Our focus is on training you to create compelling immersive content. This programme, based within a university but run by leading immersive practitioners, gives you the practical tools and confidence to become a successful member of the international immersive VR/AR documentary community. Skills in immersive storytelling, ethics, 360 production, spatial audio and coding for game engines are learnt by creating a series of short experiences throughout the programme, culminating in an ambitious graduate immersive project.

About this degree

Immersive storytelling is a developing field across enterprise and entertainment. Unlike other VR MAs, this programme focuses on Factual Storytelling in particular, including creating stories for enterprise use with the potential for collaboration across other faculties in UCL. The MA provides training in the use of 360º cameras, immersive sound equipment and computer graphics-based VR experiences in order for you to tell factual and ethnographic stories on immersive platforms.

It will teach you the fundamentals of immersive storytelling and equip you with a robust self-learning ‘growth mindset’ to equip you for your professional life beyond the MA. You will learn to devise, plan, produce and pitch exhibition quality non-fiction immersive narrative-based experiences, giving you the skills to enable you to practice as creators of non-fiction 360º/VR/immersive storytellers.

We encourage you to explore the boundaries of immersive storytelling, drawing on anthropological and social science approaches to documentary, engaging with, and taking inspiration from existing material including games, films and immersive audio experience along with a wider range of stimuli relating to immersive engagement. You will also have regular contact with leading industry experts to help you expand your ideas and ambitions. Across the programme you will also be introduced to and engage with ethical questions around immersive storytelling.

Who this course is for

We are looking for students who want to be part of, and help define, the emerging world of immersive production and storytelling. Prospective students may already be actively engaged with visual or audio storytelling in previous work or studies and want to extend their storytelling by exploring experiential factual storytelling.

What this course will give you

With this MA we continue UCL’s tradition of developing a new generation of immersive experts, which began some years ago with groundbreaking research in immersive technologies by Mel Slater and Anthony Steed in UCL Computer Science. Taught by leading immersive professionals, this MA programme addresses the increasing demand for professional training in VR and XR technologies and storytelling techniques.

Employability

The programme provides you with skills in research, 360 pre-production, production, editing, post-production and delivery. You will be introduced to the integration of associated software, IT and equipment necessary for these processes as well as receiving an introduction to the ethical, pitching and distribution skills required for an Immersive factual producer.

You will learn to manage the production of an exhibition quality and broadly distributable immersive documentary experience, working collaboratively in conception, management and delivery and you will learn to pitch an immersive experience to funders and/or industry partners.