Creative Documentary by Practice MFA

London, Stratford (UCL East)

A 21-month practice-based programme that provides all the technical and intellectual resources required to make outstanding non-fiction film work. This programme is ideal for students with prior filmmaking experience, who want to develop their craft, and deepen their artistic practice.

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£19,300
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£34,400
Duration
21 months
Programme starts
September 2024
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 28 Jun 2024

Applications closed

Applicants who do not require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 30 Aug 2024

Applications closed

Entry requirements

A minimum of a lower second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, or a pass at a non practice based Masters. We require an example of your film work to support all applications. We will accept applications from practitioners whose portfolio of work and CV demonstrates communicative and artistic achievement to the level of BA.

We would like to see a portfolio of your film work. This could be single film work or multiple shorter films - but no showreels. Each film should include your role in the credits. Please also submit a short text about a film project you would like to make with illustrative images or photos.

How to submit your portfolio:

You can submit the film project proposal by attaching a PDF in your application. You can submit your film work by including a link to an external site of your choice at the end of your personal statement).

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The MFA offers students the opportunity to develop non-fiction filmmaking as a creative research practice – making films which interrogate and explore the contemporary world. Drawing on broad based anthropological thought about the social and cultural world we aim to produce filmmakers who are imaginative, risk-taking and intellectually engaged: pushing boundaries in the field. In the first year of the program, each student will make three short films, supported by weekly workshops, tutorials, seminars and screenings. In the second year of the program, each student will devise a graduation film project exploring a subject of their choice, supervised by an industry mentor.

Who this course is for

We are looking for practitioners who can demonstrate communicative and artistic achievement to the level of BA. We will review your portfolio of work and CV to assess your suitability for the programme. Students without any filmmaking experience are encouraged to apply for the MA in Ethnographic and Documentary Film.

What this course will give you

We live in an increasingly audio-visual world. In the 19th century the novel was the form. Today it is moving image. If you want to show people new ways of looking at the world, if you want to use cameras, microphones, the possibilities of montage, to find new ways of representing the lived world, this degree is for you. We have no ideology and promote no house-style. We want to help you find your own voice in an artistic form that is in its earliest days - where 'anything goes'. If that sounds like your home then this degree is for you.

Over two years you will learn to:
i) handle cameras and sound recording equipment to produce non-fiction image and sound as well as mastering the technical skills to use professional editing programme/s and post production processes;
ii) you will be able to experiment with different forms of moving image, with work of different lengths for varied audiences, learning to take risks;
iii) under the highest quality supervision, you'll manage a large moving image project (up to 90 minutes of film) carried out independently;
iv) you'll devise a short collaborative visual research project with persons not trained in moving image.

UCL Public Anthropology is an integral part of the creative environment of the 21st century in which the university provides a space for creative work that can only rarely take place outside of its walls. Our studios are therefore a site of creative and collaborative creation, linking the creative industries and university life. Since 2008, and together with Open City Documentary Festival, we have explored how the teaching of creative non-fiction story telling can best be taught. We have pioneered practice-based teaching by practising (part-time) professional film makers.

This programme is based at our brand new UCL East campus in East London, forming part of the School for Creative and Cultural Industries. Students will benefit from cultural and educational connections with our East Bank partners such as the V&A and BBC, as well as state-of-the-art facilities including exhibition, performance and curating spaces, conservation studios and a 160-seater surround-sound cinema.

The foundation of your career

The programme equips students for careers in:

  • academia, ethnographic research, visual media and culture
  • marketing and research
  • communication and other media
  • archives, as well as cultural heritage organisations
  • film and TV industry as camera operators, producers, directors, editors, researchers

Employability

Graduates of the programme will develop a series of practical and transferable skills including:

  • Solving complex problems - developing lateral thinking and creative questioning
  • Managing time and production flows in complex projects and effectively integrating research into film practice
  • Communicating effectively and succinctly
  • Being able to pitch and sell stories/product to potential funders
  • Being able to find the moving image form best suited for a particular field of investigation

Networking

The MFA will allow you to benefit from UCL's unique position in London, at the centre of the UK creative industries. The programme uses professional filmmakers to teach within a truly pan-disciplinary university research environment. In addition to the tutors at UCL, students will also regularly meet external industry professionals in the masterclasses and workshops which run throughout the course - exposing students to the top-level cinematographers, sound designers, and editors working in cinema today. The yearly MFA Showcase invites key industry players from film festivals and funding bodies to watch the best works produced by students on the program. UCL houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival. MFA students will gain access to this festival, providing a unique opportunity to engage with the global creative non-fiction industry.

Teaching and learning

This practice-based programme is delivered through seminars, masterclasses, practical workshops and tutorials followed by supervised project work. Across the MFA you will spend significant time completing camera and editing exercises, building up a portfolio of work as well as watching numerous films.

All work is assessed, either formatively or formally, by the MFA teaching team.

In the first term you will spend two days a week in tutorials and in the second and third terms one day a week. You will have additional masterclasses and screenings most weeks in the first year. You will spend at least two days a week across the whole year in self-directed film making. In the second year you will have tutorials one day a week in the first term and then critical reviews across the period completing your graduation project.

The compulsory modules typically involve around 360 contact hours (a mix of 2h & 3h seminars, 1 hr tutorials). Optional modules (15 credit) usually amount to 54 contact hours (assuming 2h weekly seminar) but will vary depending on the choice of modules.

Modules

In the first year, students complete four compulsory modules: ANTH0176 ‘Introduction to the Practice of Creative Documentary Film’ ANTH0177 ‘Advanced Practice of Creative Documentary Film’ ANTH0178 ‘Collaborative Film’ ANTH0179 ‘Research Work and Research Book’ The first term opens with a series of exercises designed to reframe our students’ approach to documentary filmmaking. These formal exercises build towards the culmination of ANTH0176 – a short film and accompanying written text delivered by the end of the first term. The second and third

term of Year 1 focus on a longer work for ANTH0177, followed by the research and development work (ANTH0179) for the Graduation Film (ANTH0180). During the first year, students will also take the compulsory module: Collaborative Film (ANTH0178) – in which they work with a researcher to collaboratively devise a film piece. The collaborator can be an academic, a research team, or any other practitioner in another field who is willing to engage with the student on a shared film project. In the second year, students will independently make their graduation film project: a creative documentary film/moving image project on a subject of their choosing. They will begin work on this project towards the end of the first year, keeping work in a Research Book. Production begins in the second year supervised by the module tutors and project mentors. Students will also produce a written text reflecting on their process. Alongside these compulsory modules, students will also take optional modules offered by the documentary film programme within Anthropology, including film history courses and others designed to develop story-telling capabilities; film history modules from the Film Studies suite and other options from across UCL – where possible – and where relevant to the research for their final film

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 300 credits. Upon successful completion of 300 credits, you will be awarded an MFA in Creative Documentary by Practice.

Fieldwork

There is no formal fieldwork but almost all film projects will involve working off-site.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Creative Documentary by Practice MFA Q&A

An opportunity to meet the Creative Documentary by Practice MFA programme lead and ask any questions you have about programme content, career prospects and life and study in the Department of Anthropology and at UCL.

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Ethnographic and Documentary Film MA Q&A

An opportunity to meet the Ethnographic and Documentary Film MA programme lead and ask any questions you have about programme content, career prospects and life and study in the Department of Anthropology and at UCL.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £19,300
Tuition fees (2024/25) £34,400

This is a 2-year programme, comprising 300 credits in total. The full-time fee quoted is for Year 1 only; the fee in Year 2 will be subject to UCL's fee increases of up to 5% annually.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

You will need to have two hard drives capable of securely storing your film material. UCL provides one of these in exchange for you buying your own private licence of Creative Cloud for home use. UCL runs Creative Cloud on the edit computers so there is no need for a personal licence but some students find this useful.

Students are expected to complete their coursework on campus, as the computers on site are equipped to support video editing.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1yr)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

NOW CLOSED FOR 2024/25 ENTRY
Value: Tuition fees plus £15,700 stipend ()
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Creative Documentary by Practice at graduate level
  • why you want to study Creative Documentary by Practice at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme · how your personal, academic and professional background meets the demands of a challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

We would also like to see a portfolio of your work - with a film/s of up to 20 minutes duration that you have shot and edited yourself. Please provide a short text (max 500 words) about the film, reflecting on your intentions and the process.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver. This program is targeted at students who already have made film work, but now wish to push themselves creatively. We expect students to arrive with an understanding of how to shoot and how to edit, with a good working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Got questions? Get in touch

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