Bachelor of Film and Screen Production

Film Production Major

The Film Production major is designed for the digital age. It provides flexibility and a broad range of practical film industry skills while encouraging students to develop their abilities in producing, writing, editing, sound, cinematography or directing, among others. Students will learn skills used in audio-visual media, gain business and leadership skills, and knowledge of how the entertainment industry works. Regardless of your chosen specialisation, this broad base of skills will make you attractive to employers, set you up to better take control of your freelance career or create your own media business. Graduates will be film industry ready for the career path you choose to pursue. You will gain experience in your specialisation by working with other students to produce creative works in film, documentary, scripted television, web series and other related media.

What You Study!

Passionate about film production? Benefit from a major focused independently on film making and its related parts, with a close alignment to both national and international developments in the industry.

Handbook

Editing Lab 1

Location Production 1

Location Production 2

Production Management

Documentary and Reality TV

Scriptwriting

Short Film

Cinematic Language

Experimental Film

Film Project 1

Advanced Producing

Film Project 2

Why Choose Film Production?

The Film major is for those who want to be on-the-ground location Filmmakers. Every student gets to develop their own films and be part of a crew experience, on-location in a hands-on environment. Our teaching and support staff are award winners who are active industry professionals, producing film for television and cinema. Our graduates are also award winners, working in the industry both in Australia and internationally.

Your Career

Depending on your areas of specialisation and choice of electives, your career options could include roles in the mainstream film and media industries, commercials, music videos, corporate videos, streamed online content, film festivals and awards and video/digital art practice as:

Director

Producer

Screenwriter

Cinematographer

Documentary Maker

Editor

Your Career

Depending on your areas of specialisation and choice of electives, your career options could include roles in the mainstream film and media industries, commercials, music videos, corporate videos, streamed online content, film festivals and awards and video/digital art practice as:

Director

Producer

Screenwriter

Cinematographer

Documentary Maker

Editor

FSP2001 DOCUMENTARY AND REALITY TV

This is an intermediate level course in the Film program aimed at developing student’s skills and knowledge as a professional filmmaker.

In today’s world documentary film serves to document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. Documentary film provides a voice for minorities and the marginalised and is an important media form to bring matters to the attention of a society. Reality TV is a spin-off from documentary, which contains much more manipulation of the content. This course identifies some of the key points in the development of the documentary and reality TV form and its evolution.

Students are introduced to the history and aesthetic practices of the Documentary film and site its place and importance in the history of cinema. The course also considers at how reality TV has evolved from the documentary form. Documentary production and reality TV techniques are then explained using practical examples. Students then use this skill and knowledge base to write and produce their own documentary films or reality TV pilot in a group situation.

FSP2004 Scriptwriting

The aim of this course is to develop student’s skills and knowledge as a professional scriptwriter for the film industry. Writing scripts is an authentic assessment outcome for this course. Scriptwriting is a fundamental skill required in the film and television industries. This course provides students with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge of storytelling principles and scriptwriting practice in the context of cinematic arts. The course enriches the student’s comprehension of the creative process necessary for the generation of original and adapted fiction and non-fiction works. This course is designed to complement courses with practical cinematic outcomes.

FSP2002 SHORT FILM

This is an intermediate course in the Bachelor Film and Screen Production program and relies on knowledge and technical skills acquired in previous FSP courses.

In this course students explore their identity as filmmakers through visual and aural storytelling processes by learning how to develop and produce a short film from script to screen. Beginning with a history of dramatic cinema students move into an exploration of the roles and responsibilities of a film crew and how to prepare a script for production. 

Students are introduced to the history of the short film and its strong relevance to both the feature film and it position in the careers of many filmmakers. They will then learn specific short film production techniques in pre-production, production and post-production. Through both individual and teamwork students will be involved in the production of a short film, which will act as an instrument in improving their filmmaking and storytelling abilities. 

Many of the skills and techniques learnt in previous foundation courses will be used to enable this.
This course will enhance student’s knowledge and skills so that they can then be utilised in other higher-level production courses.

FSP2005 Cinematic Language

This course serves to develop the filmmaker’s knowledge in the area of narrative film history, aesthetics and language with a strong emphasis on cinema as an art form. Understanding the historical, technical, and cultural significance of film language is incredibly important to emerging filmmakers as a way of communicating their message to a visual audience. Students will therefore engage in screenings, discussions and reviews aimed at exploring, investigating and understanding the grammar of the visual language in contemporary genre films.

FSP3002 EXPERIMENTAL FILM

The film industry is made-up of rich and diverse genres and types of filmic storytelling. Experimental Film is the art, application and practice of creating durable moving images created in accordance with the vision of the filmmaker as artist, to bring something to life that only lives in the artist’s mind and can provoke a reaction from us. This course transitions students into the film industry by providing them with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge of advanced filmic practice in the context of cinema as an alternative art form. Students  will produce an experimental film as authentic assessment.

FSP3003 Advanced Producing

Film, television, animation and radio are often referred to as “Show Business”. The business models of media are unique and diverse. The media industry is one of few that deals with intangible—or conceptual, non-material goods. As such, there is no single method of operating in the media industry; each media organisation or company can operate on its own business model. 

This course prepares students to transition into the film industry by exploring the different business models associated with the media industry, as well as the advanced business skills students will need in becoming media professionals. It explains how media productions are financed and the business models that are used for successful completion and uses examples in the film, television and radio industry, as well as the distribution and release processes and how profit/loss are incurred.

Students should learn and explore the different business processes needed to finance a media project, how to develop a long-term business model for themselves and how to create sustainable business practices. This will allow students to focus on post-graduation opportunities and prepare them for an industry undergoing rapid change. Students will explore the notion of media businesses domestically and internationally, as well as ethical standards and the need for Multi-cultural and Indigenous broadcasting in the Australian cultural landscape.

FSP3002 FILM PROJECT 2

This signature course is the second half of the major production project for year three and involves industry sized crews working together to produce short drama, documentary and screen media programs on Digital Video or web-based formats. Projects are completed through post-production practices. Completed projects are assessed by panel, before being publicly screened at graduate exhibitions. Students are assessed on both group and individual performance; with completed projects forming the basis of students’ portfolio show reels to seek employment.

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