Fees and funding

Fees

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International Student CAS Deposit

International applicants will be required to pay a mandatory CAS deposit of £2,500 that confirms your intention to study in the UK. This payment is only requested when the accepted offer is unconditional and Visa preparations are ready after May.

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Course unit details:
Industry and Feature Film

Course unit fact file
Unit code ENGL70002
Credit rating 90
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Full year
Offered by English and American Studies
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

The unit explores the development, structure, critical analysis and industrial context of the screenplay and feature film. It also introduces students to professional screenwriting practice, including pitching, the development, preparation for and writing/rewriting of two drafts of a feature screenplay, production of a CV and researching and approaching producers and agents.

The unit includes (i) lectures, (ii) seminars demanding high levels of student participation, (iii) the development and writing/rewriting of two drafts of a feature screenplay and (iv) workshops in which work in progress is interrogated and supported in small Project Development Groups.

Weekly assignments may include (i) reading secondary texts, (ii) reading, analysing and writing professional standard reports on feature screenplays, (iii) watching and analysing feature films, (iv) preparing seminar material, including presentations, (iv) pitching and the development of students’ own creative work and other relevant material and (v) reading and preparing for the discussion of one another’s draft feature screenplays.

There may be occasional industry guests and ‘industry days’ (Hollyoaks and London). You are encouraged to meet regularly outside class to discuss assignments and your work in progress.

 

Aims

  • The module aims to give students a sophisticated conceptual, critical and practical understanding of the principles of story structure and the practice of professional screenwriting within an industrial and collaborative context. This will be undertaken principally through - and with particular reference to - the development of a feature screenplay.
  • Students’ analytical, reflective, creative, development and professional screenwriting capacities will be enhanced, embedding informed and reflective professional practice.

Teaching and learning methods

Unit will generally include a one hour lecture, a one hour seminar and discussion, for eg. either of a major screenplay or an issue in relation to professional/industry practice and a one hour workshop developing and supporting students’ screenwriting and creative or other work in progress.

Unit may include “Hollyoaks” and “London” industry days, along with 2 week internship at a production company.

Materials, including lecture slides, reading lists, screenplays and other relevant materials, along with tutors’ communication with students, are posted each week.  

Knowledge and understanding

  • Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of - and capacity to deploy - mainstream screenwriting conventions.
  • Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the status and underlying assumptions of - and alternatives to - mainstream screenwriting convenions.
  • Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of professional screenwriting practice, both in relation to screenwriting itself and to the related ‘business’ of screenwriting.

Intellectual skills

  • Demonstrate an ability critically to analyse professional screenplays and films and their conformity with or divergence from mainstream screenwriting conventions.
  • Demonstrate an ability critically to analyse competing theories, secondary texts and guides and to synthesise a viable approach to professional screenwriting.

Practical skills

  • Initiate, develop and write at least two drafts of an original feature screenplay.
  • Produce professional-standard script reports.
  • Understand the role of the screenwriter and function of the screenplay in global film and television industries.
  • Analyse students’ own and contemporaries’ creative work in development and provide clear, high-quality development notes to contemporaries.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Develop a capacity for active listening. 
  • Develop a capacity to give, receive and respond to constructive criticism and to development notes in a professional manner.
  • Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, including presentations.
  • Collaborate constructively with contemporaries.
  • Work independently on major projects.
  • Demonstrate a capacity to conduct research.
  • Manage time and workload effectively. Respect deadlines.

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Unit enhances student employability by giving students a range of transferable skills including: logical thought; construction of an argument supported by evidence; good oral and written communication and presentation skills; time management and independent learning skills.
Innovation/creativity
Unit is industry-focused and vocationally-oriented. Enhances student employability by developing students’ creative, analytical and reflective capacities in relation to screenwriting.
Other
Unit embeds professional screenwriting practice, including developing sophisticated awareness of structure and alternatives, planning and designing a feature screenplay, writing step outlines, treatments and scene-by-scenes, writing and rewriting. Unit explores adaptation, pitching and the business of screenwriting, including contracts, agents and producers, writer’s CV and post-MA plan. Students analyse screenplays and films and produce both a feature screenplay - the industry “Gold Standard” artefact - and 2 script reports for assessment.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 80%
Report 20%

Feedback methods

Feedback Method Formative or Summative
Written feedback via email and oral feedback in class or Academic Advisor 1-1 meetings relating to formative assessment above and to work in development Formative
Numerical grade and written comments on both Short Film Genre Screenplay and Feature Film Portfolio within 15 working days Summative

 

Recommended reading

William Goldman, Adventures In The Screen Trade (Abacus, 1996)

Paul Gulino, Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach (Continuum, 2004)

Kira-Anne Pelican, The Science of Writing Characters (Bloomsbury, 2020)

Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great (Silman-James Press, 3rd Revised, Expanded edition, 2010)

John Truby, The Anatomy of Story (Faber and Faber, 2008)

Robert McKee, Story (Methuen, 1999)

Mike Figgis, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations (Faber and Faber, 2017)

Blake Snyder, Save the Cat (Michael Weise Productions, 2005)

Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey (Michael Wiese Productions, 2020)

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 10
Seminars 20
Independent study hours
Independent study 870

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