Documentary Film

Entry requirements

An applicant will normally be considered for admission if they have achieved an educational level equivalent to an honours degree.

Applicants should have a proven interest in documentary films and a keen desire to make documentary films. You should know what kinds of documentary interest you and why you have an ambition to deepen your involvement in documentary film study and production.

Successful applicants have generally made their own videos and have some experience of filming, but we can also consider candidates without a production background who demonstrate exceptional film ideas and directing potential. We often have applications from mid-career photographers or producers in related fields.

Your experience is assessed as a learning process and tutors will evaluate that experience for currency, validity, quality and sufficiency. Your educational level may be demonstrated by:

• Honours degree;
• Possession of equivalent qualifications;
• Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;
• Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference
• OR a combination of these factors
• Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Learn the entire documentary film making process on this comprehensive course, which integrates theory with practical experience of making your own short films. This course is taught at London College of Communication, at Elephant and Castle, part of University of the Arts London (UAL).

What can you expect?
• You can expect to be grounded in documentary direction, camerawork and editing - the key artistic and technical skills for a successful production team.
• Each year students take their work from London College of Communication onto the competitive British and international documentary filmmaking circuit.
• You will enhance your career prospects gaining valuable skills, vision and opportunities including guidance on pitching for funding and commissions.
• In return, you’ll need to be committed and passionate about your study and practice and be ready with strong ideas. You will also need to be open to constructive and supportive criticism so that you’re able to push boundaries in your thinking, writing and reflection, alongside the making of your films.
• The course culminates in you making a short documentary film (15-20 minutes). From identifying characters, stories and locations to shooting and editing with a particular visual style, you will be the complete author of your work.
• Artistic, investigative, observational and activist film ideas are all welcome. These can be developed for the context that suits your work best – from broadcast to independent or gallery exhibition.
• MA Documentary Film explores the traditions of international documentary film while offering modern documentary production facilities at London College of Communication.
• Training includes shooting and directing on high-definition cameras and editing in Adobe Premiere. Practice is integrated with the theory so that filmmaking is critically and conceptually analysed within the historical and practical context of documentary film.

About London College of Communication
The communications sector is evolving fast. Through our world-leading community of teaching, research and industry partnerships, we enable our students to develop the critical, creative and technical excellence needed to succeed and to discover new possibilities and practices. Our Design, Media and Screen Schools produce experts and award-winners across virtual reality, journalism, photography, television and sound, graphic communication, games, design management – and more. The London College of Communication experience is all about learning by doing. Our students get their hands dirty and develop their skills through the exploration of our facilities and technical spaces. Students work on live briefs and commissions, with everything from independent start-ups and charities in Southwark, through to major global companies. Student designers, makers and innovators have worked with Nike, Penguin, the EU Commission, Colgate, Plan International, the National Trust, Nokia and Royal Mail, to name a few.

Please note this course is undergoing re-approval.

Information for international students

All classes are conducted in English. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend you let us know your English language test score in your application. If you have booked a test or are awaiting your results, please indicate this in your application. W

• IELTS 7.0 (or equivalent) is required, with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the four skills.
• If your first language is not English, you can check you have achieved the correct IELTS level in English on the Language Requirements page.

Fees and funding

Learn more by visiting our funding page.