Overview

Overview

In October 2000 the University of York introduced its innovatory Writing and Performance (Drama/Film/Television) BA programme as a joint degree with English. It quickly established itself as an outstanding success and was, for example, placed first in 2005 and 2006, and second in 2007, in the relevant category of The Guardian's University League Tables.

Under the auspices of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, that programme has now expanded into a free-standing BA in Writing, Directing and Performance.

This degree programme carries forward, in an enhanced form, the key objectives of its predecessor. Its central focus is on the relationship between writers' scripts and the finished performances generated from them on stage or screen. The course therefore explores all the professional negotiations and collaborations which bring about that result. Its special interest, however, is in the crucially important relationship and collaboration between writer, director and performer.

Aims

Three core principles underlie the design of this BA. Firstly, many of today's professionals move fluently between work in theatre, in film, and in television. It is therefore both logical and important that the three should be studied together, and not, as so often, cordoned off into separate specialisms.

Secondly, the BA is committed to combining ambitious analytical and historical investigation - across a wide chronological range (from Greek tragedy to contemporary television comedy, aka from The Oresteia to The Office)-  with equally adventurous practical exploration and experiment. These two areas of activity are designed to operate in a mutually informative fashion throughout the programme's three years.

Thirdly, the BA reflects a belief in the importance of encouraging contact and dialogue between students and leading practitioners in the three media which they study. To this end a professional visitor programme, providing at least five events per term, has been developed, on which first-rank actors like Penelope Wilton and Sam West, directors like Max Stafford-Clark (the Department’s Visiting Professor of Theatre), Sean Holmes and John Barton, and writers like David Edgar and Simon Stephens provide workshops, masterclasses, and lectures. The opportunity to work on a close and regular basis with leading figures in the theatre and media industries provides an invaluable experience.

Course content

Year 1

Planned as a post-A-level introduction to the university study of the subject. One sequence of modules explores, via analysis and practical experiment, the nature of performance scripts and the cues they offer to the actors and directors who interpret them, maps the development of the role of the director, and introduces students to systematic methods of analysis for notating actors in performance. A second sequence of modules investigates a series of moments of significant innovation in cinema and television history and raises questions about the apt methods for investigating them.

Year 2

Develops these preoccupations further via a series of modules devoted to exploring the impact of concepts of genre and traditions in performance and production styles on writing, directing and performing and the possibilities of innovation within inherited forms (whether revenge tragedy or television sitcom). Special attention will be paid to comedy from the Renaissance stage to contemporary television, and to political theatre, film and television.

Year 3

Gives students the opportunity to undertake two major projects, each devoted to a challenging script (one sixteenth/seventeenth-century, and the other modern), which they will explore via historical contextualisation, close analysis, and workshop and performance experience. They choose two other final-year modules from a list of options and also complete an Independent Research Project, which can take the form of a practical or an essay project.

Teaching methods and assessment

The course deploys a rich variety of different teaching methods -- including lectures, tutorials, workshops, masterclasses, film screenings and discussions, dramaturgical exercises, and performance projects.

Throughout the three years of the course practical experiment and training are constantly interlinked with analytical and historical work, with each closely informing the other. In Year One the training includes voice and movement classes.

In the programme's earlier stages, practical exploration forms an indispensable element in the teaching programme, but is not yet a subject of assessment. From the third term of the second year this changes, and on the two modules in that term it accounts for 30% percent of the assessment, in the two projects devoted to a single challenging script in year 3 50%, and in the Independent Research Project, if taken in the form of a practical project, 75%.

The analytical writing required on the course ranges in scale from short essays via portfolio and record-book submissions (for instance, logs of practical exercises) to a 10,000-word essay for the Independent Research Project (if a student chooses to satisfy this requirement by that means).

Admissions

Admissions

Each application for the BA will be read by the course Admissions tutor, Dr Ben Poore. Applicants may be asked to attend an interview in the department, for which they will need to bring along two pieces of analytical writing. 

The ideal students for this programme will combine intellectual ambition and historical curiosity with an eagerness to gain stretching experience of creative practice in theatre, film and television. We will be looking for a combination of strong analytical ability and a capacity to work co-operatively, ambitiously and productively with others, plus experience in a related field of activity. We are not assuming that this experience will be of a professional nature. Involvement in amateur theatre or film-making would, for instance, be apt; and that involvement could be in stage management or design, for example, as relevantly as in acting, directing or writing.

The standard offers for this course are:

• A-level: AAB 
• Scottish Highers: AAAAB
• Irish Leaving Certificate: AAAABB
• BTEC: DDD in National Diploma
• Diploma: Entry Requirements
• International Baccalaureate: obtain the Diploma with a score of 35 points
• European Baccalaureate: at least 80% or higher overall
• Apolytirion: Overall score of 18/19 plus one/two A levels

Full list of International qualifications considered for undergraduate study.

The department welcomes applications from mature students.

Key facts

• The course is taught in the Department's new £25 million state-of-the-art building, one of the most sophisticated facilities available in any university film and television production department in the UK
• The University of York is a UK top ten university with a lively and stimulating environment, set in one of Europe's finest cities

Careers

Employment prospects

Some of our graduates have gone on to careers as writers, directors or performers; but others have favoured different choices, including arts journalism, teaching, drama therapy, literary management, publishing, stage management, theatre/film/television production, academic research and arts administration.

Some have moved into fields not directly connected to theatre, film or television. The core emphasis of this programme on studying and experiencing the complex collaborative work processes characteristic of all three of these media generates a professional flexibility and responsiveness to the input of others which makes our graduates attractive prospects to a range of potential employers.

Making the future

This BA equips students with high-calibre research and practical skills. Our dual strategy is unique and the result of detailed negotiations with industry professionals and academic researchers operating at the top levels. It is a highly innovative and competitive course, allowing students to analyse and experiment with processes from writing and commissioning, acting and directing, right through to the finished product and its reception. Visiting professionals have frequently told us that students on our courses are very privileged. We think we’re privileged to teach you – come and make the future with us!

Further information

• Our industry connections

Visits and Interviews

Visiting the Department

For general visits to the department, please sign up to one of our scheduled tours below by emailing tftv-enquiries@york.ac.uk 

Groups are limited to 15 and booking is essential.

• Tuesday 17th January 2012 1.15pm

• Tuesday 14th February 2012 1.30pm

• Wednesday 11th April 2012 1.15pm

Summer 2012 dates to be confirmed

*Please note that we are unable to accommodate individual tour requests

Interviews

Once your application has been reviewed by the course admissions tutor, you may be invited to attend an interview afternoon, beginning at 1.15pm, on one of the following dates:

• Wednesday 7th December 2011

• Wednesday 25th January 2012

• Wednesday 1st February 2012

• Wednesday 14th March 2012

Invitations will be sent out from the department at least two weeks prior to the date of interview. The afternoon will include a talk about the BA in Writing, Directing and Performance and tours of the department's state of the art facilities.

Visit Days

Occasionally, applicants will be made an offer without interview. The department will be holding BA Post-Offer Visit afternoons for these prospective students on the dates below: 

• Wednesday 23rd November 2011
  

• Wednesday 22nd February 2012

• Thursday 15th March 2012
  

Invitations will be sent out from the department at least two weeks prior to the scheduled dates. Again, the afternoon will include a talk on the programme and tours of the department.