Film and television inform, entertain, reflect, and also shape society, and this course examines the power behind these key mediums. This course at Lincoln is a theoretically oriented critical studies degree, enhanced by opportunities for creative and professional development. It gives students the opportunity to undertake practical work, enabling them to deepen their understanding of the critical issues and key concepts of the discipline.
The course is taught by research-active staff working on a diverse range of topics, including the documentary, heritage cinema, children's film and TV, representations of difference, Hollywood, and marginal cinemas. Meanwhile, practical modules are delivered by active media professionals using industry-standard facilities and equipment.
Access to industry-standard facilities and equipment
Learn from staff who are media practitioners with links to industry
Opportunity to take part in an exchange programme in Europe or the USA
Hear from guest speakers from across the film and media industries
A vibrant research community
You will have the opportunity to learn and develop through lectures, workshops, seminars, group projects, screenings, research, and an independent study.
In the first year, this degree provides an overview of the theory, history, and analysis of film and television. It offers a theoretically informed introduction to film and TV practice. An increasing number of optional modules in the second year enables students to forge their own path according to their research and creative interests. In their third and final year, students are expected to complete an independent study and will continue to curate their own path by selection between optional critical studies and critical practice modules.
This module offers an opportunity to study and apply a wide range of methods of textual analysis to film and television texts. Through group discussion and seminar exercises students can develop a fluency in these analytical methods. This is underpinned by a range of complementary subjects which act as an introduction to the critical approaches taken in year two of the programme.
This module allows students to develop and produce short fiction films (using the screenplays written in Semester A). It will concentrate on enhancing an understanding of the importance of collaboration and teamwork, as well as delivering tuition in core pre and postproduction techniques.
This module provides an introduction to television studies and focuses on historic and current modes of address, distribution and reception forms and the social function of the medium. The module supports students in developing the skills to critically read television texts through a range of contexts including the economic, cultural and regulatory. An understanding of the historical development of the medium in Western contexts will enable students to critically locate television’s place in the present and future media landscape.
For more than a century, film has been understood variously as a technology, an art form, an industry, a means of communicating ideas, and as source of popular entertainment. In this module, students can consider the many ways in which films have been made and experienced, and have the opportunity to learn about different approaches to studying the history of film, looking at case studies from Hollywood, Europe, and beyond.
This module introduces skills involved in writing for short fiction films. Students will write two short screenplays. Throughout the module students will develop an understanding of professional ways of working as a creative and enhance their critical and practical capabilities in relation to screenwriting.
This module provides an introduction to television studies and focuses on historic and current modes of address, distribution and reception forms and the social function of the medium. The module supports students in developing the skills to critically read television texts through a range of contexts including the economic, cultural and regulatory. An understanding of the historical development of the medium in Western contexts will enable students to critically locate television’s place in the present and future media landscape.
This module aims to introduce practical techniques, using multi-camera studio methods. Basic production organisation, script and planning methods are developed alongside critical and analytical discussions to devise creative ideas and content for an identified television audience. Students will also broaden their working knowledge of health and safety and ethical issues relevant to broadcast production.
Students will have the opportunity to examine the political, commercial and cultural determinants behind the history, current organisation, and potential futures of the UK audiovisual production environment, including how it relates to the US and Europe.
This module is concerned with the cultural construction of womanhood, the 'female' and notions of femininity: the economic and cultural value of the female film star to Hollywood, the development of female film genres or the feminization of certain genres, how debates about female identity inform models of spectatorship, with respect to both psychoanalysis and ethnography.
This module is an advanced level module in the practical screenplay craft, building on skills acquired in Advanced Craft Skills - Screenwriting. Students will explore the conventions of the feature film screenplay, developing story and scenes for a feature script of their own.
This module sets out to explore some of the ways in which we make, sense, and transform ourselves and our worlds through our sonic and auditory cultures. We will focus on a number of important phenomena in our consideration of sonic practices, ways of hearing and contemporary scholarship on the auditory dimensions of media. Designed to engage both Media Studies and Sound and Music Production students in their respective fields, we will move from discussions of sound in relation to the affective capacities of the body through discussion of audition in relation to space and place (focused through the concept of the ‘soundscape’). We will consider discussions of sound and technology and explore concepts and phenomena of ‘noise’ and ‘silence’ in sonic and musical experience. This module encourages collaborative research in the spirit of ‘Student as Producer’, the organizing principle of teaching and learning in the university.
This module investigates and analyses the debates about and developments in children’s film and television in the UK, US and beyond, and is informed by politics, philosophy and ideology.
This module explores the history and theory of the documentary film. It will introduce students to media texts (films, video, broadcast television and digital platforms) that claim, in distinction to the cinema of fiction, to capture and re-present unmediated – to one degree or another-- reality. Students on this module will be asked to consider, via close text analysis and an understanding of moving image history, the problematics of making such a claim. This will involve students investigating the nature of the documentary image – that is: the relationship of the signifier to the thing signified. It will require them to determine the ethical implications of documentary’s claim on the real for the filmmaker, the persons filmed and the spectators. It will engage them in debates about documentary’s impact in the social sphere. The module will be organised around a series of case studies. Students will gain an understanding of media texts that have had a significant impact on society, knowledge of history and theory of documentary, and skills in close text reading and historical reception studies.
A guide to specific films and accompanying theoretical concepts. Key films provide a platform for debating the political, institutional and cultural context of individual cinemas and regions in an increasingly globalised industry where audiences and producers are exposed to a variety of film styles. Critical engagement and debate are encouraged within the broader structure of World Cinema, alongside cultural and globalisation studies.
This module aims to support students’ understanding and use of English language in the context of the media, and thereby enhance their ability to meet the demands of academic study at the University of Lincoln.
The Klagenfurt Erasmus Exchange Programme is an optional module of study for the award of the BA Film & Television degree. As part of the three-year course, some students may study for the duration of Term 1 of Level 2 at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. The target modules of study include areas of practical and theoretical studies comparable with those of Level 2 study for the Film & Television award at Lincoln.
During the term abroad, Lincoln students will be based in the Institute of Media and Communication Studies and will share classes and modules of study with peers from Austria and other European countries. Not only will students be living and socialising in another culture, providing opportunities to study their respective countries, they will also have an opportunity to engage, free-of-charge, in an intensive German-language module for three weeks before term begins (although academic and practice teaching and learning will be in the medium of English for Lincoln exchange students, except in rare instances when a student may be fluent in German).
The Minnesota State University Moorhead USA Exchange Programme is an optional module for the award of the BA Film and Television Degree. As part of the three-year course, some students may study for the duration of Term 1 of level 2 at Minnesota State University Moorhead USA. The target units of study include areas of practical and theoretical studies comparable with those of Level 2 study for the Film and Television Award at Lincoln.
During the semester abroad, students will share classes and units of study with local students. Not only will students be living and socialising in another 'culture' providing opportunities to study their respective countries, they may also have an opportunity to examine USA media industry practice through optional Internships for exchange students. The Moorhead-Fargo twin cities also offer practical opportunities for students to engage with USA production companies including, Fox, ABC and Prairie Public TV (PBS), all of whom have local bases.
• This module will investigate the Hollywood musical as one of Hollywood’s most popular and important film genres, from its beginnings in the early sound era to the integrated musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, from critically acclaimed box office successes such as West Side Story (1961) and cultural phenomena such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Dirty Dancing (1987) to more recent musicals such as Moulin Rouge! (2001), Dreamgirls (2006), La La Land (2016), and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018).
A close study of a number of significant films and associated scholarly literature will support discussion of structural, stylistic and thematic issues. Stardom and the function of the star performance will be considered and ethnicity, race, sexuality, class and gender as constructed through the musical will be analysed.
The module aims to introduce you to a range of conceptual and theoretical approaches to the study of horror in popular culture. It explores the history of the genre and selected subgenres as well as contemporary manifestations, both supernatural, and realist horror.
The module looks at the horror genre in terms of various social, cultural and national contexts. Students can study psychoanalytical approaches to these fictions as well as approaches such as affect theory which attempt to go beyond psychoanalysis. Through lectures, screenings and discussions, students are encouraged to apply these approaches to the analysis of selected media texts and subgenres.
This module aims to encourage students to consider the options open to them upon graduation and prepare for life after university. Students have the opportunity to reach into the wider community to develop their skills for future employment. The module aims to enable students to closely examine how a range of film production companies function on a day to day basis and relate their experience to their studies.
This module is an advanced level module in the practical screenplay craft. Students will produce and pitch finished short screenplays and begin to explore the conventions of the feature film screenplay.
This module enables students to challenge conventions within a large-scale studio project that significantly stretches and challenges their individual and group skillset. The module will see students following through with the experiences from Semester A and put these into practice here.
Students, with the confidence and experience gained at level 4 are asked now to take a stronger creative stand on their work in planning and forming a largescale piece of practice. The key critical skills are used to help build up individual research and development skills, helping to demonstrate the student’s thinking in the employment of their large studio and project-facing role.
This module explores the history of media controversy and ‘moral panic’ during the twentieth century. It is designed to introduce students to media texts (especially films and television programmes) that have sparked debate and extreme differences of opinion among audiences in Britain and America. Students will be expected to engage with a range of films, television programmes and primary source material.
This module aims to develop an understanding of the complex problem of realism in film and media studies as it relates to fictional narrative forms. Students will have the opportunity to engage with academic debates around realist texts and examine these in relation to historical, contemporary and potential examples.
Through a critical examination of contemporary factual television and online culture, this module aims to show that this can be understood as having been dramatically reconfigured in recent years by socio-political and commercial pressures and their associated entertainment values and changing discourses of selfhood.
In this module students will explore how the consumption of televisual content has evolved and been transformed in the era of streaming platforms, catch up TV, interactivity, personalisation, and audience fragmentation.
In the 21st century we no longer believe that a single unified world can be visualized from a privileged position. Any sense of distance from the world has collapsed. We are conscious of living in a time of continual change and transformation as opposed to a state of equilibrium. After all, the early 21st century has been marked by rising urbanism, the movements of people, the crisis of global warming, the dominance of ever more complex logistical networks, the emergence of new cultures of speed, experiments with new modes of warfare, etc. This is a confusing situation – simultaneously liberating, exciting, anarchic and dangerous. We are traversed and overwhelmed by these affective forces. This innovative module, in which students collaborate to produce film essays, presents an opportunity to reassess aesthetic theories and practices – our modes of visualizing - in order to confront the conditions of the present.
A 10,000-word dissertation is the culmination of the student's undergraduate investigation into the structures and debates surrounding cultural production and takes the form of an extended essay. Regular support and supervision ensures that the chosen subject facilitates involvement with issues relevant to contemporary media practice.
Animation is a malleable form: it can portray bodies in blurred motion and extraordinary feats, frame by frame. Animation is limitless and all pervasive, transcending genres, distorting genders and having the power to dissect stereotypes. Gender can be constructed and deconstructed, narratives can transcend the confines that might limit live action cinema. The idea of animation as a genre of film continues to be contested, it demands its own medium and a plethora of genres within that medium. With its ability to inform and revolutionise, animation is ever-evolving and can educate, but also perpetuate inequalities of power through its depictions of difference, disability and the stigmas attached to such representations. Animation bends and contorts, it ventures far beyond the confines of children’s entertainment into the realms of horror, documentary, pornography, etc. It gives us astonishing insights into identity through its figuration, configuration and reconfiguration of the body, otherness, erasure, power and punishment.
This module will introduce students to theories of identity, difference, diaspora, the body and the disabled self and apply these to key animation texts and directors, through a series of lectures and seminars. Learners will debate concepts, characters and ideas about difference throughout this module, using identity theories as markers of understanding, and produce an essay that is enriched by what they have discovered.
This module provides an opportunity to explore the entanglements of human bodies with media devices and processes. With and through media technologies, we transform the body and our understanding of bodily life. Today, this has become so obvious that the distinction between ourselves, machines and other species has been rendered problematic. Some insist on the need to defend the body against the encroachment of media and cybernetic systems. But perhaps the body has always already been mediated? Seizing upon this problematic, theorists, artists and media practitioners have converged upon a preoccupation with speculation upon the present and future condition of the mediatized human body.
Examines the cultural significance of so-called exploitation films, which can reveal (and revel in) themes, images and narratives suppressed from the mainstream, dealing with lurid, scandalous subjects in a seemingly excessive, gratuitous manner. Some theorists argue that perceived ‘excess’ is a foundation for developing new critical methods, providing a fascinating alternative to approaches more comfortably contained within ‘classical’ systems.
Cinema is an integral part of our culture and tells us about society; like any cultural product, cinema does not exist in a vacuum. It communicates ideas, value systems and cultural beliefs, desires, dreams, anxieties, fears and needs of a given society at a given time, and it does so through different constructions of gender, sexualities, whiteness, ethnicity, race, age, social class and cultures. Taking into account a broad range of films and genres (from rom-com, drama and erotic thriller, to animation, musical, neo-noir, action and sci-fi), as well as a variety of theoretical approaches from (but not limited to) feminist film theory, philosophy, post-feminism, psychoanalysis, stardom and cultural studies; and combining textual analysis with background reading, this module will examine and critically evaluate a range of Hollywood films produced and released in the 1980s addressing the relations between their textual form and their cultural context.
One advanced concept-led project or project portfolio using technologies centred upon Single Camera, Multi Camera or Scriptwriting; an opportunity to produce practical work to an advanced level of creativity and to undertake interdisciplinary production with students on other School courses as appropriate.
The purpose of this module is to examine and critically compare the different representations of journalists to be found in film and assess the relation between these portrayals and continuing moral and political issues faced by the profession. The module expects students to study movies in which journalists are portrayed as leading characters.
Moving images have explored madness, the real, nightmares and fantasy since the beginning of cinema. Mad scientists from Caligari and Rotwang through Dr Gogol to Rick Sanchez have wreaked havoc, reconfigured the human body, opened portals into new dimensions and ushered in devastating social change. Films have told stories of men driving women into insanity in pursuit of power, fame and glory. Bodies that have challenged arbitrary norms or misfit with normative spatial arrangements have been represented as psychotic killers, extra-terrestrial monsters and subhuman beasts. This module explores representations of madness in cinema to explore attitudes to mental health via a mix of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks in a variety of national cinema settings and in a range of genres and registers, from classical Hollywood horror through European auteur cinema to digitally distributed transnational quality long form drama.
When studying contemporary media, the rapid pace of technological change can pose a problem for those of us hoping to find some clarity or surety within a dense and often overwhelming media landscape. To study the media of today effectively, therefore, we must also look to the media of the past. In this module, we will accordingly unearth various examples of forgotten, neglected, or underappreciated pre-twentieth century media, discovering how concepts, problems, and debates that still define the discourse surrounding media design and usage today have their origins in much older technological systems, whilst simultaneously challenging the assumptions that have underpinned traditional histories of media.
Portrayals of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives on screen are under increasing scrutiny from audiences, activists and media scholars. But, for much of the history of film and television, non-normative sexual and gender identities have been marginalised or hidden. This module examines the history of queer representations in screen culture from the era of silent films to the present day. Students will have the opportunity to work with examples from a range of national contexts, including (but not limited to) Britain and America, as well as engaging with influential scholarship in queer theory and the history of gender and sexuality.
This module analyses the range and diversity of a genre encompassing many highly popular texts. Metaphor and allegory are explored to understand how science fiction has been appreciated and has developed from cult to mainstream acceptance and popularity. Innovation and cross-fertilisation of generic forms are also be considered.
This module surveys and assesses a period that represents a break with a range of ideological, aesthetic and commercial traditions together with a process of retrenchment and recuperation. Post-classical Hollywood saw both films and the industry experience ideological and socio-cultural upheaval, demonstrated through cinematic modes of representation, industrial re-structuring and artistic transformations.
† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.
We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, and contact hours.
Varied modes of assessment are used on this programme, including critical essays, presentations, and viewing logs. Practical work is assessed by experienced media industry professionals. There are no formal examinations on the course.
You'll have access to industry-standard production facilities including television studios, video editing suites, a writers’ room, and a 20-seat 4K screening room. There's also a cinema-style viewing environment with a high resolution 4k projector. Students currently have free access to Adobe Creative Cloud software via our media and design labs.
Many academic staff in the Lincoln School of Film, Media and Journalism are current media practitioners who are engaged with professional bodies, such as the Royal Television Society; the British Society of Cinematographers; and the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies; ensuring that course content is informed by the latest industry developments. Some conduct research alongside teaching and the School is home to a community of researchers exploring questions about culture, consumption, creativity, and communication, consistently pushing the boundaries of media research. Students also have the opportunity to hear from visiting guest speakers from many parts of the Film and TV industries.
The Lincoln School of Film, Media and Journalism runs exchange programmes with partner institutions in the USA, Canada, and Europe. These give students the opportunity to experience and learn about other cultures. Those who choose to do this are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and general living costs.
Our graduates may go on to employment in exhibition and curation, media journalism, marketing and PR, media management, and a variety of production-related roles in film, TV, and the creative industries. They may also go into teaching or academic careers via postgraduate study.
Take a look at some of the locations around Lincoln that have been featured in mainstream film and television.
104 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma: Distinction, Merit, Merit.
T Level: Merit
Access to Higher Education Diploma: 45 Level 3 credits with a minimum of 104 UCAS Tariff points.
International Baccalaureate: 28 points overall.
GCSE's: Minimum of three at grade 4 or above, which must include English. Equivalent Level 2 qualifications may be considered.
The University accepts a wide range of qualifications as the basis for entry and do accept a combination of qualifications which may include A Levels, BTECs, EPQ etc.
We may also consider applicants with extensive and relevant work experience and will give special individual consideration to those who do not meet the standard entry qualifications.
Non UK Qualifications:
If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.
EU and Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/
If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-sessional English and Academic Study Skills courses.
For applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements, our Arts Foundation Year can provide an alternative route of entry onto our full degree programmes:
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/afyafyub/
If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the Admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk
Going to university is a life-changing step and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found on our course fees pages.
For eligible undergraduate students going to university for the first time, scholarships and bursaries are available to help cover costs. To help support students from outside of the UK, we are also delighted to offer a number of international scholarships which range from £1,000 up to the value of 50 per cent of tuition fees. For full details and information about eligibility, visit our scholarships and bursaries pages.
Project costs can vary depending on the nature of the practical work chosen by the student. Students are asked to consider costs when proposing a project.
Study Abroad Outside of Europe
Exchange students applying to study outside of Europe do not pay tuition fees at their host university. Participants will usually be responsible for all other costs themselves, including travel, accommodation, visas, insurance, vaccinations, and administrative fees at the host institution.
Students going on exchange keep their entitlement to UK sources of funding such as student loans and should apply to their awarding body in the normal way, indicating that they will be studying abroad.
If your time away is a mandatory part of your degree programme, you may be entitled to extra funding. You should ask your funding body about this.
You may also be able to apply to your LEA or the SAAS for further funding to assist with travel expenses - contact them to enquire.
The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to visit us in person. We offer a range of opportunities across the year to help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.
