2025/26 entry Applications also open for 2024/25
BA (Hons) Media Production
Why study Media Production at Liverpool John Moores University?
- To turn your creativity and passions into a Content Creator career
- 95% of students surveyed said the teaching staff on our media courses were good at explaining things (National Student Survey 2024)
- Designed with students in collaboration with practitioners and industry
- As well as the traditional media formats, explore the foundations and boundaries of Mixed Realities Production enabling you to innovate and inspire using hands-on, active learning
- Build the toolkit and adaptable attitude to gain employment in the highly competitive and rewarding creative industries
- WATCH: 2022 Degree Show showreels and graduate profiles
About your course
This BA (Hons) Media Production degree at Liverpool John Moores University is next generation focused.
The course is a creative industries training ground with an emphasis on both the traditional craft skills and studio models as well as the emerging crafts of mixed realities.
We are a hands-on, active learning programme. We show, then you do.
You will use various hardware and software solutions in response to the creative, theoretical, and critical challenges set. You will learn the traditional preproduction, production and postproduction skills of Moving Image and Audio Fiction and Non-fiction shorts. You will also explore Audio podcasting and live environments. You have the option of a TV Studio project in your second year, culminating in a live broadcast of a show you develop from scratch with your team. The newest strand of the design champions Digital Workflows and explores areas such as Immersive/Interactive storytelling, 360, VR and AR.
Virtual Production is moving fast, and we invite you to join us in exploring the foundations and new craft skills required to be successful in this field. In your final year, the Digital Disruption module invites you to take all the hardware and software craft skills you have developed and to break the rules - a digital sandbox to innovate and inspire.
This is a programme carefully designed by our students in collaboration with the delivery team and industry professionals. There is a new storytelling, marketing, development, and distribution strand that will help you understand how to capitalise on your creativity and turn passions in to a living.
Students were quite passionate in the redesign asking, How do we sell ourselves?. This lead to the inclusion of the Digital Marketing, development and Distribution modules on the programme to strengthen the graduate toolkit.
Our industry strand ensures you graduate with the key tools to gain employment along with your degree. That being a CV, showreel and online presence.
This is an exciting, rewarding industry but it is hard work and requires you to show up and put the energy in. If you do this, it will be a transformative experience culminating in your final major project. A calling card to industry that we can all to be proud of. We look forward to helping you set out on your lifelong journey in the Creative Industries.
"LJMU Media Production students proved invaluable to us. Our oral storytelling website Peoples-Stories.com was in need of streamlining and as a small indie we didn't have time to analyse what the next stage in its evolution should be. Thanks to the LJMU team we got a clear and well thought through appraisal."
Fees and funding
There are many ways to fund study for home and international students
Fees
The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- access to programme-appropriate software
- library and student IT support
- free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Additional costs
Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:
- accommodation and living expenditure
- books (should you wish to have your own copies)
- printing, photocopying and stationery
- PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
- mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
- field trips (travel and activity costs)
- placements (travel expenses and living costs)
- student visas (international students only)
- study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
- academic conferences (travel costs)
- professional-body membership
- graduation (gown hire etc)
Funding
There are many ways to fund study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you'll find all of the information you need on our specialist funding pages.
Employability
You will be encouraged to take advantage of the wealth of work experience available via the School’s Production Unit. This unique aspect of the course offers you the opportunity to undertake paid and unpaid work for professional clients, helping you build up a genuine CV of media work experience to present to potential employers.
Graduates from Media Production have an excellent employment record, particularly in professional broadcast media, ranging from television researchers and assistant producers, camera assistants, designers, press officers, technical directors, producers of new media and online content.
The course has a history of success in film and media competitions with graduates winning coveted Royal Television Society Student Awards in Documentary (2013 and 2015), Drama (2016), and in the Comedy and entertainment category for The Trick in Trick or Treat, a comedy drama which three students produced for their final production project.
Some students also go on to set up their own production companies making music videos, corporate and short films as well as web design and new media production. Progression onto postgraduate study is also a route for Media Production graduates.
Student Futures - Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service
A wide range of opportunities and support is available to you, within and beyond your course, to ensure our students experience a transformation in their career trajectory. Every undergraduate curriculum includes Future Focus during Level 4, an e-learning resource and workshop designed to help you to develop your talents, passion and purpose.
Every student has access to Careers Zone 24/7, LJMU's suite of online Apps, resources and jobs board via the LJMU Student Futures website. There are opportunities for flexible, paid and part-time work through Unitemps, LJMU's in-house recruitment service, and we also offer fully funded Discovery Internships.
One-to-one careers and employability advice is available via our campus-based Careers Zones and we offer a year-round programme of events, including themed careers and employability workshops, employer events and recruitment fairs. Our Start-Up Hub can help you to grow your enterprise skills and to research, plan and start your own business or become a freelancer.
A suite of learning experiences, services and opportunities is available to final year students to help ensure you leave with a great onward plan. You can access LJMU's Careers, Employability and Start-up Services after you graduate and return for one-to-one support for life.
Go abroad
LJMU aims to make international opportunities available to every student. You may be able to study abroad as part of your degree at one of our 100+ partner universities across the world. You could also complete a work placement or apply for one of our prestigious worldwide internship programmes. If you wanted to go abroad for a shorter amount of time, you could attend one of our 1-4 week long summer schools.
Our Go Citizen Scheme can help with costs towards volunteering, individual projects or unpaid placements anywhere in the world. With all of these opportunities at your feet, why wouldn’t you take up the chance to go abroad?
Find out more about the opportunities we have available via our Instagram @ljmuglobalopps or email us at: goabroad@ljmu.ac.uk.
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What you will study on this degree
Please see guidance below on core and option modules for further information on what you will study.
Further guidance on modules
Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.
Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.
Level 4
Core modules
Digital Workflows
20 credits
Through a series of workshops blending theory and practice, practical sessions and targeted briefs you will gain an understanding of contemporary workflows within the creative industries. You will also gain theoretical and practical experience of creating and manipulating various forms of digital media with the purpose of conveying information and stories.
Moving Image
20 credits
This module introduces you to the grammar of moving image production and allows you to acquire a range of technical and organisational skills. Through a series of workshops, you will acquire a basic competency in production techniques. In the group portfolio students will experience the development and production of both a non-fiction and a fictional film. In the Individual play piece students can express their individuality.
Storytelling
20 credits
Lectures will provide introductions to narrative theories which will then be applied to group work and discussions in seminars. The workshop series will develop scholarship skills including Microsoft Office Tools, Harvard Referencing, using appendices and layout features. The tone of Essays, Reports and Reflective Essays will also be explored.
Audio
20 credits
This module will help you to demonstrate the acquired skills in interviewing, recording, editing and sound design. During the module, you will produce a well-crafted audio artefact with an engaging story. You will be able to do so by reflecting upon audio and its importance in creative industries, informed by knowledge and history of the radio/podcast industry. Completion of the module will instil an awareness of professionalism and communication skills.
Industries Portfolio 1
20 credits
This module will introduce internal and industry guests to your lectures. Each two-hour seminar will require you to engage in tasks and blog about your experiences weekly. As part of your portfolio, you will also engage with future focus and career planning e-learning tools. The presentations give the group a chance to practice this important skill and to express their insights and learning journey.
Project Management
20 credits
This module will explore the methods of effectively managing creative projects. You will work as part of a creative team in developing and presenting outputs in response to a brief. This will help you to maintain, record and communicate project management workflows and creative decisions. Alongside engaging with meaningful peer review processes.
Level 5
Core modules
Mixed Realities
20 credits
You will collaboratively explore hardware and software that can engage an audience in mixed, merged, augmented, extended, and virtual realities; for utility and/or entertainment. Platforms for delivery might include any screen based technology and you will explore terms and realms such as; AR; MR; XR; VR; web. To develop a range of possible narrative worlds that might be; location-based; participatory; playful; and informed by UX and UI considerations. Students, in small teams will negotiate and then implement a mixed reality artefact. Seminar Crit will provide a space for peer to peer project development feedback and discussion. You will individually evaluate the research that informed, and the outcomes of, your group project.
Postproduction
20 credits
Through a series of lectures and practical workshops you will learn the various ways in which post-production techniques can be used to enhance narrative and add depth to moving image material. You will follow typical industry workflows in the development of personal projects; experimenting with concepts and techniques whilst ensuring that creative decisions are justified and fit the requirements of the brief.
Digital Marketing
20 credits
This module will equip you with the skills and understanding necessary to explore the creative process in building successful online brands. You will analyse the relationship between enterprises and advertising agencies and discover how to create innovative concepts that are appropriate for a given creative brief. The lecture series will introduce key concepts including:
- STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)
- 7 p's of marketing
- Performance tracking – platform engagement, mobile vs web click through etc
- Analytics – using media data sets to inform strategy
- The Seminar Crit will encourage peer to peer learning and feedback on campaign plans. Workshops will support technical needs.
Fiction
20 credits
In this module students work in teams to produce a short film drama following a series of lectures, master classes, workshops and tutorials. Pre-production, casting, rehearsals, research, filming and editing will be undertaken as independent study. You will choose either the Moving Image or Audio output in the first session, then be grouped accordingly.
Industries Portfolio 2
20 credits
This module will introduce guest experts and agency members. The workshops are a blend of seminar and practical to support portfolio generation. You will be invited to creatively respond to the brief in groups, then you will choose one area of industry from the syllabus to highlight. You may create a single, self-contained Moving Image or Audio output, alternatively you may create an interactive experience online, or a "pack" containing many short, but related artefacts. You will be invited to present your plan formatively for feedback and approval.
Optional Modules
Study Year Abroad - Media Production
120 credits
The aim is to provide students with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner that will complement their programme at LJMU. This is an additional year of full-time study at an approved higher education institution. The modules to be studied must be agreed in advance, and must be appropriate for the student's programme of study. Assuming successful completion of this year, mark-bearing credit will be awarded by the Faculty Recognition Group. The grade conversion scale to be used will be made available in advance of the year abroad.
Non-Fiction Documentary
20 credits
You will choose either the Moving Image or Audio output in the first session, then be grouped accordingly. There will be a formative presentation of non-fiction ideas for peer feedback and Tutor "greenlight" approval. Lectures will introduce key thinkers in the field and highlight career pathways to industry. The workshops will be a practical, hands-on application of the topics learned in the lecture (i.e. conduct an interview in a workshop applying the different approaches learned in the theory session).
Non-Fiction TV Studio
20 credits
The module will introduce the basic working practices, shooting conventions and camera scripting of multi-camera studio production. The aim is to advance the capacity for: editorial decision making and production research, organisation, meeting deadlines, effective planning and communication, self-reliance and teamwork, to enhance creative thinking and problem solving as a team in a live setting.
Study Semester Abroad - Media Production
60 credits
The aim is to provide students with a semester of study at an approved overseas partner that will replace one semester of their LJMU programme at level 5.This is a semester of full-time study at an approved higher education institution which will replace one semester of level 5 study at LJMU. The modules to be studied must be agreed in advance, and must be an appropriate substitute for the modules being replaced. Assuming successful completion of this semester, mark-bearing credit will be awarded by the Faculty Recognition Group. The grade conversion scale to be used will be made available in advance of the semester abroad.
Level 6
Core modules
Development and Distribution
20 credits
The aim of the module is to develop and critically analyse an original concept for a media production. This module prepares you for your final independent production module in semester two. The media project you design and pitch in this module will be produced as your final independent project.
Digital Disruption
20 credits
Weekly lectures will expose you to new industry trends and innovations through guest speakers and new technology demonstrations. This will encourage exploration and disruption in terms of using familiar process in new ways and impacting society. In the workshops, you will identify areas to focus your disruptive response to the brief with peer input and testing. You will present project progress weekly while workshops also offer technical support.
Specialisms
20 credits
In week one of the module, you will identify areas for development in your chosen skillset and plan for key milestones. Weekly workshops will support hardware or software progression in your chosen specialism. Then, every two weeks, you will present progress and confirm further development stages with your tutor in seminars. If you fall behind or move ahead of milestones, the learning plan will be negotiated accordingly with tutor approval.
Independent Project
40 credits
The module provides a concentrated opportunity to contribute to the origination, research, development, and production of a media artefact as a culmination of your degree experience. This module will provide an opportunity for you to produce work that reflects your skills and positions you in the job market, providing you with valuable practical experience and a portfolio piece of work.
Industries Portfolio 3
20 credits
This module is designed to facilitate students entering the workplace after graduation, providing further professional development by engaging with professionals in your chosen fields. You will design a real career action plan with realistic next steps. Your weekly lectures will introduce guests and internal specialists working in creative industries recruitment. This will support you on your final trajectory to employment. Five two-hour workshops, delivered in the second half of the module, will blend as tutorial and feedback sessions on portfolio elements towards your final submission.
Teaching and work-related learning
Excellent facilities and learning resources
We adopt an active blended learning approach, meaning you will experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning during your time at LJMU. This enables you to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with your studies. Our approach ensures that you can easily access support from your personal tutor, either by meeting them on-campus or via a video call to suit your needs.
Teaching is delivered via a combination of practical and workshop classes, lectures, seminars, online activities and individual tutorials. Private study, individual and group production work as well as academic writing and research is an important aspect of degree-level study and so you will be expected to spend about 40% of your time working independently, when producing media, preparing essays, reports or presentations.
Plus you will be expected to complete independent study and group work and participate in online activities and discussions using our virtual learning environment, Canvas.
Work-related Learning
Work-based learning is a vital element of this degree programme and gives you a taste of what its really like to work in the media industry. You will not only get to practise skills you have learnt on the course, but you will also be able to add the experience to your CV, giving you a head start when it comes to finding your first job in this very competitive industry.
In fact many of our graduates have been offered a full-time position by their placement employer on the strength of successful work experience.
Support and guidance
Dedicated personal tutor, plus study skills support
We believe that one-to-one support during your studies is vital, and for this reason you will be assigned a personal tutor from the minute you enrol at LJMU. He or she may teach some of your sessions, but you are also encouraged to arrange meetings with them to discuss course-related issues and ideas in a more informal setting. You will also receive support in finding and securing a work placement.
Assessment
Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, but will usually include a combination of exams and coursework.
We acknowledge that all students perform differently depending on how they are assessed, which is why we use a combination of assessment methods. These include: written work (essays, etc), presentations (group/individual), practical assessments (individual and team projects), producing web content, video productions both factual and fiction, studio and location, interactive products and portfolios (including e-portfolios).
Course tutors
Our staff are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning
Wez Nolan
Programme leader
Wez's joined LJMU as Programme Leader on Media Production in 2020. His research explores the experiences of first generation students in higher media education. In particular, he is looking at students on the media technology degree pathways at Southampton Solent University in relation to Perspective Transformation (Mezirow 1978) and Transformative Learning (Mezirow 1991).Although Wez uses the tools of his trade in his research, camera work, editing and script writing for instance, he has moved away from the terms Practice-Based and Practice-led (Candy 2006). He prefers to operate under a Craft Enhanced Research mind-set and promotes Craft Informed Teaching.
Media and creative industries education changed my life, and through it, we can change yours.
Facilities
What you can expect from your School
The School is based in the Redmonds Building, in the heart of the bustling Mount Pleasant Campus and Liverpools growing Knowledge Quarter. The building is home to high quality lecture theatres and seminar rooms, TV studios, radio suites, green screen, editing rooms and news rooms, social spaces, and a café. It is only a short walk from LJMUs Aldham Robarts Library, which contains all the resources you will require for your studies, and is open seven days a week.
Entry requirements
Please choose your qualifications below to view requirements
Grades/points required from qualifications: BCC-BBB (104-120)
Qualification requirements
GCSEs and equivalents
A levels
BTECs
Extended Diploma: DMM
Access awards
International Baccalaureate
Acceptable on its own and combined with other qualifications
OCR Cambridge Technical
Extended Diploma: DMM
Irish awards
Acceptable on its own and combined with other qualifications
T levels
International requirements
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IELTS
6.0 overall with no component below 5.5, taken within two years of the course start date.https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/courses/international-entry-requirements
Further information
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DBS, Occupational Health requirements
Can this course be deferred?
Yes
Is a DBS check required?
No
Please Note: All international qualifications are subject to a qualification equivalency check.
Application and selection
Securing your place at LJMU
UCAS is the official application route for our full-time undergraduate courses. Further information on the UCAS application process can be found here https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/how-to-apply.
The essential skills that should be included on your application form are:
- Applicants should display an enthusiasm and aptitude for studying this area
- Applicants should show evidence of extracurricular activities in this field of study
- Applicants must be team players and your application must reflect this
- Applicants should demonstrate their qualities as creative practitioners
The university reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the university. Where this does happen, the university operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.
Further information on the terms and conditions of any offer made, our admissions policy and the complaints and appeals process.