- UCAS course code
- WW34
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Music and Drama
Explore your passion for performance through the interdisciplinary study of music, theatre and film.
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: WW34 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Scholarships available
- Typical A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL including Music
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £28,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
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
The Department of Music will provide first-year bursaries to support undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional levels of achievement in their instrumental and/or vocal studies. These £1000 bursaries will be awarded in the first year of study (2024/25 academic year), paid direct to students in two instalments.
More information, including eligibility criteria, can be found here.
Course unit details:
From Documentary to Mockumentary
| Unit code | DRAM31011 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 3 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This course explores documentary film history and theory. The first block of study focuses on documentary as a genre, explored through a historical perspective. Students will explore key innovators in the documentary form, such as the Lumiere Brothers, Robert Flaherty, Dziga Vertov and the filmmakers of the British Documentary Movement and Cinéma Vérité. The second block of study focuses on documentary film approaches and contexts that have given new meaning to the genre including reflexive filmmaking, experimental new voices, television documentary, drama-documentary and mock-documentary. Throughout the course, students will gain an understanding of the key debates and theories that have influenced thinking around the documentary genre. The ethics of representation, claims to ‘truth’, style, narrative construction and reflexivity will be recurring themes as we examine how different documentary approaches continue to shape our perception of reality on screen.
Pre/co-requisites
| Pre/Co/Antirequisite units | Any L1 Drama Study or Practical core option Any L2 Drama Study core option - Theatres of Modernity; Screen, Culture and Society |
Aims
- To provide students with an overview of historical and contemporary documentary film approaches through critical analysis and contextual research
- To introduce students to a range of debates and theories that have shaped critical thinking around the documentary genre
- To equip students with the critical and analytical tools needed to identify and analyse the representational, ethical, formal and aesthetic strategies of a range of documentary style
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the history of documentary film, including alternative documentary film approaches
- Demonstrate their awareness of key areas of debate and contestation in the history of documentary film analysis and theory
- Demonstrate an ability to critically analyse a range of documentary films and evaluate their approach to issues of authenticity, subjectivity, narrative construction and reflexivity
- Understand how the hybrid forms of contemporary documentary both intersect with and refashion historical modes
Intellectual skills
- Recognise the limits of knowledge, and its influence on analysis and interpretations, and to use this to develop sustained responses to presented documentary films as well as identify areas for on-going learning in documentary film studies
- Synthesise complex material in order to frame questions about documentary film and key concepts around authenticity, subjectivity, narrative construction and reflexivity
- Develop articulate, convincing arguments about documentary film, especially about topic areas that are complex, uncertain and ambiguous
Practical skills
- Manage own learning, including making use of advanced research scholarship in the area of documentary film studies, at least some of which was identified independently
- Communicate complex, multi-layered arguments and counter-arguments effectively, in written and verbal form
- Grasp and effectively apply ethical principles in the area of documentary film studies
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Demonstrate an advanced ability to self-manage learning – to ask questions independently, identify relevant research material, take initiative, make decisions, and develop independent and sustained responses to complex problems
- Demonstrate an advanced ability to develop sustained arguments and present these effectively in written and oral form
Employability skills
- Other
- Employability skills that students can expect to gain from successful completion of this module include: Advanced critical thinking, problem-solving and planning skills Advanced ability to exercise initiative and personal responsibility Working productively as part of a group and independently in learning environments that present complex and unpredictable challenges Ability to effectively adapt self-presentation to different audiences/contexts, especially when communicating complex topics
Assessment methods
Assessment Task | Formative or Summative | Weighting |
Written Essay or 10-15 minute Video Essay | Summative | 40% |
Written Essay or Group Creative Proposal and Project Report | Summative | 60% |
Feedback methods
Feedback Method | Formative or Summative |
Presentation and Essay – oral and written | Formative |
Presentation and Essay – written | Summative |
Recommended reading
Bruzzi, S. 2006. New Documentary (second edition). London and New York: Routledge.
Kahana, J. and Musser, C. 2016. The Documentary Film Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McLane, B. 2013. A New History of Documentary Film. Bloomsbury Academic.
Rosenthal, A. and Corner, J. (Eds.) 2005. New Challenges for Documentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Winston, B. (Eds.) 2013. The Documentary Film Book. London: BFI.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 33 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Sophie Everest | Unit coordinator |