
Please select		Start dates/months
(if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)		Mode
19
20
Face-to-face, campus-basedDistance learningOther
21
Digitial Film and Television Production.1 yearFull-timeTBCPlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NN/A
22
Language(s) of study
23
English
24
Language(s) of assessment
25
English
26
2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
27
2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
28
Please Select Y/N: Yesif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
29
2.b. Name of PSRB
30
Creative Skillset
31
2.c. Please provide details of any approval/ accrediation event needed, including: timecales, the nature of the event, central support / information required:
32
Creative Skillset have an annual monitoring process that is designed to collect data on overall recruitment numbers, ethnic monitoring and employment destinations. It alo monitors any substantive changes in the programme, especially if these may have an impact on Skillset's accreditation criteria. Ethnic monitoring and destinations data have been supplied by the University (a combination of careers office and TFTV admin).
33
2.d. Are there any conditions on the approval/ accreditation of the programme(s)/ graduates (for example accreditation only for the full award and not any interim award)
34
No.
35
3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
36
Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
37
Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, provide details
38
4. Programme leadership and programme team
39
4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
40
Matt Brannan is the programme director. Other teaching staff currently responsible as module convenors are: John Mateer, David Hickman, Andrew Vickers, Paul Ryan, Kristyn Gorton.
41
5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
42
5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the Masters programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective masters student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
43
The MA in Digital Film and Television Production offers an intensive, specialised programme that is designed to equip you for the challenges of entering the film and television industries. The programme provides the opportunity to explore, understand and practice single-camera film and television production in a rich and stimulating environment. The learning experience is designed to ensure that you acquire the necessary skills to write, direct, shoot and edit films and television programmes, as well as developing your critical understanding of the language of these media and your familiarity with the professional-standard digital technologies used to record and manipulate image and sound. This is achieved through taught modules that transfer knowledge. The methods of knowledge transfer includes lectures, workshops and practicals. You will learn how to apply this theoretical, practical and technical knowledge to the key cinematic art and craft of storytelling, in addition to learning how to work efficiently and effectively both on your own and in collaboration with others in the process of creative film production. The department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York has one of the best-equipped and most up-to-date production centres at any UK university and your learning will be enriched through access to these resources. In addition to scheduled classes, you will have contact with leading film and television professionals via the department's professional visitors’ programme. This includes masterclasses, lectures and workshops addressing a wide range of creative, technical and academic issues. Upon completion, you will have acquired key components of those creative, practical and technical skills that are essential for pursuing careers in film and television as well as being transferrable to other fields. This MA is accredited by Creative Skillset, the British film and TV industry body tasked with developing the highest levels of craft and creativity among our emerging film and TV programme-makers.
44
5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do.
If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate.
Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
45
PLOOn successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
46
1Carry out single-camera film and television production to a professional standard by employing in-depth knowledge of how the different component parts of production (writing, cinematography, editing, directing) relate to, and inform, one another.
47
2Exercise critical judgement and intellectual rigour in approaching complex creative challenges and opportunities. Be able to communicate clearly and persuasively using appropriate written, oral and visual media.
48
3Work independently in initiating and developing high quality works by applying a range of creative, technical and practical skills – including treatment, script and project development.
49
4Work collaboratively – as leader or team member – in producing high quality works, in line with current industry practices and standards.
50
5Deploy confidently and systematically, using advanced knowledge and understanding, a range of industry standard digital technologies to produce and postproduce creative works initiated by yourself and others.
51
6Creatively apply the practical and technical components of filmmaking – in particular, the craft components of screenwriting, cinematography, directing and editing – to the art of cinematic fiction and non-fiction storytelling.
52
5.c. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes
Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
53
i) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
54
 The Programme Learning Outcomes encompass the key components of an effective and creative writer, director, cinematographer or editor in the film and telelvsion industry: critical thinking (PLO1), effective communication (PLO2), independence (PLO3), collaboration (PLO4), technology (PLO5) and craft (PLO6). Film and television production is cognitively demanding - decisions of all kinds are taken quickly, and under considerable pressure. Mistakes are costly and sometimes irreparable. Yet the industry places the highest value on creatively. The MA's programme learning outcomes are mapped from the industry's evolving practices and creative demands. They incorporate objectives relating to rapid changes, often year-on-year, in technology, as well as to craft skills that have been relatively unchanged since the early years of film. They emphasise the vital importance of both independence (during programme and film development) and collaboration (during production and postproduction) in the filmmaking process. And they recognise the critical thinking and communicative skills required in an industry that is both film-literate and that places such a high value on creative innovation. In bringing all of these facets of production together in one programme, students completing the MA are equipped with the skills and intellectual focus necessary to enable them to enter the industry with a skillset that required to be productive members of the film- and TV-making community.
55
ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
56
While the programme teaches all facets of preproduction, production and postrpoduction, students have opportunities to specialise (in cinematography, for example, or directing) . A director who understands the creative and technical challenges of the cinematographer is likely to be more effective in communicating visual ideas on set or on location. A writer who understands the role of the director will be better equipped to produce screenplays that translate well to the screen. Regardless of which specialism a student opts for, if any, the programme's learning outcomes apply across the board - because the key industry positions taught in the programme all share the same characteristics. An editor needs to be just as independent, collaborative, craft-oriented, technologically up to date and critical as a director or a writer or a cinematographer.
57
iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
58
The programme attracts students from a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and specialisms. The MA is organised so that regardless of their entry points, students follow a path through the programme that develops their skills in stages. In the first term, the MA concentrates largely on critical approaches to stongly technical disciplines (digital cinematography, digital production and postproduction workflows, and cinama and TV genre). In the second term, the emphasis is more on creativity and collaboration (developing and writing a screenplay, directing on set, collaborating in groups in the making of title and action sequences). While the learning curves may appear steep, students from very diverse starting points have in past years shown great aptitude in difficult challenges - for example, in digital cinematography, reproducing the lighting and look of a Rennaissance painting. Working through the technical and then the creative and practical aspects of production provides a solid foundation for the Individual Project, which occupies the second half of the degree, in which students make their own film or TV programme (along with a reflective essay and technical report).
59
iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
60
The programme is designed to progress from the individual work required during the technically-focused first term to the much more collaborative requirements in the creative/practical second term in such a way as to develop production skills quickly and effectively. By the end of the programme, students will be able to produce work of an industry standard, confidently using some of the most advanced equipment available (for example, the department's RED cameras, which are to be found on the film sets of some of the biggest-budget films). One very important underlying key to higher level performance as a filmmaker is craft. A well executed, smooth tracking shot is the film equivalent of a beautifully inlaid piece of carpentry. The same could be said of a well crafted scene in the pages of a screenplay, a well-staged scene onscreen, or an elegant example of cross-cutting. This kind of craft skill is typically undervalued by inexperienced filmakers, but highly valued, even prized, by industry professionals.
61
v) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will develop students’ digital literacy skills and how technology-enhanced learning will be used to support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classroooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
62
Digital literacy skills are of the essence in this MA ('digital cinematography', 'digital workflows', etc). However, learning is focused on interactions with production staff and industry professionals. Workshops in particular, which play an important role in the MA, are designed to allow students to become accustomed to handling and creatively using equipment and software, and to develop production skills through repetition and experimentation. Additionally, students are strongly encouraged to refine their skills in their study time. In digital cinematography, for example, students on the MA assigned a sound stage, with camera, grips and lighting equipment, which is available to them to practise and try out ideas.
63
vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employablity objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
64
http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/careers/staff/
65
 As a Creative Skillset-accredited programme, the MA takes significant account of the needs and requirements of employers in the film and television industry. Creative Skillset's remit is to maintain and enhance the British production industry's preeminent position in worldwide cineam and TV production. Courses like this MA therefore are judged for their ability to produce graduates with the skills and creativity to support that objective. Some employers in production will either favour students from Skillset courses, or in some cases, strongly prefer students from Skillset courses. For overseas students, the advantage of a Creative Skillset course is that it sets a benchmark for skills and creativity that is applicable anywhere in the world.
66
viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
67
(max 500 words) Teaching on the MA is by staff members with often longstanding and award-winning expertise in various aspects of production. Some are also currently active in the industry, working, for example, in documentary and visual effects (including new technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality). Many have regular interaction with other industry professionals, and all have a strong commitment to reflect in our teaching the reality of a rapidly changing, often transformative, industry.
68
5.d. Progression
For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
69
On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to:
If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
70
Students attaining a Postgraduate Certificate must successfully complete modules worth 60 credits. These can be any combination of the 10 or 20 credit taught modules described in the module information sheet. This is most commonly used in the case of students who fail to progress to the Individual Project module.
71
On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma students will be able to:
If the PG Diploma is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
72
Students attaining a Postgraduate Diploma must successfully complete modules worth 120 credits. This would normally consist of completing all of the 10 and 20 credit taught modules and a smaller scale independent project accompanied by a dissertation of 7000 words. This project is specified on a case by case basis by the department and is used only for students who for some reason cannot complete the full individual project.
73
6. Reference points and programme regulations
74
6.a. Relevant Quality Assurance Agency benchmark statement(s) and other relevant external reference points
Please state relevant reference points consulted (e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, National Occupational Standards, Subject Benchmark Statements or the requirements of PSRBs): See also Taught Postgraduate Modular Scheme: Framework for Programme Design:
75
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/programmedevelopment/Framework%20for%20Programme%20Design%20-%20PG.pdf
76
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
77
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements
78
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication?PubID=2843#.VthM1fmLS70
79
6.b. University award regulations
80
The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
81
7. Programme Structure
82
7.a. Module Structure and Summative Assessment Map
Please complete the summary table below which shows the module structure and the pattern of summative assessment through the programme.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If the structure of your programme does not fit the usual academic year (for instance students start at the beginning of September or in January) please contact your Academic Quality Team contact in the Academic Support Office for guidance on how to represent the structure in an alternative format.

To clearly present the overall programme structure, include the name and details of each invidual CORE module in the rows below. For OPTION modules, ‘Option module’ or 'Option from list x' should be used in place of specifically including all named options. If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists by term of delivery or subject theme these lists should be provided in the next section (7.b).

From the drop-down select 'S' to indicate the start of the module, 'A' to indicate the timing of each distinct summative assessment point (eg. essay submission/ exam), and 'E' to indicate the end of teaching delivery for the module (if the end of the module coincides with the summative assessment select 'EA'). It is not expected that each summative task will be listed where an overall module might be assessed cumulatively (for example weekly problem sheets).

Summative assessment by exams should normally be scheduled in the spring week 1 and summer Common Assessment period (weeks 5-7). Where the summer CAP is used, a single ‘A’ can be used within the shaded cells as it is understood that you will not know in which week of the CAP the examination will take place. (NB: An additional resit assessment week is provided in week 10 of the summer term for postgraduate students. See Guide to Assessment, 5.4.a)
83
http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/registry-services/guide/
84
Full time structure
85
CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
86
CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
87
10TFT00041MDigital CinematographySAEEE
88
20TFT00052MDigital Production and Postproduction WorkflowsSSAEA
89
10TFT00029MCritical Reflections in Film and TelevisionSAEA
90
20TFT00046MScript DevelopmentSAEAEAEA
91
10TFT00027MDirecting for Film and TelevisionSAEAEAEA
92
20TFT00004MGroup ProjectSAEA
93
90TFT00031MIndividual ProjectSEA
94
Progression Boardweek 9 summer term
95
Reassessmentweek 3 or 4 of summer vacation
96
Exam BoardWeek 7 Autumn term, the following year
97
7.c. Explanation of the programme and assessment design
The statements should be in a form that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). It should make clear to students why they are doing the key activities of the programme, in terms of reaching the PLOs.
98
i) Students’ independent study and formative work Please outline how independent study and student work has been designed to support the progressive achievement of the programme learning outcomes (for example, the use of online resources which incorporate formative feedback; opportunities for further learning from work-based placements).
99
(max 500 words) Careful consideration has been given to formative asssignments, where they exist in the programme. In Script Development, for example, students re given the opportunity to give practice pitches before being assessed summatively on their revised pitches. In the industry, pitching is a key skill for screenwriters, directors and producers alike. The object is to familiarise students with how it is done, and how it feels to do it, 'in the real world', with a particluar focus on the 'rules' of pitching. Independent study is a critically important tool in Digital Cinematography, for example. We allocate a small sound stage, with camera and other equipment, solely for cinematographny students to practise and experiment, for as many hours as they wish, subjet to availability. Tutors on the module repeatedly stress why this is important: that operating digital cinema cameras is both highly complex and yet should be 'second nature' - professional cinematograhers do not spend much time thinking about the mechanical operations of cameras, because they are focused on creative challenges of getting the shot or sequence. The main purpose of these sessions is for students to overcome any hesitancy in handling that stems from unfamiliarity.
100
ii) Contact with staff
Please explain how the programme’s design maximises the value of students’ contact time with staff (which may be face-to-face, virtual, synchronous or asynchronous), including through the use of technology-enhanced learning. For example, giving students resources for their independent study which then enables a class to be more interactive with a greater impact on learning.