Course summary
The MA Filmmaking (Directing Fiction) is the premier place to develop your skills as a director, working on a range of projects from personal ‘essay’ films to large-scale shoots with professional actors and feature crew. This Masters, a pathway of the MA Filmmaking, will enable you to gain a full understanding of how to collaborate on all stages of filmmaking, from scripting and pre-production through shoot, post-production and marketing/exhibition of your work. It will build your skills and confidence in expressing your unique vision and conveying it to your team. What we offer The programme is housed in a new purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the art teaching spaces including film and photography studios equipped with Arri lighting and Greenscreen, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Film Editing, Animation, Digital Special Effects, Pro Tools Audio Postproduction and Foley suites. We have extensive production facilities and informal rehearsal and meeting spaces where you can discuss and collaborate with scriptwriters, actors, producers and your shoot team. We also have established relations with casting directors, agents, production designers and other professionals who will both advise you and provide their skills to enhance your productions. You work on at least one film per term in your specialist role, culminating in a major production towards the end of the degree. In addition to your specialist area, you attend classes in related disciplines such as Film Directing and Editing and collaborate with students across specialisations on film projects. This framework is designed to stimulate collaborative practice by providing you with a breadth of filmmaking knowledge combined with a high level of expertise in your chosen filmmaking discipline. The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked 2nd in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 12th in the world (2nd in the UK) in the 2022 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies. Expert guidance Experienced tutors enhance the flow of your individual research, experimentation and artistic achievement. The guests have all provided expert guidance at Goldsmiths.
- Gillies Mackinonn (Above Suspicion; The Village)
- Asif Kapadia (The Warrior; Senna)
- Danny Boyle (Trainspotting; Slumdog Millionaire)
- Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham; Bhaji on the Beach)
- Stephen Frears (The Queen; Dirty Pretty Things)
- Sally Potter (Orlando; The Man Who Cried)
- Michael Winterbottom (Wonderland; 24 Hour Party People)
- Alan Parker (Angel Heart; Mississipi Burning)
Modules
For two terms you will spend a full day a week in specialised contact with your specific programme convenor. These sessions include: practical demonstrations and exercises lectures screenings small group seminars workshops You will also take three option modules, taught through practical workshops and hands-on experiences, as well as critical discussion and essay writing. The third term will be taken up with your final substantive project and you will take part in a series of progress and feedback meetings. Screen Lab You will also advance your collaborative skills by working in teams with fiction and documentary producers and directors and sound and edit students, on a variety of projects and at least three scheduled films across the year. You will leave the programme with a diverse portfolio of moving-image work that may span a variety of formats – music video, web series drama, documentary, campaign/commercial, experimental art pieces and feature-scale short fiction films. Compulsory modules You will take the following modules: Directing Fiction: Specialist Skills 30 credits Contemporary Screen Narratives in Practice and Theory 15 credits You will also complete a Final Project (90 credits), assessed by a portfolio of work and a viva that reflects your practice. Screen School options As well as your Directing specialism, you will choose three 15-credit modules to enhance your other skills and critical approaches. Options include: Social Activist Film 15 credits Adaptation and Script Editing 30 credits Archaeology of the Moving Image 15 credits Camera Fundamentals 15 credits Experimental Media 30 credits or 15 credits Filmmakers Make Theory 15 credits Film Producing Fundamentals 15 credits Representing Reality 15 credits Sound Design Fundamentals 15 credits The Ascent of the Image 15 credits Visual Storytelling 15 credits Doctor Holby: Writing for Existing Continuing TV Drama Series 15 credits Media Law and Ethics 15 credits Practical Law for Film-makers 15 credits Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
Entry requirements
You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least second class standard in a relevant/related subject as well as a level of practical experience from work in the arts or the media. You might also be considered if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level. Because funding deadlines and requirements vary around the world, applications are considered on a rolling basis from February onwards and places on the programme fill up across the recruitment cycle. For this reason, we strongly advise you to submit your completed application as early as you can. If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Provider information
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
Lewisham
SE14 6NW