Film and Visual Culture, BA (Hons)

Learn from Experienced Industry Professionals and Leading Academics!

Photograph of students enjoying their studies in the library

Course Overview

Our Film and Visual Culture, BA (Hons) is an exciting interdisciplinary program aimed at students who are interested in exploring a wide spectrum of visual culture and film. You will have the chance to explore rich media histories and contemporary culture through diverse social media platforms, video gaming, creative media and more.

On modules delivered by leading academics and industry professionals, you will learn how to close read and contextualise film and television texts whilst also gaining skills and experience in film production and writing for radio and screen. Film and Visual Culture, BA (Hons) will give you the practical and intellectual skills you need for an exciting career in the media, marketing, or related fields, as well as key transferable skills which are valued by employers and open a range of wider career opportunities.

Why Film and Visual Culture at Swansea?

We are home to the archive of stage and screen star Richard Burton, and to the Taliesin Arts Centre – an exciting hub for cinema, theatre and the arts.

The programme is organised around a structure of three pillars: Film Theory, Visual Culture, and Practice modules. You will be required to take one module from each pillar per year. This ensures a rounded set of skills that equips you for the professional workplace. This layout is unique and sets Swansea apart from other institutions that specialise in either film theory or film practice.

  • Our lecturers are internationally recognised experts actively engaged in cutting-edge research and creative practice. Their expertise shapes the curriculum at every level, ensuring that you are immersed in a range of topics.
  • You will have access to state-of-the-art audio-visual production studio facilities and audio-visual equipment.
  • Access to Virtual Reality lab and Virtual Reality equipment, which is currently used for both teaching and research purposes.

Extensive employability and work experience through our well-established media production, creative industries, and publishing internship opportunities with a wide range of external and internal partners.

Your Film and Visual Culture Experience

This undergraduate programme spans a wide range of aspects of visual culture and film, encompassing film theory, the analysis of screen industries, learning about storytelling techniques across different media forms, and key techniques in analysing and close reading a variety of visual texts.

It offers a combination of theory and practice within three pillars:

  • Film: Exploring film genres, screen theory and analysis, and adaptation.
  • Visual Culture: Investigating visual genres, critical theory, and cultural history.
  • Creative Practice: Offering opportunities to develop and refine audio-visual and writing skills across multiple platforms and media.

You will study at least one module from all three pillars at each level of the programme with the flexibility to choose your own specialism. This will enable you to shape your course to match your career goals as well as develop your own interests.

We also offer a year in industry or work placement which gives you first-hand experience, and you will have the option of studying a year abroad.

You will have a Personal Tutor for any support you need, and there is the opportunity to study some modules through the medium of Welsh.

Film and Visual Culture Employment Opportunities

The programme is designed to significantly enhance your employability opportunities, and to develop skills that will equip you for work across a wide range of sectors.

Career prospects include:

  • Media Production
  • Publicity
  • Publishing
  • Communications and PR
  • Digital / Social Media marketing
  • Business management
  • Teaching
  • Social enterprise and entrepreneurship
  • Public sector / non-for-profit, creative industries entrepreneurship
  • Film Critic
  • Screenwriter

Opportunities for further study at Masters and Research levels are also available.

Modules

We're currently reviewing our curriculum to enhance your learning experience and embed skills that will benefit your future career. This means that some modules may be subject to change.

Entry Requirements

The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications.

Typical A level Offer

ABB-BBC

Film and Visual Culture, BA (Hons)

Film and Visual Culture with a Year Abroad, BA (Hons)

Film and Visual Culture with a Year in Industry, BA (Hons)