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Content Development (BCI) - TFT00032C

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  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

This module is designed to acquaint creative industries students with some of the procedures – and the associated critical thinking – required for turning raw ideas into film, TV, stage or interactive content, both fictional and factual. Using an intense, ‘boot-camp’ mode of delivery, it will provide students with insight into and understanding of a professional creative environment relevant to contemporary creative business practice where ideas have to be generated and delivered on a regular basis. These ideas are then researched and developed at speed, sometimes under pressure, but always with a market and an audience in mind.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Summer Term 2022-23

Module aims

This module aims to

  • Introduce you to  the basic principles of story and content research (for film,TV, stage and interactive media)

  • Explore the necessary disciplines for identifying, seeking out and recording potential content ideas

  • Provide core guidelines for judging the necessary business, technical and practical requirements to make ideas work

  • Introduce you to some of the analytical tools for evaluating existing content formats and story structures so as to critically judge their applicability to new subject-matters.

  • Equip you with the core skills required for proposal writing and presentation

  • Encourage team work in content development. and the inter-personal skills to contribute constructively to ideas originated by others. 

Module learning outcomes

At the end of this module students will 

Understand what constitutes a viable content idea, and posses the core skills to research and develop it. 

Have developed some core skills in communicating your ideas in both speech (pitches) and writing (proposals) to industry audiences.

Have enhanced your team-working and inter-personal skills and applied them to collective creative undertakings.

Understand the importance of deadlines and have developed some techniques for meeting them efficiently and creatively.

Developed strategies for keeping up-to-date with the latest content outputs - across stage screen, and interactive media - alongside research sources for refreshing your own stock of ideas.

Module content

This is a "boot camp" module delivered at high intensity over a short period, in keeping with production processes in the creative industries. You will be expected therefore to maintain a disciplined approach to your own viewing, reading and research in order to meet deliberately tight deadlines.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 75
Oral presentation/seminar/exam 25

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Formative work is embedded into the seminar process which are entirely about presentation and feedback

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 75
Oral presentation/seminar/exam 25

Module feedback

Feedback on assessment will be delivered within the four weeks required under University guidelines in order that the final assessment meets the Exam board, and the first assessment feeds into the second..

Indicative reading

  • Bernard, S. C. (2007) Documentary Storytelling. Amsterdam and London: Focal Press.

  • Thompson, K. (2003) Storytelling in Film and Television. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press.

  • Holland, P. (2004), The Television Handbook. London; Routledge.

  • Chater, K. (2001), Research for Media Production. London; Focal Press

  • Lees, N. (2010), Green Lit: Developing Factual and Reality TV ideas from Concept to Pitch. London; Methuen Drama.

  • Seabright. J (2010) So You Want To Be a Theatre Producer, London, Nick Hearn Books.

  • Sutherland, R.! (2017) Introduction to Production: Creating Theatre Onstage, Backstage and Offstage, London, Routledge.

  • Chandler, H.M, (2013) The Game Production Handbook, London, James & Bartlett Learning.

  • Schell J, (2014) The Art of Games Design, London A K Peters/CRC Press

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The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.