Undergraduate BA (Hons)
Film
with a Placement Year
Find your vision as a filmmaker and critic. Explore the history of film and create its future.
Find your vision as a filmmaker and critic. Explore the history of film and create its future.
We still have places available for this course. Apply online or call us now.
Explore film from its silent beginnings through to CGI blockbusters, taking in avant-garde and international cinemas on your way, and find your own voice as a critic and a filmmaker.
Kent has been at the forefront of developing film as an academic subject for over 30 years and we continue to innovate in our teaching and practice. You'll be taught by practitioners and researchers whose work contributes to contemporary debate. Their expertise means that you have a wide choice of areas to discover.
Your placement year usually takes place between your second and final year of study, and can be either paid work or an internship. Taking a placement year increases your professional contacts and gives you the chance to gain some knowledge of the work environment, acquire new skills, and develop your confidence.
From Hollywood to horror, location scouting and screenwriting to film sound, you can follow your passions. Theory or Practice? You can do both!
We're ranked 8th in The Guardian University Guide 2024.
Recent Film graduate Massimiliano Folgheraiter describes how his experiences at Kent helped him to secure a place on a film production course in LA.
We have excellent links to film bodies, such as the British Film Institute, Arts Council England and the Independent Cinema Office and Kent Film.
Our production spaces include chroma-key green screen and black serge cycloramas, an extensive lighting grid and edit suites.
Our typical offer levels are listed below and include indicative contextual offers. If you hold alternative qualifications just get in touch and we'll be glad to discuss these with you.
At Kent, you’re more than your grades. We look at your circumstances and experience as a whole when we consider making an offer. As a guide, typical entry requirements for 2024 entry remain published on the UCAS website and where a course may prefer your qualifications to include specific subjects, these will be listed below.
Have questions? Call us now +44 (0)1227 768896 to discuss your application with our Clearing team. See our Clearing website for more details on how Clearing works at Kent.
The following modules are offered to our current students. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation:
The course introduces students to the language of film, from aspects of mise-en-scène (setting, performance, costumes, props, lighting, frame composition) to framing (camera movement, shot scale, lenses), sound (fidelity, volume, timbre) and editing (from requirements for spatial orientation through matches on action, eyeline matches and shot-reverse-shot structures to temporal manipulations through ellipsis and montage). The study of these elements enables students to understand the spatial and temporal construction of films, as well as the stylistic, expressive and/or dramatic functions of specific strategies.
This module approaches the "big questions" that have surrounded film and the moving image and puts them into historical context. Although specific topics will vary, representative topics may address competing definitions of film and its constitutive elements, the effects that cinema has on spectators, the social, cultural and political implications that moving images reproduce, and the status of the medium between art and entertainment. Students will debate seminal writings on the nature of film and bring their arguments to bear on exemplary film productions.
This course examines film history and historiography through a series of case studies. In carrying out this investigation students will be invited to work with secondary and primary sources held in the library and will be encouraged to evaluate the aesthetic, technological, economic, social and political histories presented in this module. Students will understand the role and value of the contextual study of film and will be given the opportunity to research and write on selected aspects of film historiography. The choice of case studies will depend upon the expertise of the module convenor and is not restricted to a particular national cinema or period; case studies may include, for instance, the history of film by means of the study of a particular theme and cultural context in the history of film.
Introduction to Filmmaking draws upon concepts in Film Studies to inform an introduction to moving image production that focuses on the exploration of cinematic language. Basic technical skills in DV production and post-production are taught along with craft skills applicable to both narrative and experimental screen production. Through a combination of lectures, screenings, creative and technical workshops, and peer reviews of work in progress, this module encourages experimentation, critical reflection, independent thought, and dialogue between theory and practice. Effective group work is integral to the success of student work on this module. Practical work is designed to trigger both conceptual and creative thinking as well as consideration of audience responses to cinematic language. The essay, a critical analysis of the finished film, is designed to encourage a dialogue between theory and practice.
You have the opportunity to select elective modules in this stage.
Have you got what it takes to write a film? This module offers you an introduction to the concepts, terms, and skills involved in writing screenplays and to the craft of screenwriting. Screenwriting is a unique form of writing with very different concerns from novels, theatre and radio. Although the screenplay is a vital component of a film’s success, it tends to be neglected as an art form in of itself.
In this module, you’ll explore the conventions of dramatic structure, and examine new narrative forms and short film variations. We’ll encourage you to think critically about screenwriting and you’ll have the opportunity to write your own screenplay.
We’ll take you through the writing process using a series of creative exercises, from preparation and initial concept to the final draft of a script. By the end of the module, you’ll have gained practical knowledge and have started to develop your own creative voice - and of course, a screenplay of your own.
Developments in online streaming, film festivals and technical innovation have seen an unprecedented expansion in documentary filmmaking. Through practical exercises and analysis of film texts, this module will introduce you to the essential components of non-fiction filmmaking.
You’ll take part in practical projects and also learn through lectures and screenings, which draw on a range of film texts and look at examples from the history of non-fiction film such as early cinema, direct cinema, cinema verité, and the film essay. The exercises provide opportunities for you to develop your creative practice, including the development of a treatment/proposal leading to the production of a final film project.
By the end of the module, you’ll understand how theory and critical analysis can develop your understanding of – and practical skills in – documentary filmmaking.
While American and European films have dominated film production and exhibition, cinema is a global phenomenon. In this module, you’ll study the historical, cultural, political and economic determinants of ‘world’ or ‘national’ cinemas and consider their influence within domestic and international contexts. You’ll look at case studies from various regions of the world including Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and East Asia.
The module will explore how filmmakers actively franchise, adopt, and rework film styles and genres. You’ll examine how filmmakers respond to the culture and local history of different countries, and to international influences. You’ll also explore colonial and postcolonial politics and culture. You’ll consider how filmmakers tailor their practice to the tastes and demands of local and foreign audiences and investigate the funding structures, distribution strategies and industrial structures that incentivise certain topics and representation styles.
You’ll critically assess how cinema reflects on notions of national identity, as well as gender, sexual, and racial identity. Alongside this, you’ll explore the place of marginalised and migrant communities in national identity and culture. This gives you great intercultural awareness and understanding, helping you produce films as a global citizen and speak to a wider range of audiences with your work.
Do you want to explore diverse schools, techniques, and methods of cinematography, from classical to contemporary approaches?
Through a blend of theoretical studies and practical exercises and assessments, you will analyse the role of cinematography in shaping narrative, mood, and audience perception. Hands-on experiences allow you to apply learned concepts while honing your technical skills behind the camera. From framing and lighting to camera movement and frame composition, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the visual language of film and cinema.
You will emerge with a refined ability to craft compelling visual narratives and a deeper understanding of the integral role of cinematography in filmmaking.
Explore the emergence, consolidation, and collapse of the studio system in Hollywood, between the coming of sound in 1929 and its eventual dismantling in 1960.
You’ll cover Hollywood from all angles, including the rise of the star system; the emergence of genres; self-regulation and censorship; developments in technologies such as sound, colour, widescreen; and changes in audience. You will examine the ingredients and evolution of the 'Classical Hollywood cinema' style of film against the backdrop of varying contexts of production, distribution, exhibition and regulation. A focus on film genres (such as the gangster film, western and musical) in their various phases of development and permutation will help you understand the importance of standardisation and the commercial motivations of filmmaking.
You will also look at studio development and collapse within broader historical and political contexts, enabling an appreciation of the forces that motivated film production, distribution and exhibition in Hollywood during the period.
Cinema has typically been regarded as a visual phenomenon – films, it is often said, are essentially moving pictures. Sound has, nevertheless, played an important role from the beginnings of cinema, a fact which has been acknowledged in the detailed historical, theoretical, and critical work on film music, and film sound more generally, produced over the past quarter-century.
Sound, Music, and Cinema will provide an overview of this field of research and provide you with a clearer understanding of, and greater sensitivity to, the soundtrack. You will be given an introductory framework for understanding sound, which may include topics such as the relationship between music and other aspects of film sound (speech, ambient sound, sound effects), as well as the nature of the relationship between sound and image.
Subsequent sessions will consider topics such as: the evolution of sound technology and its impact on the aural aesthetics of film; the use of classical and popular music in film scores; the emergence of the ‘sound designer’ in contemporary cinema; and the distinctive and innovative use of sound and music by a range of cinematic 'sound stylists'.
Podcasting is a digital media form that is increasing its audience reach and size year on year. Often unbound to traditional norms of journalistic impartiality, many podcast presenters provide personal perspectives, allowing these media makers a marked degree of creative and intellectual agency.
You will employ both theory and practice-based learning to examine the podcasting format and consider how podcasts are developed; the editorial and ethical issues at stake; and how audiences are acquired and expanded. You will have the opportunity to critically assess contemporary practitioners, companies, and the platforms used for the dissemination of podcasts. Having an understanding of podcasting from all angles gives you an extra edge with employers, and is an incredibly useful tool to break into an exciting and expanding industry.
The video games industry is the biggest entertainment industry in the world, with Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V the most successful entertainment product of all time. But how well do we understand that industry? Why do so many people play games, and what effect has video gaming had on our lives?
You will explore the history, technological development, and social issues surrounding video gaming. We will cover the technological and industrial advances in game design over the past 50 years, as well as how video games have been presented in contemporary marketing and modern media.
This will likely be your first exploration into the field of game studies (including game theory), and how it can help us understand different game genres, game mechanics, and game content. Across the module, you will learn about intersecting questions of narrative, interactivity, space, play, players, and representation. This is your chance to level-up your skillset and make rapid progress in an expanding and exciting industry.
What defines a film genre? Why do genres tend to be popular with audiences, and how do film industries capitalise on them? Focusing on a specific genre (which can be horror, sci-fi, Western, musical, etc.), you will explore its narrative and stylistic features, alongside the history of its modes of production and reception. You will understand the historical events that have impacted the production of the films belonging to the genre in question, from commercial to political and cultural matters. You will also apply relevant theories to analyse a genre film’s narrative and aesthetics. These can include theories of sound and image, representation, allegorical readings, psychoanalysis, cognitive theories, or theories of new media and the digital image, as appropriate.
How can you use genre within your own creative practice as a filmmaker? This module will give you a historical overview of genre filmmaking with the aim of exploring this question and providing the opportunity for you to produce a film within the parameters of a chosen genre (or genres). To support this process, you will explore a variety of genre forms which may include, but are not exclusive to, the following: crime, musical, horror, melodrama, western, science fiction, road movie, romantic comedy.
You will build on the practical skills established earlier on the course to further refine creative use of various technical aspects, such as camera, sound, editing and writing. By the end of the module you will have a better understanding of how genre influences creative decisions and the importance of this topic within larger industrial practices.
You have the opportunity to select elective modules in this stage.
If you achieve at least 60% in Stage 1, you can opt to spend a year in industry between Stages 2 and 3 to gain relevant workplace experience and enhance your employment prospects following graduation. The year is assessed on a pass/fail basis through employer feedback and a written report that you submit.
Students spend a year (a minimum of 24 weeks full-time, or the equivalent part-time) working in a work place setting, applying and enhancing the skills and techniques they have developed and studied in the earlier stages of their degree programme. The work place may be directly related to a student's degree, but this is not a requirement of the module. The work students do is entirely under the direction of their work place supervisor, but support is provided via a dedicated Placement Coordinator within the student's home School The University will provide the work place supervisor with clear written guidance outlining the intended learning outcomes and measures the employer must take to support the student in achieving these. This guidance is included in a three way agreement entered into by the University of Kent, the workplace provider and the student. This agreement must be signed by all relevant parties before the placement commences.
Note that participation in this module is dependent on students obtaining an appropriate placement (or a number of appropriate shorter placements that have a combined duration equivalent to 24 weeks full-time employment), for which guidance is provided through the School and Faculty in the year leading up to the placement. The Careers and Employability Service will also provide students with advice and guidance on applying and preparing for work placements.
Throughout its history, film has functioned as a powerful sociopolitical force. Individuals and groups have used this medium to express their identities (whether gender, sexual, ethnic, class, political, national etc.) to various audiences, to portray their histories and current realities, to interrogate social norms, to agitate for civil rights, and to imagine more equal futures.
Film's unique capacity to reflect, refract and represent has also meant that individuals and groups have also used it to exert power or subjugate, create and reinforce stereotypes about 'the Other' or justify their own dominance in the social order.
This module focuses on this vital aspect of cinema. You’ll focus on different case studies to enable you to critically reflect on how film feeds into and explores identities, and the political implications of this. Recognition of the ways film can be used for suppression or liberation helps you become a better, more ethical and impactful filmmaker.
Have you ever wanted to direct a play? When you take this module you’ll explore the art of directing in a supportive pre-professional environment.
What does a director do? Is the director’s job to ascertain what the playwright meant and to clearly convey that to the audience? Or is the director a co-author of a performance whose intentions also inform the meaning of the work? These are fundamental questions that you’ll consider as you develop your directing skills, as you figure out what kind of director you want to be.
You’ll study a range of political and philosophical plays, which will be contextualised by a series of lectures, and through a series of workshops you’ll be introduced to techniques to translate the ideas from page to stage. In doing so, you’ll develop confidence in dealing with challenging concepts and using that understanding to inform the practical work. Even if you don’t want to become a director, these skills are transferable to several careers including teaching, PR, and marketing.
Why are so many films and television programmes adapted from other sources? Why do such adaptations frequently evoke powerful responses from viewers and critics? What role does screenwriting play in the adaptation process?
You will consider these questions as you explore the popularity of adaptations within popular culture. The module will provide the close study of screen adaptations taken from a variety of media which may include theatre, classic novels, short stories and comics. In doing so, you will engage with key topics from adaptation studies, considering the connections and differences between distinct media, focusing on key features such as the manipulation of time and space, characterisation, point of view, style, voice, interpretation and /or evaluation.
You will be encouraged to consider adaptation within an industrial context and the creative and practical implications of adapting works for the screen. You’ll have the opportunity to develop your own creative interests within adaptation studies in conjunction with a deeper understanding of the key theoretical concepts underpinning the discipline.
The digital age brought significant changes to the practice of film criticism. What are the challenges that critics face today, and how has in transformed over the years?
By exploring the history of this practice and reflecting on its present reality, you will apply your understanding of historical approaches to your own reviewing practice and learn how to pitch your reviews to different publications. You’ll get hands-on, regularly writing reviews and offering feedback on those of your peers. This will equip you to develop a constant flow of production, regularly revising your writing according to the learning you acquire every week.
You will critically reflect on your own practice, learn how to be constructive and collegiate, and develop skills such as time management, problem solving, and finding your own critical voice.
Why do audiences flock to certain films? How do you raise awareness of a particular film and encourage them to see it? What kind of strategies are best suited to promoting different types of film? These are the kind of questions faced by people working in film marketing and distribution – key figures in the industry and just as important as the content producers (filmmakers, actors) whose work they promote.
You will learn how marketing is used to mitigate risk and maximise revenue; what forms and formats film publicity takes and the purpose they serve; how distributors purchase rights and assemble lists; how distributors and marketers position individual films to certain target audiences and territories; how film audiences select which films to view; how cinematic exhibition fits within multi-platform distribution strategies and the rise of ‘non-traditional’ distribution portals (e.g. Netflix and Amazon).
You will also learn how to market a film and gain hands-on, practical experience of creating your own marketing materials, this gives you a greater understanding of the whole process of marketing and distribution, a key skill when breaking into the industry.
If you find yourself full of ideas for film, but short on budget, you aren’t alone. Most filmmakers begin their careers from the same position. So, learning how to make a small budget have a bigger impact is vital to establishing yourself as a filmmaker.
You will engage with key aspects of microbudget filmmaking through technical exercises and the creation of your own film. A series of practical projects will be contextualised through lectures drawing on several films, looking at examples from the history of extremely low budget genres such as horror, crime, independent and experimental films.
Through this work, you will be able to use theoretical ideas and critical analysis to develop creative projects and understand how to conceptualise, create and refine microbudget films. You will refine your creative practice in relation to industry practices and standards, building on the skills acquired previously on the course.
What is screen space? Would you like to be introduced to the professional careers and practical applications of film and television space in the industry, including location scouting, shooting and production design?
Screen Space and Location Scouting investigates films and/or television series shot on location and the staging of real spaces in studio. With a focus on cityscapes and rural landscapes, you’ll look at both topographically accurate uses of specific spaces and at creative geographies where cities, towns and streets are made to 'play' the role of other places.
This module also introduces you to mapping spatial film data (e.g., using software such as geographic information system, QGIS). You’ll produce an academic analysis of film space as well as getting hands-on with a practice-based component focussing on real-world processes of location scouting.
Cult films, animated worlds, film festivals, cinematic cities, the gothic on screen… there is now a wealth of specialist areas to explore within film studies.
Follow your passions and take a deep dive into one such area. Guided by the expertise of our academics, you will gain systematic knowledge of one specialist subject area for the duration of the module.
You will engage with key scholarship, rigorously interrogating the core ideas developed within the subfield and the debates that have ensued. Note: the specialist area varies from year to year according to the convenor’s area of expertise. (For the year's specific topic, please get in touch with the module convenor.)
Factual entertainment - one of the most widely consumed formats of television, film, podcast and other media - delivers non-fiction or unscripted scenarios in accessible, popular forms.
This is your opportunity to plan and produce an exemplary creative work. You’ll also gain an overview of the genre’s development and its links to documentary filmmaking through several case studies.
Each week’s topic will focus either on an aspect of production or in-depth discussion of a specific sub-genre of factual entertainment, which may include true-crime, reality TV, talent shows, lifestyle series or science and nature documentaries. Through this exploration, you’ll enhance your ability to critically reflect on debates over ethics, objectivity, the media maker’s role and/or audience manipulation.
Through exercises and presentation of ideas, you will engage with key practical considerations of making factual entertainment, which may include proposal-writing and pitching, using found/archival footage, collaborating with production companies, and analysing the implications (e.g. political, ethical) of their production decisions.
What are you a fan of? And how do you express your fandom? Today, thanks to online communities and corporate feedback systems, the fan has more power than ever to welcome, influence, and reject media content. Is the fan today a loyal follower or empowered shaper of the media industry?
You explore these questions, what makes a fan ‘a fan’, and how fandom has changed over the last century. You will look at a range of media industries and their outputs - which may include film, television, animation, comics, and video games - and how those industries and media connect and interact with their audiences. Considering how fans express themselves through different means, you are encouraged to reflect on your own fandom through creative outputs on the module.
You will critically engage with the ‘business’ of fandom, its financial worth to the entertainment industry, including the vast merchandising involved, and the opportunities for fans themselves to make money from their own passion and interests. Using key case studies and examples, you will also critically discuss the transmedia framework behind modern entertainment, exploring, for example, how contemporary franchises reach new audiences and encourage new people to become fans.
What is a star? What is a celebrity? Often used as synonyms, the two terms in fact relate to different types of media constructs. You’ll explore stardom and celebrity as an academic field of study, reviewing the history of the rise of stardom within the Hollywood context and how the establishment of ‘the star’ became an integral part of the industry.
You’ll critically examine the ‘star system’ and its relationship to a range of topics, which may include performance, genre, the representation of gender and gendered bodies, as well as audiences and fan studies. You’ll also trace how the stardom industry became a component within a larger network of celebrity culture.
Often characterised as a more contemporary phenomenon, the notion of ‘celebrity’ incorporates prominent figures in the public eye to whom the extension of fame is not necessarily based on any specific skill, talent or achievement. You’ll explore this context in conjunction with the decline of the dominance of Hollywood stars, as a variety of mediated identities are promoted, consumed and commodified within diverse media landscapes.
You’ll analyse how celebrities can take on many forms, using different media platforms, such as film, television, online streaming and social media. The importance of media technologies within both the study of stars and celebrity culture is stressed throughout the course.
You have the opportunity to select elective modules in this stage.
All modules involve lectures, small group seminars and film screenings (where relevant). On average, you have two lectures and three hours of seminars each week, plus four to six hours film viewing.
Depending on the modules you select, assessment varies from 100% coursework (extended essays or dissertation), to a combination of examination and coursework.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.
Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
The programme aims to:
You gain knowledge and understanding of:
You gain the following intellectual abilities:
You gain subject-specific skills in the following:
You gain transferable skills in the following:
Kent School of Arts has an excellent reputation and many links to professional practices. This network is a great way to help get your foot in the door in the industry, and means the community you join at Kent stays with you beyond your time here. Recent graduates have gone on to work in:
You'll also develop key transferable skills including: the ability to work independently or as part of a team; to analyse and problem solve; to communicate your ideas and opinions.
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Fees for undergraduate students are £1,850.
Fees for undergraduate students are £1,385.
Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
The following course-related costs are not included in your tuition fees.
For students taking film practice/production modules, we recommend you purchase:
Our video production facilities will be Adobe-based. Therefore, if you wish to invest in your own equipment, these purchases will ensure it fits in seamlessly with our technology. However, any student unable to make these purchases will be guaranteed the use of the same, or better, University resources and will not be disadvantaged.
For students taking the Beyond Cinema module:
You have the opportunity to attend special screenings and other activities. Participation is strongly encouraged. The fee for these activities is due in the first few weeks of term and is approx. £20 (based on previous years).
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
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