MA in TV documentary begins to flourish

By UKJournalism

This year see will the first batch of films produced by students on the Department's new MA in Television Documentary.

Documentary is not new to the department. Students from The BA (hons) Journalism course have been making documentaries for the last six years and have had many of their programmes broadcast on national television.

Subjects range from football to food and politics to racism. This year's teams are currently in Prestonís red light district exploring a new scheme to kerb the growing problem of prostitution in Preston. Another crew are exploring the difficult subject of forced marriages and domestic violence among the communities of east Lancashire.

Guerilla

But the new MA will see the birth of 'guerrilla' style documentary film making in the department, made possible using the latest lightweight digital cameras and state of the art editing software.

Students will develop an idea, write a programme proposal, then shoot and edit their own films under the close supervision of tutor and documentary film maker Paul Egglestone. There's no subject thatís off limits provided the programmes display the excellent quality journalism the department expects.

All the practical projects are supported by classroom sessions that cover documentary theory, there are master classes from industry professionals and of course there's always time for debate and discussion following screenings of work by contemporary film makers like Michael Moore, Molly Dineen and Nick Broomfield.

Produce and direct

The new MA course will equip students to produce and direct their own documentary programmes whilst exploring methods of documentary story telling. It aims to challenge the current status of the documentary and find new ways of reaching audiences and funding productions.

Tutor Paul Egglestone says: "It's absolutely where the industry is headed and the Department of Journalism here in Preston will be doing the leading."

More info:
BA (Hons) Journalism >
MA Broadcast Journalism >

Extra and related information

Our print and broadcast courses are accredited by the The Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Our MA Magazine Journalism is accredited by the Periodicals Training Council.