Film with Foundation Year

Film studies is the academic discipline that takes cinema seriously as an art form, a cultural phenomenon, and a social force. It asks how films are made and how they mean: what techniques filmmakers use to create narrative, atmosphere, and emotion; how films reflect, reinforce, or challenge the societies that produce them; and how audiences make sense of what they see. The discipline draws on history, theory, and criticism, while also equipping students with technical skills in production and analysis.

At the University of Hull, this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, making it accessible to students who are building the academic skills they need before entering the main degree. Across the programme you will develop both in-depth theoretical knowledge, studying under academics who specialise in film history, genre, national cinemas, and critical theory, and practical technical skills in production facilities designed for contemporary filmmaking. The balance between theory and practice is important: understanding film as a cultural and artistic medium makes you a more thoughtful and resourceful practitioner, while hands-on experience gives texture and grounding to your critical analysis.

You will also develop the critical thinking, research, and communication skills that employers in the creative industries and beyond value highly.

Film graduates go on to work in the film and television industries in production, post-production, directing, screenwriting, and distribution roles. Many also work in education, journalism, arts administration, cultural policy, marketing, and public relations. The critical and analytical skills developed in film studies are genuinely transferable, and many graduates find their way into careers that seem at first sight unconnected to cinema but that value the ability to interpret complex material, communicate clearly, and think about culture and society.

Postgraduate study in film studies, screenwriting, media production, or cultural studies is a common route for those who wish to specialise further.