Drama and Film and Screen Studies

Explore your passion for the stage and screen on our combined honours degree in Drama and Film.

• Learn by making, producing, performing, directing and collaborating. Immerse yourself and discover your creative identity.

• Combine practical performance skills with theoretical learning to become a more rounded performer and director.

• Graduate with a host of skills valued in a range of industries, from theatre to media to education.

The performing and visual arts don’t just reflect culture: they can create it.

On this combined Drama and Film and Screen course, you’ll explore your creative identity. You’ll learn both by doing and by examining the theories that underpin these industries.

By combining Drama with Film and Screen, you’ll develop a critical understanding of film and screen theory and criticism. As part of your study, you’ll interrogate the role media plays on our everyday lives and forge an understanding of how society and culture is mediated by cinematic, televisual and electronic images. You’ll gain an appreciation of the relationship between film, media and culture which will translate into your performances on stage.

You'll explore your creative identity through core and optional modules in areas of practice such as play production, performing, writing and directing, and topics such as Shakespeare, musical theatre, physical theatre, applied theatre and media and performance. Your performance practice will enhance your filmmaking and writing skills.

Studying Drama and Film and Screen at Bath Spa gives you the performance, critical and creative skills you need to launch yourself into a variety of exciting careers.

Combined Honour Awards
At Bath Spa University many of our undergraduate programmes can be combined, so you don’t have to limit yourself to one subject. If you choose to study a combined award then in Year One you’ll start by studying both subjects in equal depth. From Year Two you can choose whether to continue with equal numbers of modules from each subject, or whether you want to select additional modules in one or the other. Upon successful completion of the programme you will graduate with a joint degree.

Year one

Build the foundations. You’ll gain skills in working with play texts as part of a theatrical ensemble, performing and directing, theatre production and performance.

You’ll investigate film as a specific academic discipline, alongside how meaning is conveyed through film form and content. You’ll analyse how films are constructed and be introduced to ways of writing effectively about film. You'll also undertake an advanced investigation of key theoretical and methodological issues involved in the study of cinema, and explore film as a commercial, cultural and aesthetic institution.

Year two

Apply your skills. You’ll work with local practitioners, collaborate with a range of theatre experts and learn from visiting professional companies and artists. You'll also have the opportunity to apply yourself in a variety of performance projects.

You can design your own programme for Film and Screen from a range of exciting modules. You can also take part in organising LineUP, the annual Student Film Festival at Bath Spa University.

Our focus is allowing you to create original work, while you explore your particular areas of interest such as puppetry, performance and media, devising, applied theatre, musical theatre and theatre production.

Year three

Develop your specialisms. You'll define and manage your own work, and carry out research into areas of drama or performance of your choice. You may explore topics such as performance, staging gender, modern American drama, staging Shakespeare, musical theatre, theatre for social change, media and performance, and devising. There's also the opportunity to collaborate with staff on projects relating to their areas of expertise.

You'll continue on a self-designed programme for Film and Screen chosen from a range of exciting modules. You can also take part in organising LineUP, the annual Student Film Festival at Bath Spa University.

We use a variety of assessment tasks across the programme, including:
Essays
Public performance
Playwriting
In-class performance of devised or published work
Oral presentations
Research reports
Performance of backstage/technical roles
Critical reflection
Journals
Working as part of an ensemble
Script analysis
Devising
Portfolios
Individual and group research projects.