Costume Design for Film & Television with Professional Placement

Cultivate the skills to enter the world of costume design on-screen.

Costume designers play a powerful role in the storytelling process, working from script to screen to create a character’s signature style.

This course will equip you with in-demand expertise in garment design, acquisition, alteration and creation, as well as the knowledge and flair to achieve your vision. You will have opportunities to engage with fashion artefacts and costume from our museum-quality Textiles & Dress Collection and fashion archives to inspire accurate and evocative costume design.

Armed with core skills including drawing, cutting and wardrobe curation, along with a career-launching showreel and the confidence to collaborate with industry professionals, you’ll have the edge over your peers as you enter this vibrant industry.

You will:
Master core techniques such as drawing, cutting, wardrobe pulling and fitting
Investigate the social, cultural and environmental factors that influence memorable costume designs of our time
Analyse industry applications such as music promos, commercials and costume breakdown, applying this knowledge to innovative challenge-based projects
Utilise our extensive wardrobe store and textiles and dress collection to achieve your vision of a character
Refine your skills as a costume practitioner in your final year through a collaborative screen production project to develop your professional portfolio

From costume design to wardrobe curation, exploring contemporary fashion history to interpreting scripts and characters and learning how to work as part of a creative team, we'll equip you with the creative, practical and entrepreneurial skills you'll need to succeed in this vibrant industry.

Year one:
During the first year of this costume design degree, you'll be introduced to fundamental skills such as research, drawing, pattern cutting, garment alteration, fitting techniques, script analysis and costume plotting. You'll also learn how to become a costume designer that can analyse characters and scripts through the lens of anthropological, socio-political, psychological and cultural concepts. Practical work will be supported by lectures and written work exploring the history and theory of film and visual culture.

Modules:
Making
Histories
Communicating
Connections
Emerging

Year two:
In year two you'll continue to develop your design profile through an exploration of screen theory, costume breakdown and industry applications, such as styling for music promos and commercials. Alongside your creative practice, you'll also gain vital skills for successful freelance practice, including budget organisation, self-management and collaboration.

Modules:
Wearing
Classifying
Appearing
Performing
Theories
Branding

Year three:
You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the employability team. Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying.

How you’ll study during your professional placement
You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks.

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation.

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth.

Year four:
In your final year on the costume design degree, you'll prepare for entry into industry by refining your skills through ideas pitching, a major collaborative screen production project, and portfolio creation.

Modules:
Investigations
Daring
Working
Being
Showing

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

100% of your assessment will be coursework.

Assessment methods
Assessment can take the form of artefacts (such as pieces of costume you have made), portfolios, projects, reports and dissertation.
Formative feedback will be ongoing through regular tutorials with academic staff and visiting professionals, and summative feedback will take place following the end of the designated study block assessment periods.