Digital Media Production

MSc

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Key facts

Start dates

September 2024 / September 2025

Location

Headington

Course length

Full time: 12 months

Part time: 24 months

Department

School of Arts

Overview

Our MSc Digital Media Production provides you with the skills and professional level expertise to create contemporary media products.

Our teaching staff are industry professionals with a wide range of expertise and connections to the creative industries.

The course covers:

  • video and audio production
  • motion capture
  • computer graphics
  • animation.

You'll learn to operate digital equipment and manipulate data to produce finished products for the creative industries. And work with interactive products such as game engines, mobile applications or websites. As well as the longer established media of television, video and audio.

You can work on the award-winning Brookes TV where you'll make and produce broadcasts and train as a broadcast journalist. There are also opportunities to work on live projects for external clients producing promotional materials, a fast expanding area of employment.

This course is open to students from any academic background.

Student using motion capture equipment

How to apply

Entry requirements

Specific entry requirements

Applicants should normally hold a good honours degree (2.2 or above), or its equivalent, in any discipline other than those very closely related to media technology. If you have relevant professional qualifications or work experience you can also be considered.

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English you will require minimum  IELTS score of 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each component. 

Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.

International qualifications and equivalences

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English requirements for visas

If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.

Pathways courses for international and EU students

We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.

Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.

If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.

Application process

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£8,700

Home (UK) part time
£4,350

International full time
£16,300

Home (UK) full time
£9,150

Home (UK) part time
£4,575

International full time
£17,150

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2023 / 24
Home (UK) full time
£8,700

Home (UK) part time
£4,350

International full time
£16,300

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£9,150

Home (UK) part time
£4,575

International full time
£17,150

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support. 

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Funding your studies

Financial support and scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

All financial support and scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Learning and assessment

To qualify for the master’s you must pass seven taught modules, including the Research and Study Methods module. And the dissertation.

The course benefits from the rigorous validation and review processes at the University. The external examiners are very positive about the course.

Examples of previous student work include:

Brand new facilities

The MSc Digital Media Production course is having all its teaching move to brand new, custom designed buildings at our main Headington site. These buildings are expected to open in September 2024, but as with any large-scale building project those timescales could change. You'll benefit from state-of-the-art facilities and equipment including a VR cave, a digital suite and a digital theatre, as well as social learning spaces, teaching rooms and cafe space.

Student working with sound production software

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

  • Modelling and Animation Techniques (20 credits)

  • Video Production (40 credits)

    This module is intended to give you an understanding of, and the ability to apply the skills required for sound and video recording, including the techniques used to design, author and produce electronic media. This includes pre-production planning, production phase involving industry standard tools for recording and post-production using the latest techniques.

  • Newsroom Operation (20 credits)

    This module covers the entire workflow for a broadcast TV newsroom from an original news story, through the write-up, planning and capturing footage, to editing and broadcasting. Using a fully operational newsroom, you will gain an understanding of the creative and technical processes involved in TV production.

  • Interactive Media (20 credits)

    This module provides you with an understanding of the processes and practices needed to generate and manipulate digital media. You will develop a portfolio of work in either web, game design or mobile applications.

  • Professional Media Production (20 credits)

    This module provides you with a comprehensive understanding of management techniques relevant to video/multimedia production. Working in teams, you will acquire the knowledge required to plan, organise, finance, produce and evaluate media materials for external customers.

  • Research and Study Methods

    This module is designed to introduce you to the research and study methods that will underpin work carried out for your dissertation. The module, delivered in a seminar style, will provide you with research skills, planning techniques, progress management and review, and ability to use ICT support materials. You will be given guidance on the analysis and technical presentation of research material.

Final project

Compulsory modules

  • Research and Dissertation (60 credits)

    The dissertation is a research and development project comprising of a major practical project supported by a 5,000 word dissertation on a topic closely related to your course of study. Some students produce a short video or an animation as part of their project. The work may be undertaken in close co-operation with a research, industrial or commercial organisation.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Learning and teaching

We use a range of teaching and learning methods, including:

  • lectures
  • directed reading
  • workshops
  • presentations
  • seminars
  • practical work
  • project work.

There will be a weekly three-hour teaching block over a 12 week period. You will need to set aside 200 hours of study. There will be 36 hours of staff contact. 

Your learning will draw on the diverse professional backgrounds, experience and knowledge of academics and visiting lecturers from industry.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

Each course module is assessed individually, generally on the quality of written or design work, and to some extent on verbal presentations.

Assessment methods may include:

  • essays
  • seminar papers
  • class tests
  • project work
  • design and oral presentations
  • workshops
  • simulations
  • practical exercises.

Research

We focus on user-inspired original research with real-world applications. Our research centres provide a focus for research and a bank of expertise across the creative industries. They allow us to foster relationships with outside agencies and other academic institutions. And facilitate debate and promote interdisciplinary research within the University.

Research in this area is primarily practice-led. Working alongside staff, you'll get the opportunity to engage professionally with a range of organisations and businesses on:

  • feature films
  • computer games
  • augmented reality projects
  • music videos
  • broadcast TV.

Project work and current areas of interest include:

  • performance motion capture for feature films and the computer games industry
  • post production, visual effects and colour grading for broadcast television and feature films
  • character modelling for animation and computer gaming
  • animatronics and physical special effects
  • virtual and augmented reality and its synergies with the visual arts.
Description of image

After you graduate

Career prospects

Students graduate from the course with a broad skill set that equips them to move into a career in film and television post production, the computer games industry or live television production. Our graduates may work as freelance movie producers, graphic or games designers, but also find successful careers in international companies, such as:

  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Discovery Channel
  • the BBC. 

Our Staff

Ms Gillian Kelly

Gillian has been a television news reporter and producer for 19 years, and is currently freelance. she now works a variety of roles, mainly for the national news. She teaches TV news, journalism, Avid, camera work and filming, live studio operation, digital media, professional practice and script writing.

Read more about Gillian

Dr Pete Turner

I lecture on and research in contemporary horror film, film marketing via social media and specifically focus on the found footage horror phenomenon. I'm passionate about sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm with students on this course.

Read more about Pete

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.