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BA (Hons) Film and Television Production

  • Placement year available
How to apply Come to an Open Day

Introduction

Turn a passion for filmmaking into a career by joining our acclaimed BA (Hons) Film and Television Production degree course at ARU.

Watch: Behind the scenes of our graduation films

Studying Film and Television Production at ARU

See clips from six of our students' 2023 graduation films.

Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2023 logo

Study at an award-winning university

We're the Times Higher Education (THE) University of the Year. We've also been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework – a reflection of the outstanding education we offer our students.

Join the award-winning students on our BA (Hons) Film and Television Production degree and develop your skills in script, cinematography, editing, producing and directing in studio and on location. If you don't want to just watch film and television, but make it, this is the course for you.

As a production course, this is all about the filmmaking. Your modules will be around 80% practice-based to 20% context and research.

This course is industry-recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based industries, and carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark for courses best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries.

Over the three years you'll gain key skills, from ideas development and scripting to pre-production planning and shooting, through to post-production skills in editing and colour grading. You can choose to keep a broad skillset or start to specialise in particular craft areas like producing, camera or editing.

You'll shoot on digital formats from HD to 4K and analogue 16mm film. By the final year, you and your crew will be working with feature film industry level equipment like our new Arri Alexa Mini cameras.

You'll learn from highly experienced filmmakers, television producers and technical officers in our specialist facilities. With an emphasis on collaborations, you'll have opportunities to work with students from all the year groups as well as your lecturers on this small, focused and friendly course.

Whether your career aspirations are to crew on high-end TV drama or film, work in post-production, set up your own company as a videographer, create stunning cinematography or innovative online content, reinvent what television is, or use film to make change in the world, the skills you learn on this course will set you up to start that journey.

Course options

Course options

Key facts

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Entry Requirements

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Fees and Paying for University

Facilities and showcase

Industry-standard facilities

As part of your studies at ARU, you’ll have access to all of our creative industries facilities including:

  • Film studio with overhead lighting, tracks, dollies and green screen
  • Multi-camera television studio with modular set panels and modern set dressing
  • Arri Alexa cameras
  • Full range of location kit from 4K digital cameras, professional lighting, to Steadicam
  • Sound-recording equipment for location filming
  • Editing suites with Da Vinci Resolve and the full Adobe Creative Cloud software suite
  • Finishing suite with audio monitoring and grading panels
  • Aaton Cameras and Steenbeck editors for 16mm film production
  • Motion capture equipment
  • Podcast and video capture system

Futures Lab and workshop equipment

Our new digital workshop includes a variety of computer aided manufacturing machines, helping you learn up to date manufacturing and design processes as well as supporting many traditional techniques. These technologies include:

  • 3D printers and scanners - FDM printers; material-specific extruders; SLA Formlabs printers; SLS Formlabs Fuse1; structured light 3D scanners
  • 2D printing and cutting machines - laser cutters; Roland BN20 vinyl printer & cutter; Gerber substrate cutter; Mimaki TX300P sublimation printer.

Learn outside the classroom

You’ll benefit from extra-curricular events such as:

  • joining the organising committees of Watersprite International Student Film Festival
  • networking with filmmakers at Watersprite
  • volunteering or interning at the Cambridge International Film Festival
  • the option to attend events such as Sheffield Documentary Festival
  • field trips to London for RTS Masterclasses and live studio TV recordings
  • events offered through our student-led film societies.

We'll also support you to take part in filmmaking initiatives such as 60 Second Shakespeare and the Kodak 16mm Commercials Competition; and take on smaller film jobs to gain valuable work experience.

Take a closer look

Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.

Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.

Alternatively, take a guided tour and meet our students.

Careers

What can you do with a Film and Television Production degree?

Our BA (Hons) Film Production degree course will prepare you for employment or self-employment in film, television and the creative industries; the ever-expanding field of online screen content including music, dance, marketing and fashion promos; as well as high-end small screen (streaming) drama and documentary.

This course carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark, which indicates courses best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.

We place an emphasis on creativity and storytelling, as well as solid, transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, resourcefulness, and risk management.

You’ll also learn highly valued specialist skills such as editing, cinematography, production management, budgeting, producing and directing – invaluable as you launch a career in this highly competitive but growing and diverse creative industry.

Gain crucial work experience and industry contacts at Cambridge’s two annual film festivals. Get involved with Cambridge Film Festival, one of the longest running film festivals in the UK, as an intern in the lead up to the festival, a volunteer during it, or even as part of the CFF Youth Lab and Jury. At Watersprite International Film Festival, the biggest student film festival in the UK, you can become part of the central organising committee and lead subcommittees like marketing, filming, events, judging. Watersprite gives you a huge opportunity to build your networks and make connections with industry guests, mentors and student filmmakers from around the world.

You might also decide to continue on to a Masters course, such as our MA Film and Television Production. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

Employability and personal career development

Informed by employers, our courses support an integrated approach to employability. You’ll have opportunities to develop the skills and abilities they are looking for and gain a deeper understanding of how your academic learning relates to the world of work through Live Briefs and Ruskin Modules.

You will need to dedicate time outside of your course to develop your employability, through placements, internships or volunteering or through our partner scheme Students at the Heart of Knowledge Exchange (SHoKE). You can evidence this experience on your CV and talk about it in interviews to give you that all important edge.

Our Employability and Careers Service offers a range of expert advice and support to build your unique professional profile, including tailored career appointments, advice on writing your CV, and help to complete job applications. You’ll have 24/7 access to the Careers Centre, our comprehensive online digital resource, which empowers you to start building a Personal Career Development Plan from the very start. Design your future at ARU.

ScreenSkills

This course is industry-recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based industries, and carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark which indicates courses best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.

Blackmagic Design

We’re an official Blackmagic Design training partner, which means you can get certification in their DaVinci Resolve video editing software.

Kai Wissler

"I really want to thank ARU, but especially my course leader Hans Petch, for the outstanding support we have received. He continuously goes above and beyond for us and it's such a privilege to be part of this life-changing course."

Kai Wissler

BA (Hons) Film Production & winner of Royal Television Society East student award 2023

Awards put Film students and graduates in spotlight

Apply now for BA (Hons) Film and Television Production

Life in Cambridge

Our friendly, bustling campus is a stone’s throw from the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.

Our favourite places in Cambridge Did you know...? Facts about Cambridge Watch: Our Cambridge

Want to talk to someone?

Do you have a question that we haven't answered so far? Talk to our application experts. You can also ask our Student Ambassadors about life at ARU.

We're here Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm (please note we close at 3.30pm on the first and third Thursday of the month for staff training), and Friday 9am-4.30pm.

Gain contacts and experience

Our links with local and national organisation will help you make contacts and find work placements in the industry. Our recent students have found internships and placements with companies including the BBC, Pinewood Studios, StudioCanal UK, Sight and Sound magazine, and Watersprite Film Festival.

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