This document outlines the course requirements and expectations for a final year Broadcast Media degree. Students will complete 5 modules over the year, including options in documentary filmmaking, radio production, and sound design. A major final individual project will allow students to realize a creative work of their choosing. Regular backups of work are strongly encouraged, as marks from all assessments count towards the final degree classification. The course aims to prepare students for independent work in the broadcast industry through practical skills and a mature approach to time management and deadlines.

1. BA (HONS)
Broadcast Media

2. What we’re gonna do today…
 Run through how the course
is run
 What to expect
 What important decisions
you have to make today.
 Prepare you for the best
year of your education.
 Then we’re going to set your
induction task

3. NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
 Final Year of Course.
 At the end of this year
you will get a mark of 1st,
2/1, 2/2, 3rd, a basic pass
or a fail.
 These are worked out
from your average grade
across the year.

4. The usual rules apply…
120 credits of modules.
5 modules to complete.
You have to pass them all to earn the degree.
Any you fail you can either retrieve over the
summer or re-take the next year (depending
on your grades etc).

5. This is a time of transformation
1st year attitude
3rd year reality

6. What is the difference from your last
year in University?
 Bachelors degree
 Honours degree
 More academic
 You will be more
independent
 For most of you this
is your final year of
education!

7. What is Honours degree
learning?
 More enquiring
 Not just training
 Rounding you out as a
person.
 Helping you to look at and
think about the world
differently.
 Make you the sort of person
who can lead and instigate
change – not just react to it.

8. Independence Year
 Figure things out for yourself.
 Develop your own practice
 Develop your own ideas
 Learn to work for yourself
 Trust yourself and your ideas.

9. Mature attitude
Manage your timetable
Know and understand your
deadlines.
Manage you workloads.
Prepare you for working in
industry.

10. Life in the final year.
 You final year SHOULD be
hard work!!
 There are only 8 months to
go!!
 Stayed focused
 Be organised
 Use the resources
 Use the staff
 Get whatever you can out
of the place

11. How will you do?
 If you work as you did before your grade from last
year will drop between 5 and 10%
 If you found the last year of the FdA hard you will
have even harder this year.
 You cannot avoid or swerve engaging with theory.
It is what you signed up for?
 If you work hard AND enjoy the course your grades
can increase prodigiously.

12. There are distractions…
Parties – forget
them (okay
moderate them)
Holidays – they
can wait…
Drinking – only for
creative
purposes…

13. Student loans?
1st year attitude
3rd year reality

14. Talk to someone
 If you’re having problems them
please talk to us.
 Family – Money – Work –
Personal issues
 Let us KNOW what is happening.
 Either myself or Phil Connolly will
be you personal tutor, talk to
me about academic issues.
 Student support.

15. Believe in the Course!
 This course really works.
 This is my fourth year running it.
 High pass rate.
 High retention (i.e. few people leave).
 High employment rate.
 Great feedback from external examiners and
students.
 Improvements made to it all the time?

16. CONTACTS FOR MEEmail: L.Dann@brighton.ac.uk
Room: Staff office at Level 6
Twitter: LanceDann
Skype: DrLanceLecturer
Appointmets: Either Monday,
Tuesday or Friday lunchtime.
Follow appointlet link either on
Student Central or on the bottom
of my emails.

17. SEMESTER 1
October to January

18. DIGITAL MEDIA  Prepares you for changes in
industry.
 Teaches you how to develop, sell
and run creative ideas.
 Look at the development of
digital media and mobile
platforms and what they mean.
 Work in a small group developing
the pitch and sales plan for a
digital media project.
 Write 2500 analysis of how a
media franchise employs the
web.
 Led by Lance Dann

19. PRACTICAL OPTION 1
ADVANCED VIDEO PRODUCTION:
DOCUMENTARY
 First Semester with specialist
broadcast doc lecturer
 Individually produce a 10-20
minute documentary feature.
 Focus on advanced
storytelling, sophisticated
research techniques and
production methods.
 Examine and discuss a range
of documentary forms.
 Taught by Catherine
Donaldson

20. PRACTICAL OPTION 2
ADVANCED RADIO PRODUCTION
 First Semester with specialist
broadcast radio producer and
reporter.
 Individually produce a 10-20
minute radio feature (plus
contextual essay).
 Focus on advanced storytelling,
sophisticated research
techniques and recording and
production methodologies
 Examine and discuss a range of
radio forms.
 Led by Lance Dann and Jim Horn

21. PRACTICAL OPTION 3
CREATIVE SOUND DESIGN
 Post Production module
 Advanced recording, Pro
Tools and music creation skills.
 Engage with sound theory.
 Produce a 5 minute sound
piece with accompanying
essay 2500 word essay
 Ran last year with 100% pass
rate and high grades.
 Taught by Lance Dann and
Jim Horn

22. FINAL INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
 Run across first and second
semester
 40 credits
 This is where you find a topic:
you read about it, find a
question, research and the
create a piece and write a
paper that addresses that
question.
 Assessed on i) a presentation
of ideas ii) completed
practical piece iii) 6000 word
written report.
 Led by Rob Greens

23. Final Individual Project
Piece can be radio, film, doc,
cross-media or live media.
This is where you realise your ideas.
This is your showpiece for the
degree.
This is where you have the chance
to try out something you’ve always
wanted to do.

24. Semester 2
January to May 2015

25. PORTFOLIO  Work on each other’s final
projects in specialist roles.
 Create an online showreel of
your work.
 Gives you a broad range of
work to show when you work
in industry.
 Allows you to pitch yourself to
a range of employers.
 Led by Catherine Donaldson

26. PRODUCTION CULTURES
 Based on visiting lecturers
and your work experiences
 Discussion of the cultures of
professional practice.
 Prepares you for work in
industry.
 You will interview
pratitioners and write 3000
word essay.
 Led by Lance Dann

27. Student Reps
 We need to decide who
they are…
 Two meetings a year
 We need representatives
who came from Post
Production, TV, Broadcast
Media, Radio and from
outside the University.

28. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
 BACK UP YOUR WORK
 IN TWO PLACES!
 THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!
 ALL MARKS COUNT
 PLEASE DO THIS…
 I BEG YOU!