In the Autumn of 2018, I will be taking a big step in my journey towards the industry. Picking the right University is a daunting task for everyone, however, I will do my utmost best to choose a university that will cater to my needs and expectations. What I’m mainly looking for is a University that is not afraid to listen to students and give advice and help when needed. Here I will be enlisting my top 5 universities based on the 2018 league table for Film Production and from my own research and recommendations that have been given to me.
1. Middlesex University
Middlesex first caught my attention when I saw it ranked No. 2 in the League Table for Film Production. It has very high points in teaching satisfaction (93.8/100) and feedback satisfaction (87.3/100) which I value greatly. They also have a reasonable margin of students who find employment after 6 months (69/100). I’ve also spoken to some students who go there as it’s local to me and they ‘ve told me themselves that the teachers are very helpful when needed and the creative sector is very much appreciated in the community. Middlesex looks the most promising to me. I had a look on the student room to see what students who have done the full Film BA course felt about their experience there.
As you can see this individual had a very pleasant experience, I like how they mention all the films and practical work they do as I prefer practical hands-on work than written work e.g. contextual awareness etc.
I will be following up by going to an open day in late November to see if Middlesex is the place for me.
2. University of Westminster
I was first given the prospect of going to Westminster by a friend of mine, curious as I had never thought of Westminster as a place that catered to the arts I went online to find a breakdown of their course. I was pleasantly surprised to find they really care about the practical element of film production. It’s a split between practical and theory. Film theory is not my strongest field but I’m willing to try if it means having in-depth study in practical production. I went to the student room to see what graduates of this course felt about their time there.
Here a graduate talked about how much they enjoyed their time their even mentioning making a total of 8 films in their first year which is what I’d want in a film production course.
I think I’ll follow up by going to an open evening in mid-October so I can see what the course is like and what the people will be like as group work is essential in this kind of course.
3. Ravensbourne
This University was first brought to my attention by my tutor. What made me gravitate to this university was that they specialise in digital media and the creative industry in general. I have read on their course information that it is heavily practical based which is what I’m looking for. Not to mention the campus is a 5-minute walk away from SKY Studios. This university is looked upon very highly by a lot of people in the industry.
Here we have a Student room answer from a graduate, they mentioned how this university is great for people who would want to network which is crucial in an industry like Film.
I will definitely follow up by going to an open day in mid-October
4. London Metropolitan University
I gravitated towards this university for their course content in their Film & TV Ba and their Film and Broadcasting Ba. There is a good balance of theory and practical work in the Film & TV Ba, I could learn about contextual features I wouldn’t even think of. I’ve read that their equipment is quite modern and they assure that students have a good shot at getting into the industry. I’m hoping to develop my storytelling abilities if I were to go there.
5. Brunel University
Brunel was brought to my attention by the university league table for film production, this specific university was marked as the 5th best in London for film studies, also a mutual friend who does a media design course there recommended this university to me. I have heard outstanding comments about this university course, however, my main concerns are the course content as I’d rather do practical work and from a glance and the course is only 40% practical, so it is going to be slightly more theory based. The location may be a problem too, Brunel is very far from where I live so I would have to move into the dorms which sounds very daunting to me. But it still looks like a very promising option and it is one of the only places that has both Film & TV in one course. I might follow up with an open day accompanied with speaking to mutual friends who go there.
These are all my viable options for a University course, I will come back to this list after I have attended some open days and have spoken to a couple of students from each university who do the specific course I’m interested in. so by the end of October, I would have.
Tehreem Hussain 