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Film Studies and Drama

Entry Year: 2024

2 study options

Film Studies and Drama BA (Hons)

Key information

Degree
BA (Hons)
Duration
3 years
Start
September 2024
UCAS code
WW46
Institution code
Q50
Typical A-Level offer
Grades ABB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
Home fees
£9,250
Overseas fees
£23,350
Funding information
Paying your fees

Film Studies and Drama with Year Abroad BA (Hons)

Key information

Degree
BA (Hons)
Duration
4 years
Start
September 2024
UCAS code
WW4Y
Institution code
Q50
Typical A-Level offer
Grades ABB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
Home fees
£9,250
Overseas fees
£23,350
Funding information
Paying your fees

Year abroad cost

Finances for studying abroad on exchange

View details

Overview

Study film and drama in London, one of the world’s greatest theatre cities, and heart of the UK film industry.

Our BA joint honours prorgramme in Film Studies and Drama is an exciting opportunity to study the dramatisation of our world across live and recorded media, and examines interrelated concepts such as production, mise-en-scène and spectatorship. You will be introduced to theories of performance and representation, and to key critical practices of twentieth and twenty-first-century theatre, performance and film.

You'll develop critical skills, which will give you a crucial insight into fundamental aspects of theatre and film, as well as creative skills in theatre and performance making. You'll also develop your communication and research skills, and skills in working collaboratively.

Our staff – leading academics, practitioners and arts professionals – will work with you to make learning challenging and engaging, and encourage you to develop as a theatre and film critic and informed theatre and performance maker.

Register your interest

Structure

You can complete your Film Studies and Drama degree in three or four years. If you choose to do a year abroad this will take place in Year 3 and Year 3 modules will instead be studied in Year 4.

Year 1

You will take the following modules (all compulsory):

  • US Cinema: Key Concepts
  • Decolonising Approaches to Film Analysis
  • London/Culture/Performance
  • Power Plays
  • Beyond Acting

You can find out more about our modules from Queen Mary’s module directory.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Year 2

In Drama you must take at least one of the following modules:

  • Culture, Power, Performance (15 credits)
  • Group Practical Project (30 credits)

You then select your remaining credits from a selection of Level 5 Drama modules that changes each year. Modules may include:

  • Art and the Climate Crisis
  • Action Design
  • Race and Racism in Performance
  • Theatre, Experiment and Revolution 
  • Performing Personae
  • Performance and Visual Culture in South Asia
  • Voice, Gender and Performance

In Film, you will take the following compulsory module:

  • What is Cinema? Critical Approaches

You then select your remaining Film modules from a list that changes each year. Modules may include:

  • Brazilian Cinema: The Social Tradition
  • Contemporary World Cinemas
  • Film Curation
  • From Page to Screen
  • Introduction to British Cinema
  • Research Methods (Film)
  • Scriptwriting: Adaption and Original Script

This is a sample of modules from our full module directory.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Year 3

You will choose one of the following modules: 

  • Film Studies Research Project
  • Practice-based Research Project
  • Written Research Project

You select the rest of your final-year modules from a range of seminar and practice-based options that changes each year.

Modules may include:

  • Applied Performance
  • Contemporary Chinese Cinemas
  • Culture, Performance and Globalisation
  • Feeling It: Emotion and Sensation in Theatre
  • Film Archaeology
  • German Narrative Fiction in Text and Film
  • Live Art: Then and Now
  • Mapping Contemporary Cinemas
  • New Independent Indian Cinema
  • Offstage London
  • Performance and Celebrity
  • Performance Composition
  • Slavery, Colonialism and Postcolonialism in African Cinema
  • Show Business: Theatre and Capitalism
  • Verbatim, Testimonial, Tribunal

This is a sample of modules from our full module directory.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Study options

Apply for this degree with any of the following options. Take care to use the correct UCAS code - it may not be possible to change your selection later.

Year abroad

Go global and study abroad as part of your degree – apply for our Film Studies and Drama BA with a Year Abroad. Queen Mary has links with universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia (partnerships vary for each degree programme).

Find out more about study abroad opportunities at Queen Mary.

Additional Costs

Some modules require you to buy books, tickets to performances, films or exhibitions, and travel within London.. Tickets for Drama modules are free in your first year and, where possible, offered at a discounted rate or subsidised in subsequent years.

Testimonial

At the time, I was looking to expand my understanding of cinema not only technically, but also through areas such as philosophy, history, psychology and politics. This program permanently altered my approach to film, teaching me how to understand the cinema’s complex visual language. It also made my own practice more meaningful by teaching me how to express my vision more effectively and clearly.

Xenia Leblanc , Film Studies (2012)

Teaching

Teaching and learning

You’ll usually attend at least eight hours of classes weekly, mainly in the form of seminars, lectures, studio-based workshops and workshops outside Queen Mary. Practice-based modules include additional scheduled studio time weekly for student-led practice. You'll also attend regular timetabled film screenings. Some modules also include tutorials and field trips.

For every hour spent in class, you'll complete approximately three to four further hours of independent study preparing for classes and assignments.

Assessment

Assessment typically includes a combination of written and practical assignments, such as essays, performances, presentations, portfolios, scripts, programme notes, reviews, feature articles, artist websites, podcasts and dissertations. Some assessment is based around group work, especially for performance projects and presentations.

Resources and facilities

The Schools offer excellent on-campus resources to support your studies, including:

  • BLOC arts centre including a 58 seater state-of-the-art cinema and the Hitchcock Cinema
  • a large range of professional and broadcast-standard production and post-production equipment, including a film production suite, two film studios with professional lighting grids, two edit suites, and motion capture equipment
  • access to the Film and Drama Studio
  • five performance spaces, including rehearsal rooms and two fully equipped studio theatres
  • opportunities to act, direct, stage manage through the Queen Mary Theatre Company
  • opportunities to meet visiting experts including artists, directors, producers, playwrights, activists and filmmakers
  • proximity to specialist archives and collections such as the BFI Archive, National Theatre, Live Art Development Agency Study Room, Women’s Library and Black Cultural Archives
  • access to Senate House Library and the British Library

Entry requirements

A-LevelGrades ABB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
IBInternational Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 32 points overall, including 6,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects.
BTECSee our detailed subject and grade requirements
Access HEWe consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. This must include at least 6 Level 3 credits in arts or humanities modules at Distinction.
GCSEMinimum five GCSE passes including English at grade C or 4.
EPQ

Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification.

For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq

Contextualised admissions

Our standard contextual offer: Grades BBC at A-Level. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

Our enhanced contextual offer (for care experienced students, refugee/asylum seekers or students who have completed Realising Opportunities or Access to Queen Mary): Grades BCC at A-Level. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

More information on how this information is used for a contextual offer can be found on our contextualised admissions page.

A-LevelGrades ABB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies and Critical Thinking.
IBInternational Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 32 points overall, including 6,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects.
BTECSee our detailed subject and grade requirements
Access HEWe consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. This must include at least 6 Level 3 credits in arts or humanities modules at Distinction.
GCSEMinimum five GCSE passes including English at grade C or 4.
EPQAlternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq
Contextualised admissionsOur standard contextual offer: Grades BBC at A-Level. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

Our enhanced contextual offer (for care experienced students, refugee/asylum seekers or students who have completed Realising Opportunities or Access to Queen Mary): Grades BCC at A-Level. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

More information on how this information is used for a contextual offer can be found on our contextualised admissions page.

Non-UK students

We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications in addition to A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.

If your qualifications are not accepted for direct entry onto this degree, consider applying for a foundation programme.

English language

Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.

You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.

Further information

See our general undergraduate entry requirements.

Funding

Loans and grants

UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England or other government bodies.

Scholarships and bursaries

Queen Mary offers a generous package of scholarships and bursaries, which currently benefits around 50 per cent of our undergraduates.

Scholarships are available for home, EU and international students. Specific funding is also available for students from the local area. International students may be eligible for a fee reduction. We offer means-tested funding, as well as subject-specific funding for many degrees.

Find out what scholarships and bursaries are available to you.

Support from Queen Mary

We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.

Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:

  • additional sources of funding
  • planning your budget and cutting costs
  • part-time and vacation work
  • money for lone parents.

Careers

Our Film Studies and Drama graduates go on to work in a variety of roles – including performing, programming and producing – across many different sectors, including the creative arts, media and broadcasting, teaching and publishing.

Recent graduates have gone on to work for:

  • BDiscovered
  • British Film Council
  • Equinox Film and TV Production
  • The National Theatre
  • Odeon
  • Shakespeare’s Globe.

Career support

You’ll have access to bespoke careers support during your degree, including access to experts in Drama and Film, specific modules (e.g. Applied Performance, Drama and Education, Writing about the Arts); School and Department-run careers and professional development workshops; extra-curricular experience with arts organisations; and advice about postgraduate study.

Our Queen Mary careers team can also offer:

  • specialist advice on choosing a career path
  • support with finding work experience, internships and graduate jobs
  • feedback on CVs, cover letters and application forms
  • interview coaching.

Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.

Data for these courses

Film Studies and Drama - BA (Hons)

Film Studies and Drama with Year Abroad - BA (Hons)

The Discover Uni dataset (formerly Unistats)

About the Schools

School of English and Drama - Department of Drama

We provide a first-class learning environment - the Departments of Drama and English are in the top 35 in the world (QS World Rankings by Subject 2018). And you’ll learn from leading experts: Drama is ranked first and English fifth in the UK for research quality (Research Excellence Framework 2014).

Our degrees make full use of the literary and cultural riches of London, with trips to venues such as Shakespeare’s Globe, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Library.

School of Languages Linguistics and Film

The School of Languages, Linguistics and Film explores global culture and communication through a vibrant interdisciplinary environment with five interconnected areas of academic excellence. Our multilingual community brings together brilliant minds from across the world to share a wealth of expertise – from practical film-making and contemporary literature to experimental neurolinguistics and 11 different modern languages – so that students can become truly global citizens.

Our School’s departments are united by the common threads of communication and culture. Both a single and richly varied entity, our work enables creative thinking that goes beyond national, linguistic and cultural boundaries. We combine research excellence with a commitment to social justice and mobility, true to the Queen Mary spirit, achieving the previously unthinkable through our unique mix of bright minds.

Contact us

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