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MA
Film Production

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Key Information

Campus

Brayford Pool

Start Date

September 2025

Typical Offer

See More

Duration

1 year

Academic Year

Course Overview

MA Film Production offers a blend of practical and critical work with an industry focus, giving you the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to progress to a career in film and related areas or to further study. The course will enable you to develop the multi-skilled essentials needed to work in the fast-changing and internationalised creative industries.

You'll be encouraged to take your creativity and artistic ability to the next level and become part of the next generation of innovative filmmakers. The programme offers a wide variety of workshops focusing on screenwriting, directing, cinematography, lighting, producing, sound recording, editing, effects and colour grading, and more. You'll have the opportunity to work with industry-standard equipment and benefit from expert guidance from supportive technical tutors.

Staff have a wide range of industry and subject experience, including at the BBC.

Why Choose Lincoln

Industry standard facilities

Opportunities for practical workshops

Learn from subject matter experts

Choose from a range of optional modules

Students working on a set

How You Study

This course is designed to provide an educational context through practical workshops in production techniques, exploration of ideas in seminars, and more focussed individual discussion in tutorials. Students have the opportunity to develop an advanced level of creative, conceptual, technical, critical, organisational, and research skills, all of which are appropriate to employment in the media industries. Independent study consolidates learning.

Weekly contact hours on this programme may vary depending on the module options chosen and the stage of study.

Postgraduate study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in workshops and seminars, and making projects.

Modules

              † Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

              Film Production 1 2025-26MED9044MLevel 72025-26This module enables students to gain practical production experience in different aspects of factual film-making, including story development, scriptwriting, directing, camera, lighting, sound recording and editing skills. These skills are developed through the production of two short factual-based films, which are assessed. Students are encouraged to explore the craft of film-making and understand their role as film-makers in the wider creative landscape. Their professional practice will be supported by specialist workshops, production exercises, discussions, screenings, tutorials and independent work.CoreFilm Production 2 & Final Project Pitch 2025-26MED9046MLevel 72025-26This module is designed to enable students to use a chosen medium (radio or single or *multi camera production or screenwriting or photography or design or new media) as a means of personal expression. The module will be organised around providing students with the opportunity to further develop technical skills and techniques in their chosen specialism so as to: develop an original concept, undertake appropriate production research, schedule the project, produce the project and edit the project. A smaller project within this module aims to enable students to conduct the research, development and planning necessary for the final masters project in their chosen specialism. *Dependent on the numbers of applicants wishing to specialise in this production platform.CoreFinal Film Project 2025-26MED9048MLevel 72025-26This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to realise the project idea which they developed in Project Pre-Production. The project is expected to be, depending on the student’s chosen specialism, a programme, a script, an extensive still image or design portfolio or new media project. It is intended that the project will contribute to the development of the student as someone capable of conceiving and realising a creative project to a professional standard. It is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop their conceptual, critical, creative, technical and organisational skills to a high order.CoreMedia Ethics, Law and Regulation 2025-26MED9009MLevel 72025-26This module is designed to provide the opportunity to develop an understanding of the ethical context of media production, media law and regulation in the UK (EU) and the USA. The module will be organised around discussion and examination of: ethics of media production, rights of free expression, common law of libel, ECHR and HRA, current UK and US communications acts, journalists’ codes of practice and content regulatory codes.CoreThe Art and Craft of Film 2025-26MED9040MLevel 72025-26This module is designed as an introduction to the work of professional practitioners in film such as the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, art director, sound designer and editor. Guest speakers are professionals from the industry and aim to share their craft secrets with students. Assessment is via presentation.CoreApproaches to Screen Studies 2025-26MED9037MLevel 72025-26Providing an advanced introduction to recent debates on film, culture, and society in various national, international, and transnational contexts, Approaches to Screen Studies seeks to promote a deeper understanding of a ‘world of cinemas’. Looking to examples of film industries that challenge or disrupt the dominant Hollywood paradigm, it turns its attention toward concepts such as censorship, exile, propaganda, resistance, underground, dissent, identity, and repression, as well as to new modes of cultural production, policy, and their transformation.OptionalDisruptive Influences on the Creative Industries 2025-26MED9008MLevel 72025-26This module provides the opportunity to develop an understanding of the structures of media systems regionally, nationally and globally, with a specific focus on private and public funding sources and the organisation of media production, distribution and exhibition for traditional as well as new media platforms and outlets. The module will be organised around discussion and examination of: - UK creative industries and their relation to global media systems and markets. - Existing media markets and the identification of future markets - The development of new media technologies and their impact on media markets - Normative practices operating in media corporations and small and media sized businesses - Case studies of innovation and creativity in media production. The module will also have contributions from visiting media professionals.OptionalGender, Media and Culture in a Global Context 2025-26MED9039MLevel 72025-26This module examines the multi-directional and variable relationship between gender, media and culture. We will interrogate the category of gender as a tool of cultural analysis and its relation to media and popular culture. Gender will be presented as central to media and cultural formations, while media, mediation and culture will be presented as central to gender formations. Key concepts to be examined in relation to gender will include body, class, power, sexual difference, masculinity/femininity race/ethnicity, identity/non-identity and subjectivity. These concepts will be introduced and examined in relation to case studies, media practices and texts from a variety of historical and geo-political contexts.OptionalHuman and Inhuman in the 21st Century 2025-26MED9032MLevel 72025-26Taking as its point of departure the ‘Anthropocene’, a concept that acknowledges the entwined future of human and material worlds, this module continues to explore the ideas, questions, and debates central to political life today, attending to the collapse of the traditional dualisms of humanist thought: self/other, mind/body, free will/determinism, organic/technological, culture/nature, human/animal, one/many, etc. It considers the expression and mediation of these issues in popular culture, dominant discourse, and creative practice.OptionalMedia Ecologies 1 2025-26MED9028MLevel 72025-26This module is designed to tackle critically the current disintegration between discrete media forms. It recognises that long established boundaries between modes, practices and conventions of media have become diffuse. Where, in the past, individual media forms were comfortably self-contained and distinctive, today these forms are experienced as a type of informational content that we access on multiple devices and in multiple contexts. The module understands contemporary media to be a complex, entangled ‘ecology’, a dynamic system in which any one product, device or image is always multiply connected, and in which our use of such media is necessarily informed by such connections. It insists that media activity is informed by a pattern of relations between individuals, political and economic institutions, commercial brands, and technologies.OptionalThe Working Screenwriter: Art and Industry 2025-26MED9317MLevel 72025-26This module is a practice-based and practitioner-led experience, in which students will have the opportunity to create materials relevant to the construction of a feature screenplay. The process will begin in earnest with AfterEight, an entire eight hours dedicated to kick-starting feature ideas and developing these into robust and sustainable screen stories. At the end of this intensive process, supported by lecturers and practitioners, and modelled on the highly popular 24-hour film challenges, students are expected to have the bones of a feature film story, which they can develop further and use as a basis for their screenplay. A series of masterclasses and guest lectures by screenwriters, directors, writer-directors, cinematographers and producers will provide an insider overview of the film industry today, with advice on getting employment and credits. Students can learn how to survive as a freelancer in the early years and how to approach screenwriting/writing-directing as a long-term career. The demands of being a screenwriter are different to those of the writer-director and each will also be addressed.Optional

              What You Need to Know

              We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, contact hours, and our return to face-to-face teaching.

              Features

              There may be opportunities for students to work on professional productions for our enterprise arm, New Media Lincs, and to volunteer for Indie-Lincs International Film Festival, which is based in the Lincoln School of Film and Media. In the past, students have worked as runners on professional productions in the local area and visited a film festival in Hong Kong. All international students are allocated a mentor as part of the School’s International Buddy Scheme.

              YouTube video for Features

              Alumni Success

              Our students go on to work in a wide range of roles, including alumnus Lisa Rustage who has worked on major feature films including 'Ready Player One', 'Jason Bourne', 'Ophelia', and recent blockbuster 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Another previous student, Anthonia Ziregbe, had her documentary 'View within the Straight Lines' screened at the Cambridge International Student Film Festival 2019.

              I had a lot of wonderful support and learnt a lot from staff and fellow students at the University of Lincoln. Taking every opportunity that arose helped me pave the way to my success.

              Lisa Rustage

              How you are assessed

              Assessment is conducted using a range of methods which include media productions, pitches, presentations, case studies, and essays.

              The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to students promptly - usually within 15 working days of the submission date.

              How to Apply

              Postgraduate Application Support

              Applying for a postgraduate programme at Lincoln is easy. Find out more about the application process and what you'll need to complete on our How to Apply page. Here, you'll also be able to find out more about the entry requirements we accept and how to contact us for dedicated support during the process.

              A student listening in a seminar

              Entry Requirements 2025-26

              Entry Requirements

              First or upper second class honours degree in a relevant subject or equivalent professional experience.

              If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.

              Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/.

              If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-session English and Academic Study Skills courses. https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/pre-sessionalenglishandacademicstudyskills/ . These specialist courses are designed to help students meet the English language requirements for their intended programme of study.

              Course Fees

              You will need to have funding in place for your studies before you arrive at the University. Our fees vary depending on the course, mode of study, and whether you are a UK or international student. You can view the breakdown of fees for this programme below.

              Course Fees

              The University offers a range of merit-based, subject-specific, and country-focused scholarships for UK and international students. To help support students from outside of the UK, we offer a number of international scholarships which range from £1,000 up to the value of 50 per cent of tuition fees. For full details and information about eligibility, visit our scholarships and bursaries pages.

              Course -Specific Additional Costs

              For each course you may find that there are additional costs. These may be with regard to the specific clothing, materials or equipment required. Some courses provide opportunities for you to undertake field work or field trips. Where these are compulsory, the cost for travel and accommodation will be covered by the University and so is included in your fee. Where these are optional, you will normally be required to pay your own transport, accommodation, and general living costs.

              With regards to text books, the University provides students who enrol with a comprehensive reading list and you will find that our extensive library holds either material or virtual versions of the core texts that you are required to read. However, you may prefer to purchase some of these for yourself and you will be responsible for this cost.

              Funding Your Study

              Postgraduate Funding Options

              Find out more about the optional available to support your postgraduate study, from Master's Loans to scholarship opportunities. You can also find out more about how to pay your fees and access support from our helpful advisors.

              Two students working on a laptop in a study space

              Career Development

              Postgraduate study is an investment in yourself and your future. It can help you to further or completely change your career, develop your knowledge, enhance your salary, or even prepare you to start your own business. 

              This programme aims to provide you with the high-level technical skills and knowledge required to establish careers in the media industries in areas such as film-making, post-production, and project management. Some students may choose to pursue careers in teaching or undertake a research degree at doctoral level.

              Graduates of the programme have gone on to work in the media industries and in further and higher education. These roles include: Film Festival Co-ordinator, Feature Film Director, Film Editor, Video Producer, UniLad Adventure Video Editor, Post-production Editor at Envy, high school teacher in media, Lecturer, and University Video Development Co-ordinator.

              Why Postgraduate Study?

              Academic Contact

              For more information about this course, please contact the Programme Leader.

              Dr Phillip Warnell
              PWarnell@lincoln.ac.uk

              Postgraduate Events

              To get a real feel for what it is like to study at the University of Lincoln, we hold a number of dedicated postgraduate events and activities throughout the year for you to take part in.

              A group of students sat around a table, working together on a project
              The University intends to provide its courses as outlined in these pages, although the University may make changes in accordance with the Student Admissions Terms and Conditions.