Media and Performance

This lecture and seminar based module focuses on textual analysis and critical approaches to live and mediated performance texts. It also considers key theories and practitioners who influenced the development of particular disciplines within performance.

Provides the historical framework to examine the development of performance from the late 19th century onward. Movements like Realism, Expressionism, Surrealism and Dada are examined in relation to other movements and across performance disciplines. Small group seminars will support the lectures.

This module will acquaint you with the range and scope of television and radio drama and involves an exploration of a range of techniques for performing on camera or for the microphone, as well as providing knowledge of fundamental procedures and skills of studio operation.

This primarily practical module focuses on the creative practices essential to build characterisations for live performance in a naturalistic context, drawing on Stanislavsky's System.

The module combines both technical and creative aspects of media production as you develop a broad awareness of the range of skills required for video production, including camera, lighting, editing and sound – imperative to contemporary theatre technology. 

You will learn how to produce from script to screen a short video drama. Working to health and safety guidelines, students develop group-working skills appropriate to a professional drama production. 

In lectures, screenings and seminars the approaches to textual critical analysis introduced in the first year are further developed, as are your academic writing skills.

This module enables you to work on a range of exercises designed to develop your characterisation, vocal expression and tonal variety in performing audio drama. You are introduced to studio equipment for recording and editing and contribute to studio management for the assignment. You are assessed on the performance and production of a recorded radio drama script.

Emphasises the aesthetic aspects of directing for screen along with the practical decision-making and problem-solving aspects of camera and lighting, sound recording, video editing, artistic resources and time management. You will be introduced to the role of the producer with regard to budgeting, scheduling and contingency planning.

This module develops the skills and approaches introduced in first year production modules, offering the opportunity to further explore camera, editing, lighting and sound recording.

This offers you the chance to explore the practical and creative challenges in planning and producing a studio-based TV show. This module is one of two that are based in our professional quality TV studio on our MediaCityUK campus.

You will explore performing pieces to camera, engaging with the audience, interview technique, the importance of asking pertinent questions, listening and putting an interviewee at ease, working with green screen, autocue and using studio talkback, the importance of performing with energy, clarity and correct intonation. You will produce a  showreel containing an intro, a walk and talk piece to camera, practical exercise or short demonstration, autocue read and a vlog, targeted at a specific audience and presented in an appropriate style.

The module explores the writing and devising of comedy. You will watch, listen to and discuss examples of a range of online, radio and TV comedy before working in small groups to create an original comedy sketch idea and to develop your own script and characters within it. You will be encouraged to develop range and flexibility in your vocal, facial and physical skills in order to produce a range of comic personas. The module also examines aspects of storytelling – theme, narrative structure, character development, comic types, the relationship of character to plot, use of subplots - in relation to the writing of comedy drama and situation comedy. In the second half of the module you will create your solo performance: a piece of Stand Up of comic monologue. 

The aims of the module are to develop practical skills with a range of technical exercises such as hitting marks, cheating eye-lines and body angles; regulating movement in relation to the camera; avoiding dialogue overlaps., and to further awareness and interpretative skills in translating textual and sub-textual elements into effective performance to camera. 

Through exercises and analysis you will develop safe vocal and physical technique related to the free, relaxed, aligned body and learn to apply interpretative skills to the speaking of verse, dramatic text and heightened prose.  Workshops will also explore the free and flexible use of your home accent as well as the foundations and principles of adopting other accents, including Neutral Standard English. 

You will work on improvisation techniques in order to create longer scenes and stories.  We will primarily be focusing on Longform Improvisation, and look at many of the different formats that can support a 30 minute piece of improvised theatre/comedy.

You will focus on story telling listening skills, object work, character evolution, scene editing and improvising stories.

On this module, you will develop your own original idea for a screenplay across the semester, moving from a one-line pitch to a treatment and scene-by-scene breakdown to, ultimately, a script. The script can be for any platform or audience, with no limitations to cast size or location. The module examines the fundamental aspects of storytelling for screen: character, story, structure, and dialogue. You will learn how to format your documents to a professional standard.

Playwriting offers you the chance to experiment with a variety of theatre writing styles and forms. We will cover the craft of playwriting, studying character, dialogue, narrative, form, and stagecraft. We will also look at the business of playwriting, exploring the many professional opportunities and routes open to playwrights.

This module examines developments in the staging of Shakespeare from Elizabethan times to the 21st century. 20th/21st century developments in approaches to and presentation of Shakespeare texts will encompass both live and recorded performance. As the module progresses you will be encouraged to address particular approaches to the presentation of Shakespeare presentation (e.g. political, feminist, intercultural) by exploring the work of for example; RSC, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage and Kenneth Branagh). A range of plays are studied, with one or two plays as ‘core’ texts – one of these will usually be a text with local stage performance. 

In the first part of the module, a series of workshop and inputs will introduce you to the role of the director, using a small selection of play texts, all of which have different directorial challenges. We will explore how the director approaches a text, researches it, and develops a vision for their production.  

The second stage of the module looks at working with actors and text. They provide the director with a toolkit of techniques to use with actors. How does a director get actors to understand the play and their characters? How are scenes broken down? How do actors understand what the director wants them to do to change their performance?   

You will have the opportunity to lead small group work as a director exploring and experimenting with a range of directorial approaches to scripts.

In this module you will undertake an individually tailored project building out from all you have learned on your degree programme with support from staff.  You will research relevant materials and current industry trends around your project area. This will lead into the delivery of the project itself, which will follow one of three pathways: 

Practical Project: this can be a live performance or a recorded performance (screen or audio) or a script (screen, stage or audio). 

Dissertation: this will be a written submission taking the form of a long essay. 

Industry Project: this can be a work placement, an organisation study or planning and running a workshop. 

The aims of the module are to enable students to expand their knowledge and creativity in crewing roles and performing for camera; to enable students to further develop the use of video and post-production techniques to create original 10-15 minute dramas with a view to public exhibition and festival submission. The module is run as a professional simulation.

Students will engage with a range of industry-led masterclasses and workshops, which are designed to equip them with the knowledge of industry practices that will benefit their employment endeavours. The sessions will also guide the students in the production of specific materials, some of which may be used directly in applying for employment opportunities.