Students  spend roughly half their time engaged on production based work and half their  time addressing issues of context and theory concerning the media. Some modules  combine both practice and analysis. We firmly believe that this balance delivers  a rigorous and intellectually stimulating education, along with a serious,  professional training for a job in the media.

How the Course Works

There are  two teaching semesters or terms each year and in each semester you normally  study three or four modules.

The third semester is reserved for Work  Experience.

Production  modules usually run two days a week for six  weeks, but may vary according to the needs of the production. Analysis  modules are generally taught with a weekly lecture and seminar running over the  whole semester.

There are  no end-of-year exams on the Television Course. Production  work is marked by continuous assessment, individual written report and  analysis, and on the quality of the programmes produced.

On  analysis modules course work will generally consist of two essays per module,  sometimes a seminar presentation and occasionally a practical piece of work .

Your Route through the Course

Year one

Television  Production

First year  students begin with a twelve week Introduction to Television Production module. This provides  an overall introduction to the many creative and technical skills involved in  creating a television programme. These are covered in dedicated four day  workshops taught by practicing industry professionals in Camerawork, Video  Editing, Sound Recording and Scriptwriting. The  Scriptwriting element involves writing episodes for an online drama which  students have the option to produce in the second semester.

In the first six weeks of the  second semester, there are four day workshops in more advanced skills: Lighting, Screen Graphics and Production Management. The latter provides an  overall introduction to the many production roles and legal requirements  involved in making programmes.

During the second half of  semester 2 there are two optional modules.

Shooting Drama

All the production skills  acquired will be put into practice in order to make an episode of the  on-line soap written in the first semester.  See last year's epidodes at:
http://www.youtube.com/wmintelevision#p/a/8AA602C8FEFCCE6C/0/ECjLf81EZI0

Documentary  Photography

This is a  popular module focusing on how to interpret an image and tell a story in  pictures.

Analysis & Fusion

All  students take two compulsory theory modules in the first year:

Media and Society

Story,  Sound, Image and Text

These  modules provide you with an introduction to the frameworks within which the  media operate and some of the major theoretical tools for analysing them.

Year two

Television Production

All the  practice modules are run twice and last six weeks each. Modules are  designed to offer a wide range of experience in a variety of production roles  and genres and to stimulate the creation of ideas for programme content. There are two  compulsory practice modules, Documentary Production and Multicamera  Production.

Multicamera  Production

Teams of  approximately 15 students produce a 25 minute live music show with prerecorded  inserts. Students are encouraged to work with professional presenters and  musicians.

Documentary  Production

Students  pitch ideas for a wide range of subjects. The best ideas are chosen to be made  by production teams of between 4 and 6 students.

There are two  optional practice modules Creative Video and Promotional Shorts.

Creative  Video

This module  encourages students to produce original, strongly visual work and to work with  performers. Productions can include short dramas, comedies, dance, poems,  animations and music videos.

Promotional  shorts,

Producing  ideas, storyboards and 30 second adverts for charities, information, causes or  industry briefs.

Examples of  work done on all these modules can be seen at
  www.Youtube.com/wmintelevision

Analysis & Fusion

There are  two compulsory modules

• Media Transformations
• Network Society and the Media

There is  a choice of analysis modules (from which students must take two in Year Two and  two in Year Three). We currently offer:

• War Terror and the Media
• Sound, Music and the Media
• Media around the Globe
  
• Religion and the Media
• Audience Studies
• Propaganda
• Contemporary Issues in Media Policy
• Media EventsCultural Industries & Media Markets
• News and Public Opinion
• Multiculturalism and the Media
• Creativity
• Advertising and Promotional Culture

Work Placement

During  the course of their three years at Westminster students are encouraged to do as  many work experience placements as possible. There is also a compulsory Work  Experience Module.  This can be done  at any time from the end of the second to the end of the third year, or during  the intervening vacations.  Students are  required to find their own placements and write reports on their work. However,  as a well known television course with many ex-students in prominent positions,  we are constantly approached with work experience offers. Our Work Experience  co-ordinator runs a rolling programme of opportunities at This Morning and ITN.  In the past students have taken up internships at companies such as Endemol and  the BBC.

Year three

Production

Students  produce a major Multicamera Show and a Documentary. Working in  large and small production groups students pitch ideas and then plan and  execute every aspect of production to create two programmes to a high  professional standard.

Recent third year work received all three nominations in the recent Royal  Television Society awards, winning first prize for a  comedy 'Me and my Life- 2 years on'

http://www.youtube.com/wmintelevision#p/f/10/9rkezFl-Woc
 

Other  nominations
  http://www.youtube.com/wmintelevision#p/c/560836C59BAF9635/4/TPrmG5Sv4cY
  http://www.youtube.com/wmintelevision#p/c/4557FBE8358C5F87/3/QYE_R3ezqdA

Analysis & Fusion

Normally  students take one or two more analysis modules of choice,  as you need at least four of these to  graduate. (See above).

Dissertation

To  complete the analytical work, each student   produces an academic dissertation on any subject concerned with media or  communication. In the first semester there are seminars on different methods of  research. Assistance is given in choosing a topic that interests you through  workshops and tutorials. By the end of the first semester students will have  chosen a subject and been allocated a supervisor. The research and writing of  the Dissertation is accomplished in the second semester.

Study Abroad

The  television department has exchange agreements with several Universities around  the world. During  the second semester of the second year students can opt to study in one of  these Universities, provided that they can speak the language. The modules  taken abroad count towards the BA Television honours degree. To facilitate  this, all the core modules can be taken here at Westminster during the first  semester leaving the second semester free for exchange programmes. Popular  English speaking Universities are in America, Canada and Australia.