Curious about studying Film and Screenwriting - BA (Hons)at Birmingham City University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
City Centre Campus (The Curzon Building)
Full Time
Sep 2027
3 Year
Develop your skills across key film studies and screenwriting debates and conventions on our BA (Hons) Film and Screenwriting course. Taught by noted film scholars and established practitioners, you will gain knowledge of international film and television screenwriting perspectives. Our degree is designed to equip you with the theoretical understanding, practical experience and knowledge of industry trends needed to succeed in a rapidly changing film environment.
What's covered in this course?The course considers of a wide range of script to screen traditions from theory, practice and industry perspectives. You will gain an understanding of cinema and television conventions and screenwriting genres (such as romcom, thriller, science fiction and horror). You will also be introduced to a variety of film and TV formats such as feature film, single drama, drama series, serials, sitcom, soap and web series. Focusing on the aesthetic and creative aspects of film and television screenwriting, you will consider storytelling techniques, narratology, pitching and screen adaptation. Modules such as Film Primer and Script Development provide complementary skills relevant to the film industry. You will have opportunities to work on established film festivals that are associated with the course and have access to film collections that will enrich your course of studies.
How you learnYou will be taught in a range of lectures, seminars, writing workshops and production sessions, while regular film screenings help you contextualise cinema traditions against your own script creations. There will be opportunities to work alongside other students on complementary degree programmes in Filmmaking and Digital Film Production to produce full pieces of work to add to your professional portfolio as well as experience of working with script in live productions in our industry-standard studios. Your formal studies will be enriched by the possibility to work on a range of external events, such as the Cine-Excess International Film Festival. This annual event attracts visiting international filmmakers, as well as hosting UK theatrical premieres on a regular basis. Having previously operated in London’s West End and Brighton, Cine-Excess has now relocated to BCU to operate as a central resource for the course.
Professional Placement Year\ This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies. If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course. Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.
Screenwriting for Film Genres is aimed at emerging screenwriters. The course will focus on the popular, commercial end of the film industry market, paying particular attention to audiences and the demands and expectations of the marketplace.
This module provides an introductory course in film narrative and the principles of storytelling. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of narrative cinema. To do this the module will engage with theoretical models of storytelling and examples from narrative cinema.
This module looks beyond Hollywood and America to examine notable film movements from across the globe that influenced cinema on a worldwide scale and left an enduring legacy, continuing to shape contemporary filmmaking. The aim is to develop your appreciation of films rich cultural and social heritage, and the social drivers and rebellious characteristics of the filmmakers leading the charge. You will examine the social, political and artistic drivers behind key works, and the mastery and innovation that they display in pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling at their time of creation.
Screenwriting Primer will introduce you to the essential skills of, and principles behind, writing for the screen. You will study a number of freely available short guides to industry standard screenplay layout and formatting and apply that learning to the practical application of screenplay formatting software. You will create a portfolio of short screenplays, given as writing exercises through the learning schedule, and receive detailed formative feedback on the scripts, which you can use to improve and develop your work for your final portfolio. You will focus on visual storytelling, layout conventions, and be encouraged to identify the formal features of a screenplay in terms of character, genre, tone, plot and theme. You will also illustrate your understanding of elementary marketing principles.
Looking at forms in films, students will learn how visual languages are being used and how to compose shots that are translatable to other mediums such as animation. You will learn to storyboard and create effective animatics and to succinctly convey ideas and vision to produce short a film(s) as a group and individually. Expect to pitch your ideas individually and as a team.
Writing for TV is designed to help students build on the fundamental skills of writing for the screen and direct that skillset to writing for the multi-format world of television. You will demonstrate an understanding of how to structure scripts for 30-minute and 1-hour slots, for drama series, sitcom, continuing and serial dramas, while presenting an adherence to industry-standard TV screenplay convention, and demonstrating expertise in the presentation of marketing documentation. You will also have the opportunity to reflect critically on your creative considerations.
This module is designed to help you develop the skills to read and evaluate scripts for the film and television industry. By the end of this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to assess and evaluate scripts according to industry standards. You will be able to read treatments, identify elements of a script, and write comprehensive script reports and 'coverage' that will be useful to film and television producers.
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff. Collaboration is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries and this module allows you to develop these skills, making use of University facilities and with the support of academic staff. Within this module framework, several kinds of collaborative opportunities are available. For example, with the approval of your supervisor, you can determine a project based on your own interests; your supervisor may set you a predetermined project to enable you to work with other students in a way that is appropriate to your subject area; or there may be opportunities for you to collaborate with staff on research projects. In all cases, you must apply your subject skills to an interdisciplinary project which will be agreed in advance with your supervisor.
This module critically evaluates horror narratives in their cultural, historical and generic contexts across both visual and audio traditions, and asks you to analyse how debates in this area impact on creative and production practices in the field.
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration and/or your own professional practice. The module enables you to create either an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines or your own self-defined project.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practice-based portfolio.
BBC Grades/points required
Not currently available, please Contact University for up to date information.
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