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Screenwriting – (M.Sc.)
Bournemouth University
The Media School
| Location: | Bournemouth / United Kingdom / View location on map ▾ Hide location on map ▴ | ||
| Duration: | 24 months | Start Date: | June |
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| Languages: | English | ||
Location of Bournemouth University
Students are on campus for approximately three weeks during the entire two-year course in a total of six residentials. These periods on campus contain an intensive course in writing for the screen, with lectures, presentations, seminars, analysed screenings, exercises and discussions together with group meetings and one-to-one tutorials. They form the core of the course, and all script assignments are fully prepared during these meetings.
Throughout the rest of the programme students work through a range of scripts, with close supervision and guidance from their tutors, who are all professional working writers. Students are allocated to a different tutor for each assignment, so that during the two-year programme each student has the experience of working with a variety of styles and methods. In addition the course has an internet chat room which acts as a continuous monitoring and discussion forum for students and tutors.
Contents
This is a two-year part-time programme leading to two possible awards: the Postgraduate Diploma after Phase Two, or after the final phase, the MA itself. All students are expected to complete the entire programme. It is taught by a combination of six residence or attendance periods, each followed by a "writing phase" when students are individually tutored on a distance-learning basis as they write their scripts and complete the programme units. This allows students to work at their own pace, so that someone with heavy commitments can balance their writing accordingly, or in exceptional cases step back for a year and re-join the programme at the same point twelve months later.
The entire programme combines screenwriting craft (seven units) with screenwriting theory (two units) and a study of industry practice (one unit). All units are prepared in the residence/attendance periods and completed during the writing phases. An optional professional placement is also available for those who wish to pursue it.
In addition, a site is opened for Screenwriting students on the Media School's Intranet, Media2, which they use as an ongoing discussion and interaction service throughout the programme. This discussion board is monitored by tutors and is a highly successful advice and communication service for screenwriting students.
The degree contains ten individual units and is in three phases: units 1-4, units 5-8, and units 9-10. Each stage lasts 7-8 months, and each is passed before the next is begun.
In Phase One, the students embark on an intensive programme in television and film writing craft, with a series of assignments taking them through the writing of a range of scripts for the screen. These vary in length and complexity, from pure visual storytelling to the techniques of scripting an interior monologue. One assignment has students developing their understanding of the scriptwriter's craft by carrying out detailed research in a location of their own choosing. This leads to a place-based script where narrative, plot and character emerge from the chosen arena rather than being imposed upon it. Each of these scripts is individually guided and tutored by a member of the teaching team.
During this first stage the programme also begins to develop students' future employability in the screen industry by training them to write professional script reports.
Phase Two takes students on to working as "commissioned" writers on a one-hour television drama series, chosen from a short list, and again guided on a one-to-one basis by professional drama writers. At the same time students research and write a tutor-guided essay on the genre of the series they have chosen.
A third element of this stage is a study of the screen industry itself, where students learn about commissioning, budgeting, production, distribution and other areas of industry practice.
At this point students are already looking forward to their final Major Project, and making a choice between five MA options offered: a feature film script, a television drama series, an adaptation for the screen, and a "faction" script. Students are guided as they develop their ideas in readiness for the final and most important part of the programme.
Phase Three, the Masters programme, contains the final two units, both based on the student's choice from the series of options. Unit 9 is the script project itself, and the tenth unit is a dissertation based on the chosen script project.
IELTS
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.
Take testRequirements
Entry requirements: The course is designed for members of the media industry and those seeking such careers. The normal requirement is an honours degree or comparable qualification, but appropriate experience will also be taken into account and naturally all applications are treated on an individual basis. Applicants are invited to submit examples of their writing work which best reflects their creative voice. Preferred subjects: Related subjects If English is not your first language: IELTS 7.0 (Academic) or above.
Language Proficiency
| Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE): | Grade C (Score: 60) |
Accreditation
The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), the UK government’s teaching quality watchdog, awarded us the highest category of confidence in our academic standards.
Many of our courses are accredited by professional and industry bodies, which means our courses are readily recognised by employers, and our graduates have professional membership or status when they compete on the job market.
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