University of Bradford

School of Computing, Informatics and Media

Bradford Media School

Awarding and teaching institution: / University of Bradford
Final award: / MA [Framework for Higher Education Qualifications level M]
Programme title: / Digital Cinema
Programme accredited by: / n/a
Duration: / 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
UCAS code: / n/a
Subject benchmark statement: / Communications, Media, Film and Cultural Studies
Date produced: / 24April 2006; 24 July 2006; 12 October 2007, July 2009

Programme Aims

The innovative MA Digital Cinema, located in the Bradford Media School (BMS) in the School of Computing, Informatics and Media (SCIM), will engage you in the production of videographic products, utilising the exciting convergence of film, video, photography, digital technologies and mobile communications. This course will benefit greatly from the very strong links BMS has with the nearby National Media Museum, a unique resource for production facilities, exhibition and research. You will take modules in the conventions of videography (shooting, editing, postproduction), together with specialist modules in film and video history and context. The main thrust of the degree programme is to encourage experimentation and innovation. This is what can ‘make the difference’ between an average and excellent body of videographic works and thus help you to be more uniquely employable. Students who are grounded and experienced in theoretical and historical/contextual analysis, scriptwriting and visualization/storyboarding in the early stages of the course, and who have acquired the tools of critical analysis and reflection will go on to later produce more successful practical projects and be able to communicate ideas about their work more effectively. The inter-relation between theory and practice is increasingly valued by employers, and the course builds on a strong BMS tradition of integrating the two.This programme will enable you to produce cinematic projects that will be technically effective whilst being strong on content.

Throughout the MA Digital Cinema, you will produce films of varying length in a diverse range of media to be exhibited in an equally broad range of settings. Available facilities range from low-budget formats such as 8mm film/video, to digital broadcast standard formats such ashigh definition (HD) and the latest industry editing software (Avid and Premiere). The School’s Creative Media Services provide excellent new facilities for production within the School, as does our new Digital Arts Centre.

Developments in digital film/videography technologies—films on the internet, films in club spaces, new film clubs and even films on telecommunicationsnetworks—have expanded the possibilities for the distribution and exhibition of cinematic material. The MA Digital Cinema will encourage you to engage with these types of cultural activities in a positive and creative way. BMS is well placed to deliver this course, having a long tradition and evident track record in producing graduates in film and video production. Our graduates have gone on to set up their own film companies, had their work screened at major film festivals (e.g. Cannes), and won awards for their short films. The strong and long-lasting links with the National Media Museum offers students of this programme added-value in high quality research, conferences, screenings and exhibitions.

The MA Digital Cinema course is not a ‘conventional’ film course and is not about the production of 35mm feature films. Rather, it will fully prepare you for the ‘brave new world’ of film and video production in the digital age.

It isn't the studios who will discover how the new medium is going to work. It is the independents—the indie film-makers, and artists, and games designers—who will create and discover it.

—Alex Cox (filmmaker)

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes indicate what you should know and understand, and what you should be able to do on successful completion of the MA Digital Cinema. A career in digital cinema requires you to have knowledge of the scope of forms of production and output, the specific intentions of filmmakers and producers, and appreciation of specific audiences. This knowledge and understanding requires an understanding of techniques and technologies associated with digital cinema output, a critical understanding of issues relating to cinema in the contemporary market, and a historical understanding with respect to creative uses of media technologies. As such, you will develop the following:

  • Knowledge and Understanding:A systematic and deep-level knowledge of what is required in the productionand delivery of digital cinema output; and an understanding of the relevance and application of theoretical issues relating to the production of content for the contemporarymarket. As our aim is to be at the forefront of invention and innovation in the production of videographic work, theory and practice are parallel objectives, and the integration of these objectives form a key focus of the programme to ensure flexibility and originality in production.
  • Discipline Specific Skills:The ability to respond effectively to changing media market demands, and choose the most appropriate medium for the articulation of ideas and concepts; an advanced knowledge of key areas in communication from both a commercial and an artistic perspective; the ability to express ideas and concepts in production and pre-production work integrated with theoretical knowledge of how cinema users consume and interpret those ideas and concepts; advanced knowledge of the history and context of global cinema.This course pre-empts recent moves to integrate ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ via the merging of professional media education bodies[1] by requiring the comprehensive and integrated application of conceptual knowledge to specific domains and forms of digital cinema. In order to provide and cater for the delivery of digital cinema content to specific contexts, it will be necessary for you to develop highly specialised intellectual skills to analyse and interpret the nature of the reception of content from both commercial and artistic perspectives. Whichever model (animation, special effects, TV, mobile media) you wish to pursue, your willingness to push boundaries and to innovate is paramount.
  • Personal and Transferable Skills:The acquisition of research skills and methodologies;communication and presentation skills (oral and written); the ability to visualize ideas;and the ability to budget, negotiate, and be enterprising in research and/or commercial projects. The major creative project stands as the culmination of the course, and its weighting towards production (rather than process) recognises that a successful work of digital cinema must synthesise research and realisation.

The Curriculum

Typically for a taught Masters programme, our MA Digital Cinema lasts for 12 months of full-time study (two semesters of instruction through a series of modules all of which are integrated to form a complete and coherent course of study, followed by completion of a major project or a dissertation in the summer) or 24 months of part-time study following a similar pattern.

Module code / Module title / Credits / Level / Semester / MA
EM-4035L / Cinematic Language / 10+10 / M / 1, 2 / C
EM-4003M / Issues in Digital Media 1 / 10 / M / 1 / O
EM-4023M / Scriptwriting / 10 / M / 1 / O
EM-4042M / Visualization and Storyboarding / 10 / M / 1 / C
EM-4022D / Design for Mobile Content / 20 / M / 1 / O
EM-4029D* / Digital Videography* / 20 / M / 1 / C
EM-4021D / Computer Animation and Special Effects / 20 / M / 1 / O
EM-4015M / Research Skills and Methodologies / 10 / M / 2 / C
EM-4037D / Digital Cinema Production / 20 / M / 2 / C
EM-4025D / Advanced Character Animation (PG) / 20 / M / 2 / O
EM-4026D / Broadcast Television / 20 / M / 2 / O
EM-4040D / Imaging Innovations for Digital Cinema / 20 / M / 2 / O
EM-4036Z / Digital Cinema MA Project / 60 / M / 3 / C

*Students that have already taken EM-0353D Digital Videography will have to instead takeEM-4023M and EM4042M combined,or EM-4021D.

The curriculum may change, subject to the University's course approval, monitoring and review procedures.

Assessment Regulations

Comprehensive information about the University of Bradford’s Regulation Governing Postgraduate Taught Courses is available on the web at

Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategies

Our MA Digital Cinema uses a variety of learning and teaching strategies, all of which are intended to facilitate to development of independent learning. After some initial theoretical contextual/critical/historical modules, practice will be facilitated through a series of optional modules that has you develop your own project ideas in close partnership with tutors and supervisors. A great deal of autonomy is integrated into this programme whilst maintaining as much of a taught component as is necessary for theoretical and contextual studies.

Learning and teaching strategies include formal lectures, practical workshops, seminar and tutorial work. The types of assessment that these strategies involve (discursive essays, oral presentations, assessment of practical videographic and photographic/still image projects etc.) will allow you to effectively and independently integrate theory and practice, a key aim of the programme. As is common practice in arts and media education, and due to the creative nature and negotiated aspects of the programme, formal examinations are not used as assessments.

Our Digital Arts Centre offers students on our MA Digital Cinema good resources for producing the highest quality creative work for both print and screen. The Centre also is intended as a meetingpoint for all students and staff participating in this programme. You also will be encouraged to join the Media Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) postgraduate network which encourages support and debate and offers useful workshops.[2]

Members of the course team have experience of film and video work and music production, have written and/or edited papers, book chapters and books on the history and interpretation of film, and run a successful film symposium for the Bradford Film Festival. We also aim to have a significant number of talks given by external industry speakers relating to jobs in the digital cinema industry (continuing the School’s current strong programme of external speakers).

Admissions Requirements

Generally, applicants are expected to possess a good Honours degree (normally 2:2 or above) in an area relevant to their proposed programme of study from an approved degree-awarding body, or have a good Honours degree in any subject together with skills and experience in a relevant area.

Candidates applying to the course with non-standard qualifications will be judged on an individual basis using the University’s APEL procedures. In addition, a test of written and spoken English normally needs to have been passed at grade 6.0 for IELTS or 550 for TOEFL (or 250 for the computer-based test).

Student Supportand Guidance

All students admitted to the School of Computing, Informatics and Media go through a process of induction that includes detailed talks by the Dean and Head of BMS.

Afterwards, ongoing support for students is provided in the form of one-stop facilities located at the School of Computing, Informatics and Media Student Support Office (SSO) in Horton Building open throughout the day during term, and in the mornings and afternoons outside term.

Support for registered students also is provided 24/7 via the School of Computing, Informatics and Media intranet. This includes the SSO website at with information on:

  • SCIM Student Handbook
  • SCIM Learning & Behaviour Agreement
  • Course Timetable
  • Examination timetable
  • Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Coursework submission record
  • E-mail Archives

The School’s intranet and website also offers information to support students, including:

  • Student Staff Liaison Committee Minutes
  • Courses and modules
  • Course Tutors contact information

Finally, the School’s intranet includes the Technical Support website at which supports students by offering detailed information on all the technical and services offered by the School, including:

  • Digital Arts Centre
  • Equipment Loans Service
  • IT suites
  • Video Editing
  • Hosting

All students on this postgraduate programme will be allocated a personal tutor who provides support and guidance on matters relating to learning, teaching, and student’s academic progress, pastoral support and personal development planning (PDP). There are tutors in the School who deal with issues where other social factors (relating to gender or disability for example) may have an impact on a student’s academic performance. The Student Staff Liaison Committee gives the opportunity for students to give formal feedback to the Course Tutor and/or department about curricular issues and the general running of the programme.

The School also uses the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Blackboard to support students via their individual modules.

The University of Bradford provides important facilities such as extended access to library and computing services, counselling and welfare services, and careers advice. The Disability Office provides targeted support for all students with known disabilities and routinely arranges dyslexia assessments and appropriate support (i.e. reasonable adjustment) for disabled students.

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Further Information

More details about our MA Digital Cinema may be obtained from the SCIM Admissions Office via telephone on +44 (0)1274 235963, email , or our website at If you require further information about the University of Bradford, please refer to itsPostgraduate Prospectus.

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[1]‘Merger Report’ at

[2]MeCCSA website at