Bachelor of Arts (Hons) - Acting (Film, TV and Stage)
If you’re looking to break into acting, this degree is an excellent launch pad. You’ll get to fine-tune and extend your acting skills, working on live briefs, networking with industry creatives and taking part in diverse projects.
Why study this subject?
In this course you will learn that there are many acting styles. You’ll have a broad understanding of approaches to acting from the last 100 years, and will try out different styles and ideas that suit you and that you can integrate into your own performances. You’ll be able to understand what is required for acting on screen as well as stage, and will become a motivated team player able to think about the world around them. You’ll become a thinking practitioner with a passion for all that acting can be and a wide range of skills to achieve it.
Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?
The mix of screen and stage work is what makes this course stand out. BNU will give you hands-on experience with the latest technology allowing you to explore the full range of screen, audio and intermedial possibilities. Their team of experienced academic-practitioners has a wealth of industry and academic experience and will nurture your learning and professional development throughout your time with them. Buckinghamshire place performance making at the centre of this course so you'll get a much better understanding of the practices that surround film, stage and television performances.
The University seek to bring your work into the wider world and to bring the world into the university. Students perform in external venues during their time at BNU, and have recently worked with a range of theatre companies and practitioners including Paper Birds on devising theatre, Out of Joint on contemporary texts, Mark McGann on acting for camera, and Station House Opera on intermedial theatre.
As well as taking part in guest workshops, you’ll collaborate with students from other courses. You could work on projects with students studying film and TV production, creative advertising, audio and music, and even nursing. We’ll support you to find an approach to acting that’s uniquely yours and alongside this set you up with the real-world skills you need to secure acting work when you graduate.
What facilities can you use?
You’ll use BNU's drama studios on site, some with moving lights and fully-equipped sound systems and projection. They also have sprung floors and mirrors suitable for movement and physical work. They use the professional venue at Wycombe Town Hall, which is less than two minutes from our campus. You will have access to high quality Sony camera equipment, suitable for film and TV screening, and also to lighting rigs and sound recording facilities.
What will you study?
Through practical workshops, and looking at the relevant literature, BNU will take you through different acting styles and techniques, including method acting, physical theatre, post-dramatic styles, comedy, and more abstract approaches.
Each year includes skills, production and theory modules, enabling you to gain knowledge and confidence with the practical and theoretical elements that underpin acting. And in your final year, you’ll manage your own significant screen or stage-based production, from conception to venue booking, marketing and performance.
How will you be taught and assessed?
BNU will work with you to ensure you gain:
- a good knowledge of different acting styles, ideas and approaches;
- the skills to perform powerfully on screen and stage;
- an understanding of how to manage your own artistic company and initiate your own projects;
- the ability to present your ideas and work well with others.
They're passionate about giving their students as many opportunities as possible so you’ll be able to work on a number of exciting projects. The University know the importance of catering for different learning styles and enabling their students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. We don't have any written exams and we encourage you to develop your own response to open briefs, giving you independence and creative control over your work.
Throughout the course, an attempt is made to connect practical and critical work, with an understanding of the links between theory and practice evidenced in written work. Teaching methods may vary but will include workshops to develop practical and production skills, lectures, and performances (some of which are formally assessed) where you will perform to an audience or be mediated (i.e. for camera).
In your third year, you’ll set up your own theatre company and devise a production that you'll manage from conception through to venue booking, marketing and performance.
Assessment is varied, catering for different learning styles and enabling students to develop a wide range of academic and performance skills. These include solo performance, group performance, group presentation, written project proposal, written reflection on creative work, and essay. Through Artists’ Manifestos students will be asked to outline their creative ideas in a theorised way, demonstrating their grasp of the interface between theory and practice.
By the time you graduate, you’ll have an entrepreneurial flair and a strong grasp of the world of acting. You’ll be able to position yourself confidently as an inspiring and creative performer that people will want to work with.
What are your career prospects?
By the time you leave the University, you’ll be in a strong position to go after acting work. You could also take your skills and experience into other areas of the arts and media.
You could work in acting for theatre or films, set up your own performance company, work in education or outreach groups, or across a range of areas in the cultural industries, undertake further professional study or pursue research through a master’s degree.
They will help prepare you for a range of career possibilities such as:
- Actor/ Actress
- Playwright
- Screenwriter
- Performance Company owner
- Teacher.
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