General OverviewCombining theory and practice, Broadcast Production – TV and Radio (BPTVR) will teach you how to make and understand television, radio and other digital media. Accredited by Screenskills it is tailored to the current broadcasting industry.
Taught by academic staff with research expertise and extensive experience in the creative industries, the course incorporates industry professional guest lectures, work placement opportunities, as well as field visits to organisations such as the BBC and Glasgow’s Film City. As a student on the course, you will have access to the latest broadcasting facilities and the chance to work in our radio and television studios, digital sound and video editing suites; and the opportunity to broadcast on the campus radio station. We will teach you how to develop and produce television programmes, write scripts, produce radio, and make documentaries. You will also develop the skills necessary to critically study and analyse media output.
At Level 7, students are introduced to the philosophy of the course – the practice/theory split within and between modules, the shared focus on radio and television and the practice-based and research-led teaching that is central to BPTVR.
In Year 1, television production, filmmaking and script-writing are presented within modules in television production – Introduction to Film and TV Production and Film and TV Production Skills Development. Radio is covered through the modules Introduction to Radio and Radio Craft. The teaching methods and assessment on these modules introduce the concept of enquiry-based learning. They also introduce the students to the industry relevant and state of the art studio and audio-visual resources used on the course. Critical studies of media output will be presented within the production-oriented modules, and in the core theoretical module Broadcasting: Concepts and Contexts. Optional modules include Sport: Media and Society and Creative Writing.
Students in year 2 will continue to produce for television, radio and new platforms and will begin to specialise, choosing a specific pathway of production and study that they feel will best prepare them for their chosen career. Modules include Studio Production, Radio Practice and Broadcast Drama. In the core documentary module, Documentary and Factual Production students will combine technical and creative work in developing, pitching and producing a short documentary as well as engaging with documentary theory. Students will have the opportunity to improve their creative writing skills through Script Development and the module option Screen-writing: The Short Film. Other options include Scotland: Media and Identity, and Recorded Radio Formats.
In year 3 students will choose to specialise in one of two major strands: Television Production or Radio Production - still combining theory with practical experience. However all students will now be offered a new core module - Production for Multiplatform - that reflects the changes in approaches to digital production and in particular the demands of the new BBC Scotland channel for digital content that works across many platforms.
Research for Broadcast is designed to link directly to production work as well as the Honours year research project work. This module provides students with access to guest lecturers who are currently working as researchers within the industry. Third year studies continue with a particular emphasis on global media via the module Global Cultural Industries. The option focusing on script-writing is Writing Serial Television Drama. The Situation Comedy: Radio and Television option offers an opportunity to look critically at that form of output. Direct entry students can opt to take the Level 8 Studio Production module.
Year 4 offers students an exciting opportunity to study the areas that interest them most. The Creative Research Project is a 60 credit module and gives students the opportunity to concentrate on the areas they have chosen in Year 3 i.e. television or radio. This module will combine and link a television or radio project that will be the culmination of all their previous production experiences with a broadcasting research project that will allow students to immerse themselves in an area of broadcast media that interests them. You will also study Professional Practice in Broadcasting that is primarily taught by industry practitioners – producers, directors, scriptwriters and presenters – who discuss their roles within the creative industries, including possible routes to employment. Finally, students can choose a two modules from a list of options that includes American Television: Genre and History, the practice-based module Producing Factual Formats, Podcasting and New Media, Asian Cinemas, and Motion Graphics: Film and Television.
Pointers to Further Study - Progression Routes
The BA (Hons) Broadcast Production – TV and Radio aims to produce graduates who have an informed, critical and creative approach to understanding broadcast output and production, culture and creativity in contemporary society, as well as to their own forms of production, and their creative and expressive practice. The degree programme is committed to enabling students to meet the challenges of employment (including self-employment) in a society in which the music, cultural and creative industries play an increasingly central role. It emphasises that employability requires the development of students’ creative, intellectual, analytical and research skills.
Many graduates continue onto further post-graduate study – choosing such courses as the UWS Masters in Creative Media Practice, studying for journalism post-graduate courses or opting for teacher training.
However, many Broadcast Production – TV & Radio graduates use their skills and knowledge to enter a wide variety of careers. We currently have graduates working at BBC Scotland, STV, independent production companies such as Maramedia, Lion Scotland and IWC Media. Some opt for a more technical role and we have alumni making their way as camera assistants or Digital Imaging Technicians on major drama productions. A growing number are moving into digital sports production working for major sporting organisations or companies that specialise in sports production.
Teaching and Learning
A range of teaching and learning methodologies are used within the degree. This includes lectures, seminars, workshops, group work, enquiry-based learning and student-centred learning. In the latter case, the emphasis is on independent work by students that is coordinated and guided by tutors. BPTVR students are as likely to be taught in TV and Radio studios as in lecture theatres. As students progress the level of autonomous work increases culminating in the final year project where students carry out their own individual project – linking the creative and theoretical - with supervisory guidance.
Studio and location production work forms a key component of the skills developed by students on this programme. Most core modules will include an element of practical activity. These include a range of exercises that, as the student progresses through the programme, increase in scope and complexity and in the later stages depend more on the initiative of the student and less on direction by tutors.
The modules employ a range of assessment methods and formative exercises. A range of coursework is used including essays and reflective reports, radio and TV production, critical reviews of that production work. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on the link between the theoretical and practical elements of the degree and assessment often reflects this.
All modules within the degree are supported by the use of the online VLE Moodle. The Moodle sites provide students with a range of learning activities, including discussion forums, video-clips, and multiple-choice tests. Teaching and learning practices are evaluated in an ongoing way through the Broadcast Production TV & Radio Programme Board and School Annual Monitoring processes.
Research underpinnings and links to teaching
The academic team are committed to involving current industry practitioners on the programme - not only as guest speakers and delivering “master classes” and CPD, in an informed and quality assurance environment of innovative co-design of module content and assessments. The academic team are all sector-wide aware, responsive to key broadcast developments and debates in both critical research and in wider sector practice. The balance of theory, practice and research makes the Broadcast Production TV and Radio degree academically unique in Scotland and increasingly interesting and attractive for RUK and international markets
The course is aligned to the School’s Centre for Social Sciences & Creativity and the Culture and Creativity Research Hub.
Internationalisation
The focus of the BPTVR internationalisation strategy has been through Erasmus, specific international projects and staff networking abroad. Erasmus students have been studying on the Broadcast Production degree, usually for one trimester, over many years. This enriches the student experience and adds an international dimension to the learning experience.
BPTVR students have the opportunity to join the Brandenburg/ (Berlin) exchange that has been running for five years now. They can also get involved in the Ryerson Global City Project in which student lead production teams in TV studios across the world are linked ‘virtually’ to produce programmes.
The BPTVR team have also developed links with Beijing Union University involving staff exchanges and the organization of a three-week Technical Summer School for students from Beijing to work alongside UWS students.
There is a clear ‘Global Citizen Pathway’ through the BPTVR degree signposted by, but not exclusive to, the following modules: Level 7 Broadcasting Contexts and Concepts; Level 8 Scotland: Media and Identity; Level 9 Global Cultural Industries; Level 10 Broadcasting Current Issues.
Staff have expertise that allows them to offer a high level of critical research led social science and humanities (anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, and indeed enterprise and regional development perspectives) underpinning here. There are many well-established modules on the BPTVR degree that contextualize the relevance of internationalization.
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