Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA

UCL (University College London)

This one-year (or two-year if part-time) Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA degree will give you the practical and theoretical skills to create original non-fiction film work to a professional standard. You'll study in small studios as you master a range of documentary modes. The course is run by leading non-fiction film practitioners, ensuring you receive the highest-quality practice-based learning. The Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA will provide you with training in the theoretical and technical skills to produce documentary films of varied lengths for varied audiences. You will learn to critically view and review film material, drawing on anthropological and social science approaches to documentary, and think critically about the relationship between form and content in documentary film practice. You will be taught in small studios, each led by a practicing non-fiction filmmaker. All studios encourage originality and formal experimentation. The 'DocFiction' studio explores the boundaries of fiction and non-fiction, bringing elements of performance into documentary filmmaking. This studio has a cap of 18 students. You will learn to produce creative and compelling films and graduate trained to produce your ideas to a professional standard. In addition to your core practical filmmaking, you will take two optional modules from a range of modules offered in the Public Anthropology section of the department. These modules will support you to develop further practical skills (from audio production to feature writing) or pursue more academic interests (from an introduction to social theory to the history of documentary cinema) and will enrich your appreciation and understanding of factual storytelling in different contexts. The Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA is best suited to students looking to find innovative ways to tell important stories that resonate with global audiences in a professional framework, guided by leading industry figures. This degree is well-suited to students who have little or no experience in making films but also provides the opportunity for those with experience to deepen, broaden and diversify the range of their work. This degree is well-suited to working professionals who wish to study part-time over two years.