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The programme focuses on acquiring archaeological research skills and video production and post-production skills and on examining the ways in which Archaeology and Screen Media work together on television, across a range of media and through heritage centres and museums. The course is highly practical and emphasises project-based learning. Strands within the course address archaeology and screen research methods, script development and production and the potential of post-production. Each unit integrates an understanding of professional practice with critical reflection.
Presentations, written work and practice-based assessments provide a progressive evaluation of your abilities in archaeological research methods and in screen media skills. The emphasis is on individual/group project work, which may involve written output, audio-visual submissions or a combination of both. Dissertation placements are assessed through tutorial supervisions, pro-forma mentor's report and a student evaluation.
Graduates from this programme go on to work in the media industries, in both production and post-production. The programme also feeds into postgraduate research (MPhil/MLitt/PhD) through practice or by wholly written thesis.
Bristol is in a unique position to offer training in this interdisciplinary field. The Department of Archaeology and Anthropology is home to one of the largest British graduate schools in archaeology, also offering Master's in Landscape Archaeology, Historical Archaeology of the Modern World, Maritime Archaeology and History, and Social Anthropology. Many of the Department's staff have research interests in contemporary archaeology, heritage and archaeological representation. Meanwhile, the Department of Drama has a very strong tradition of Film and Television studies, and a proven ability to provide students with the professional skills to work successfully in the film and television industries, as well as considerable expertise in the field of practice-based research.
Student quotes (this page is in the process of being updated).
Examples of careers that students have entered after completing one or our MA courses (also in the process of being updated).
A normal learning load is 60 credits per teaching block, although you may take up to 80 credits, as long as your final credit load does not exceed 120 credits of taught units.
Compulsory Unit:
Archaeology for Screen Media (20 credits, Archaeology & Anthropology)
This unit aims to provide students with awareness of different historical and contemporary approaches to the representation of archaeology in the media.
In addition, you will choose at least one of:
Methods and Theory in Archaeology ( 20 credits, Archaeology & Anthropology)
Introduction to how material culture, sites and landscapes have been and interpreted, how ideas about past human societies have developed through archaeological research and how science has enabled new understandings.
Investigating Landscapes and Seascapes(20 credits, Archaeology & Anthropology)
Introduction to basic techniques of understanding landscapes and seascapes through non-invasive methods (survey, geophysics, map regression, air photography, Geographical information systems), as well as ways of interpreting landscapes through study visits and practical fieldwork.
You will choose at least one of:
Film and Television Production Technologies and Techniques(20 credits, Drama: Theatre, Film, Television)
This intensive and practical unit is designed to put in place the basic technical skills and understandings required to operate professional high-definition cameras, associated sound recording equipment, and industry-standard digital editing software, and the process of realising a film sequence.
Writing and Directing for Film and Television (20 credits, Drama: Theatre, Film, Television)
This unit introduces the craft, conventions, and key understandings in writing and directing for film and television. Each student makes several short films in directing, and produces a short fiction or documentary script.
A normal learning load is 60 credits per teaching block.
Compulsory unit:
Making Short Documentary (20 credits, Drama: Theatre, Film, Television)
This unit is based on making short non-fiction films for public exhibition. Teaching and learning cover:
1) Scripting, crewing and making short documentary films
2) The nature and purposes of documentary and the short-film audience for documentary
3) Interview techniques, and the ethics of the personal encounter
4) Ethical issues and strategies in representing a documentary subject
5) The function of setting
6) Documentary structures and thinking in sequences
7) The documentary film development process – with a review of scripts and shooting plans
Optional Units
You should then choose 2 of the following units, subject to timetabling constraints:
Screen Histories: Documentary (20 credits, Drama)
This unit examines screen histories by focusing on a single topic: documentary. The emphasis will be placed upon situating this topic within the context of its history, and may also include situating the topic within a broader historical, social and cultural context. The unit will examine key debates in film historiography, the 'histoical turn' in film studies and the ways in which cinema has been seen as participating in broader social and cultural change. Students will engage with the use and interpretation of archival materials, as well as the examination of relevant contextual details for both cinema and a wider cultural field.
Producing and the Business of Film and Television (20 credits, Drama)
This unit has two main objectives: to enable students to acquire the necessary procedural and management skills and understandings successfully to proceed to their dissertation productions, and to enable students to develop industry awareness that will be useful in professional life.
Screening Nations (20 credits, Drama)
This unit examines contemporary debates and questions surrounding national cinemas, world cinema, transnational contexts and the postnational. Focusing on selected case studies of films drawn from world cinema, the unit investigates the ways in which cinema can be seen as articulating and reflecting national, transnational and global identities.
Performance Place/Space (20 credits, Drama)
This unit investigates the varied nature and relationships of space and place in performance, giving particular attention to the performative energies which articulate them to cultural change in particular historical periods. Different conceptions of space and place drawn from a range of disciplines, including archaeology, sociology, geography, cultural studies, theatre studies and performance studies itself, will be considered for their relevance to the efficacies of performativity in specific contexts of staged action. Practical exercises and fieldwork will extend understandings of the circulation of power - social, political, cultural, etc - in the performative transformations of space and place, particularly at sites of celebration and contestation.
Television Forms (20 credits, Drama)
This unit will identify a single television genre or set of televisual forms as a focused entry point for the critical study of television and its programmes. The genre or forms under consideration may vary but in most cases the unit would focus on the contextualised study of programmes, drawing on historical, industrial, and audience research as appropriate. Sub-genres may be used to explore critical debates about, say, realism or authorship. The unit will also explore the ways in which television practices reflect and relate to contemporary social concerns and/or are situated within policy and economic imperatives.
Supervised Individual Study (20 credits, Drama)
This unit will enable students to pursue a defined and focused specialist practical, historical, methodological, and/or conceptual interest under the guidance of a member of the academic staff. Through this unit, students have the opportunity to explore particular topics in more depth than is offered within existing taught units. Students who are appropriately qualified or trained may develop a practical project as a Supervised Individual Study. Thus, this unit allows greater flexibility within the MA programmes, so that the department can respond to students’ special interests.
Heritage Management (20 credits, Archaeology)
This unit provides an outline as to how the heritage assets are managed in the UK and internationally, looking at systems of protection and designation, their conservation management, and interpretation, both within a landscape and museum context. The special role that World Heritage Sites have will be examined.
Visual Anthropology (20 credits, Archaeology)
Visual Anthropology has two core focuses: the historical and contemporary use of visual media by anthropologists and others, and the creation and use of visual systems within societies themselves. The unit will engage with both these aspects, and also present a number of examples of research carried out using visual media. Lectures will also involve the screening of ethnographic films, followed by discussions. The unit is supported by Blackboard.
Public History in Theory and Practice (20 credits, offered by Historical Studies)
This unit introduces students to the issue of Public History through a multi-layered approach. In the first instance students would study general debates over public history as well as notable case studies with staff in the department, for example, the controversy over the 'Enola Gay' exhibition in 1994-95 at the Smithsonian Institution, or issues raised by a recent Icon films production for BBC2's Timewatch series, 'White slaves, Pirate Gold@. Secondly, sessions with practitioners are held for students to learn about the tensions that inform the presentation of history on television together with issues involved in exhibition planning for museums. Students prepare either a TV proposal and treatment or an exhibit proposal using guidelines provided by the external partners.
Time TeamPlacement
Unassessed placements take place in the spring/summer.
Dissertation
There are no formal examinations for this MA, but presentations, written work and practice-based assessments for each unit provide a progressive evaluation of student's abilities in both archaeological research methods and in media skills. The emphasis throughout the programme's teaching and learning is on individual project work, which may involve written output, but may also include audio-visual submissions or a combination of both. The placement is assessed through tutorial supervisions, pro-forma mentor's report and a student evaluation. Dedicated first class facilities and technical supervision for the production of audio-visual materials are available for those working on the programme.
For further information on life as a postgraduate in Bristol, visit the Graduate School of Arts and Humanities