Course summary

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University? With a history of delivering expert craft, art and design education for more than 130 years, Buckinghamshire New University is the perfect place to start your creative career. As part of the Art, Design and Performance School at BNU, you’ll benefit from a practiced-based course, supported by contextual studies. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively across the school with other courses, ensuring during your studies you are building a varied network, like you would in the real world. Led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. You’ll get direct access to guest lectures, who are specialists in the sector, and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and networking opportunities. Split between our High Wycombe campus and BNU teaching base at Pinewood Studios, with this postgraduate course you’ll have the opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge you need for your future, all whilst studying right in the heart of the famous creative hub. As well as this London is only a 30-minute train ride away, enabling you to visit exhibitions, galleries, shows and watch emerging styles, to help you gain inspiration and ideas. What facilities can I use? Our Wigs, Hair and Make-up for Fashion and The Arts degree has its own base both on our High Wycombe Campus and at our BNU Pinewood teaching base. These spaces feature equipment such as mirrors and lighting to help you create the styles you want to achieve. As well as this you’ll work collaboratively with students from a range of courses, and act as the hair and make-up department for those studying costume design and photography. With these students you’ll have direct access to our photography studios where you’ll be able to build your portfolio, and network like you would in the industry. What will I study? This MA programme is designed to equip you with advanced technical skills in wig making, hair styling and make-up, to enable career progression within a wide range of sectors within the arts and media industries in the UK and internationally. You will develop enhanced research skills and critical thinking to enable the completion of innovative designs underpinned by strong historical, social and cultural influences, suitable for a wide range of audiences. Push the boundaries of hair and make-up design, using existing skills such as period hairdressing, fashion, SFX and film make-up, we will support and teach you how to extend your knowledge to create Avant Garde designs with a strong emphasis on design. You’ll have the opportunity to work with traditional, new and innovative materials, exploring wig making, hair and make-up techniques as an art form. You’ll also explore sustainable and recyclable options to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. During your time studying this course you’ll cover a range of topics in detail, so that upon graduation your skills and knowledge are well-rounded, and you’re ready to step into the industry. We will delve into the art of wig making, looking at traditional lace front wigs, wefts and cage work. You’ll learn how to work with a range of materials such as human hair, mohair, synthetic hair, recyclable materials and thermo plastics. You’ll also explore texture/body paint and art to create exciting hair and make-up creations which can be used across various media platforms. You’ll learn specialist skills which are sought after in today’s ever-growing industry. You will also benefit from our industry links and have days where you visit exhibitions and industry tradeshows. As well as the chance to take part in workshops, guest speaker event and networking opportunities. This course is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in hair and make-up or relevant experience working in Film/Television/Fashion Hair and Make-up Industries.