Performance Studies/Film & Television Studies

A new and innovative degree scheme

The Aberystwyth Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, recently awarded a 5 in the Research Assessment Exercise is also one of the largest in Britain in terms of staff and student numbers and the only full department of its kind in the University of Wales. We are committed to offering you an integrated scheme of study, combining a wide range of practical work with challenging academic activity.

Performance Studies focuses on the live arts - dance, theatre, performance art, ritual and popular entertainment - and employs performance as an optic through which to examine a variety of representational practices, thereby widening understanding of performance as both a vital artistic practice, and as a means to understand historical, social and cultural processes.

Performance Studies provides an innovative, integrating, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspective on the continuum of human action, from theatre and dance to public ceremonies, virtual performance and the performance of everyday life.

Our course in Aberystwyth is one of the very first in Britain. It capitalises upon the presence in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies of both the Centre for Performance Research (CPR) which organises many important conferences, exchanges and publications, as well as housing a useful library and Performance Studies International (PSI), the main membership organisation for Performance Studies academics.

What this course has to offer me

A Wide Choice in Academic and Practical modules

The Department offers a broad range of practical and academic options.

A Range of Assessment Methods

As well as conventional examinations the department employs a range of different assessment methods which are designed to help students gain the most benefit from their degree. The Department also uses a range of continuous assessment methods including; essays, reviews, commentaries, reports and dissertations. All practical work is assessed on both product and process. No module is assessed more than 70% by conventional examination and many modules are not assessed by conventional examination at all.

Transferable Skills and Employability

We are often asked to what kind of career a degree in Drama, Performance Studies or Film & Television can lead. The first answer is that the Single and Joint Honours degrees we offer open the way into all the career paths available to the traditional Arts graduate which range from administration to teaching and lecturing, the social services, marketing, advertising and other business occupations, many of which the graduate will approach by means of an appropriate postgraduate or diploma course. Often our students find themselves well prepared for interviews for personnel and management posts because they have experience of teamwork, production budgets and group dynamics. The transferable skills acquired through a study of these degree schemes far exceed those of any similar disciplines within the Arts.

However, many of our graduates go into occupations directly related to the subject of their degree. A considerable number take up acting professionally, either directly as members of theatre groups and small companies or through recognised drama schools. Many find occupations with independent television companies or with the BBC or HTV as researchers, vision mixers and floor managers. Over the years some have risen to the top of their profession, as actors and designers for the Royal Shakespeare Company, artistic directors in regional theatres or television directors. Over 300 recent graduate s hold EQUITY cards and the Department is normally able to offer two or three EQUITY cards each year as part of its involvement in the professional summer season based at the Arts Centre.

The Department enjoys excellent relations with the television industry. Currently the Part II Film & Television course, along with the recently developed MA in Theatre, Film and Television, is able to call on the talents of a number of visiting practitioners to lecture on their work. Recent visitors have included Paul Jackson, Managing Director of Carlton Television, Ian Brown, co-writer of Drop the Dead Donkey and a script editor at Channel Four Television and Rebecca Front, performer and co-writer of Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge and The Day Today. Students have access also to BAFTA Wales and other departmental lectures held in Aberystwyth. Recent speakers at these events have included Trevor McDonald, Michael Grade and Ian Hislop.

89% of Aberystwyth students are employed or enter further professional training within their first year after graduation.

The Department encourages its students to recognise and quantify the excellent transferable skills which they will develop as part of their degree experience. Team-working, planning, leadership, improvisation, independent working, communication and problem solving are just some of the skills which you will learn and develop as part of your degree. We encourage awareness and application of these skills and we aim to prepare you for employment. To help achieve this we run an awareness programme in conjunction with the University's Careers Service.

Learning and Tutorial Support

All Single Honours and Joint Honours students will be allocated to a Personal Tutor with whom they should meet at least once a term.

1. The role of the personal tutor is to provide support and guidance for students.

2. The first contact between student and personal tutor should be during the Induction Weekend.

3. Tutor and student should meet at least three times in the student's first year and at least twice a year after that. Some of these may be group meetings.

4. For the sake of continuity, a student should if possible have the same personal tutor throughout his/her career in the Institution.

5. We will allocate a Welsh speaking tutor to all Welsh speaking students.

6. We nominate a specific tutor for mature students.

7. Every undergraduate will have a personal tutor in his or her honours department (for Joint Honours students in both departments). The same applies to taught postgraduate students.

8. Tutors will ensure that their students know how to contact them when necessary.

9. We ensure that in the personal tutor's absence, a student can see another member of staff during office hours.

In addition the Language and Learning Centre provides a range of learning support services for students of the University including; Services for Dyslexic students and mature or non-conventional entry students requiring help with study skills. The Centre provides a high quality service in a supportive and caring atmosphere. For example, the Language and Learning Centre provides students with help on issues like: managing work, writing clearly and effectively, critical academic reading and dealing with lectures and seminars.

The Practical Semester

One of the Department's unique facilities is the practical semester. During the first semester of the third year students following single honours drama or joint honours drama and performance studies have the opportunity to take an entire semester of practical modules which will require them to be involved in three departmental productions. If you are a joint honours student with drama or performance studies as one of your subjects you will be able to take part in two of the three departmental productions. You may choose from a number of areas including acting, lighting design, sound design, set design, costume design, stage management, theatre in education, theatre administration and directing practice. You may wish to mix your practical experience and combine different areas or you may wish to concentrate in one main area.

Film and Television Placements

Although the Film and Television Studies degree at Aberystwyth does not have a formal placement scheme, staff are happy to assist students in obtaining vacation work in the film or television industries. Past and current students have gained experience as researchers and production assistants in a wide range of areas, including light entertainment with Anglia TV, the Natural History Unit of BBC Bristol, Yorkshire Television Drama Department and as art department runners with Claussen Wobke Film Production Company resident in Aberystwyth. The Department is currently in discussion with the BBC to arrange formal placements for students.

Links with Film and Television Industry

The department has strong links with the film and television industries both in Wales and beyond through the involvement of teaching staff with external training and development bodies such as Skillset and Broadcast Training Wales

The Department also holds events in conjunction with other organisations. Recent examples include a training course for television researchers in independent production companies and a one-day writing workshop organised jointly with BBC Wales Drama.

We also believe that it is important for students to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of industry practitioners. Recent guest lecturers have included the scriptwriter Peter Cox (Brookside), Annabel Colley (information researcher on the BBC's Panorama programme) and Colin Thomas (documentary-maker).

The Department is responsible (in conjunction with the Thomson Broadcasting Foundation) for the broadcast compliance work of the Channel Four Wales, S4C. A team of monitors view all material broadcast on the channel and ensure that programmes adhere to broadcasting guidelines in terms of, inter alia , taste and decency, political balance, portrayal of sex and violence, use of the English language in Welsh-language programmes and product placement. The monitoring group reports on a monthly basis to the S4C Broadcasting Compliance Committee who in turn are responsible to the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority.

We are also fortunate in that the Mercator Media Project forms part of the Department. Mercator is a European Union-funded project which looks at media production and use in minority languages in Europe.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Mature applicants
If you are over 21, you can apply to Aberystwyth as a mature student. We welcome such students because of their high motivation and wide experience.

Welsh Baccalaureate
Aberystwyth welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and fully supports the inclusion of the WBQ Core in the UCAS tariff (120 points).

Vocational qualifications
Vocational qualifications provide a good preparation for entry to related and most non-related degree schemes.

If you are an overseas applicant, we will be pleased to advise you individually on entry qualifications. Our courses are taught in English and you will need to have a good command of the language

Key Skills
The Application of Number at level 3 will be accepted by the Institute of Biological Sciences and the Institute of Rural Sciences as an adequate substitute for GCSE Maths. An A* to C pass in GCSE English or Welsh continues to be an institutional requirement, but in certain cases Key Skills Communication at level 3 will be acceptable in lieu of GCSE English or Welsh. Key Skills at level 3 if offered, will be included in offers and given appropriate weighting in line with the UCAS National Tariff.