Fine Art and Film (Placement Year) Lancaster University

The Fine Art and Film course at Lancaster invites you to explore bold and imaginative connections between moving image and fine art practices. You will develop your ideas in an environment where the histories and theories of cinema and fine art intersect, generating dynamic and experimental outcomes. From its cityscape and rural backdrops to its coastal scenery, Lancaster’s surroundings provide ample inspiration and filming locations.

Through an in-depth engagement with materials, processes, and techniques, you’ll create a body of work that examines how film and fine art inform, challenge, and reimagine one another.

Working with academics from film and fine art with a history of national and international excellence, you will graduate with a combination of intellectual and practical skills indispensable for future critical and creative pursuits.

Why study Fine Art and Film at Lancaster?

• Combine fine art practice with the study of contemporary ideas and art movements

• Work with tutors who are practicing artists and scholars, working with video, 3D, machine learning, environment, temporality, new materialism, participation and socially engaged practices.

• Take advantage of your own dedicated art studio spaces with expert technical support on hand

• Benefit from access to our editing suites and specialist equipment, including cinema-ready digital cameras and workshop spaces

• Deepen your knowledge of global film history while also gaining practical film-making experience

How will I develop my skills in Fine Art at Lancaster?

Fine Art at Lancaster is about finding your voice and deciding what matters to you in today’s art landscape. With engaging seminars in art history and theory, we’ll support you in shaping your values, and understanding the evolving role of art.

You will broaden your understanding of contemporary Fine Art via hands-on projects, technical demonstrations and skills-based workshops. Experiment with painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, digital art, and their many hybrids.

Gaining professional experience is important. Recent Fine Art graduates have secured commissions with digital arts organisations such as FACT Liverpool and Future Everything, and rewarding roles at galleries such as Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Art Gene, and Home, and companies such as International Conservation Services, and the Science Museum National Collections Centre.

What can I expect from studying Film at Lancaster University?

You will build your practical skills in cinematography, editing and sound, and explore film-making styles such as narrative, documentary and experimental. Together with global film practices, storytelling and scriptwriting, and gender and politics in film, you will be introduced to a wide range of themes that could influence the work you produce during your degree and your future career.

You will have access to top-of-the-line production equipment including cinema-ready digital cameras with prime lenses, DSLR cameras, versatile set lighting, grip equipment and full access to Adobe Creative Cloud in our acoustic editing suites.

What opportunities are there outside the course?

Studying at Lancaster offers a lively, creative community that extends from our campus to the city’s Castle Quarter and beyond.

Exhibition opportunities throughout the course will help you develop professional skills, and you might also participate in our student-run cinema Take2, where you can show your films, or LA1TV - our own TV studio.

Your Placement Year
Sometimes known as a year in industry, your placement year will take place between your second and final year of study and this will extend your degree to four years. You'll spend your third year in a paid, graduate-level position, where you’ll work for between nine and twelve months in the type of role that you might be considering for after you graduate.

Entry requirements

These are the typical grades that you will need to study this course. This section will tell you whether you need qualifications in specific subjects, what our English language requirements are, and if there are any extra requirements such as attending an interview or submitting a portfolio.

A levels

ABB. Art and Design, Film, Media or another humanities subject would be considered desirable but not essential.

Access to HE Diploma

30 Level 3 credits at Distinction plus 15 Level 3 credits at Merit. Art and Design, Film, Media or another humanities subject would be considered desirable but not essential.

Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales

We accept the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales in place of one A level, or equivalent qualification, as long as any subject requirements are met.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM. Ideally this would be in a relevant subject, although this is not essential.

BTEC in combination with A levels

A level at grade B plus BTEC(s) at DD, or A levels at grade BB plus BTEC at D. Art and Design, Film, Media or another humanities subject would be considered desirable but not essential.

International Baccalaureate

32 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 HL subjects

Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

We are happy to admit applicants on the basis of five Highers, but where we require a specific subject at A level, we will typically require an Advanced Higher in that subject. If you do not meet the grade requirement through Highers alone, we will consider a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers in separate subjects. Please contact the Admissions team for more information.

T levels

Distinction overall. Ideally this would be in a relevant subject, although this is not essential.

GCSE requirements

English Language grade 4/C.

We will also look at your overall GCSE profile when considering your application as a whole.

We do have flexibility when considering GCSE requirements. Go to our GCSE information for more details.

Additional requirements

You will typically be asked to submit a portfolio.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, we require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component for this programme. English language qualifications for undergraduate study.