Film & Visual Culture (with Foundation Year)
 Film Visual Culture (Major).jpg)
UCAS Code: Combined Honours only – see combinations tab|Duration: 4 years|Full Time|Both Campuses
UCAS Campus Code: L46
Work placement opportunities|International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
Want an exciting career in the creative industries? The Film and Visual Culture course at Liverpool Hope University is perfect for you. Explore how film and media shape society! This degree blends practice and theory, allowing you to work creatively in film, photography, and animation.
The course combines creative and critical skills. You’ll get hands-on experience in filmmaking, screenwriting, photography, and animation. On the critical side, you'll explore film history and theory. You'll see how cinema reflects and challenges social and political issues.
Graduating with a Film and Visual Culture degree gives you strong skills. You'll be ready for many jobs in the creative industries.
The Film and Visual Culture course is taught by leading scholars and practitioners who work closely with you to refine your skills. You’ll enjoy great library resources, top-notch studio spaces, and access to lots of practical equipment.
Highlights of the course include:
- Regular visits from industry experts to support employability
- Course trips to regional film and culture festivals
- Study in Liverpool, one of the UK’s most filmed-in cities outside London
- Partnerships with local organisations including Toxteth TV and FACT
Choosing the Film and Visual Culture course gives you the knowledge and skills to succeed in creative fields. You'll also gain valuable professional insight.
Course structure
Teaching on this course is structured into lectures for all students, seminars of around 10–20 students, and tutorials typically with no more than 10 students. You will also have the opportunity to meet one-to-one with your tutor each week, in addition to joining local and national field trips.
For the Film and Visual Culture part of your combined honours degree, you will have approximately 7 teaching hours each week in your first year, reducing to around 6 teaching hours in your second and third years. In addition to these teaching hours, you are expected to spend approximately 14 hours per week studying independently, alongside group work to prepare for any group assessments.
Assessment and feedback
The Film and Visual Culture course uses a wide range of assessments to support both practical and theoretical learning. Across the three years, you will create practice-based portfolios in filmmaking, photography, and animation, alongside theory-based assessments such as essays and playlists. For each assessment, you will receive detailed written feedback and will also have the opportunity to discuss your work in one-to-one meetings with your course tutor.
Curriculum overview
The Film and Visual Culture course is structured around year-on-year progression and the development of specialism. Students explore a range of practical and theoretical elements during the first two years, before selecting a specialist topic to focus on in their third year.
Foundation Year
The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.
Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.
Year One
Introduction to Film & Visual Culture 1 – Film and Visual Culture Course (Semester 1)
This module in the Film and Visual Culture course introduces students to the fundamentals of film practice and theory. In weekly practice seminars, you will develop skills in shot composition and editing, working individually to produce a 30-second short based on a set theme. On the theory side, you will learn how to ‘read’ films, examining their relationship to wider social issues and questions of identity.
Introduction to Film & Visual Culture 2 – Film and Visual Culture Course (Semester 2)
Building on the skills developed in semester 1, this module in the Film and Visual Culture course deepens your understanding of film as both an art form and a serious object of study. In weekly practice seminars, you will work in groups to produce a 3- to 5-minute short film, learning about elements such as shot scale, mise-en-scène, and narrative. On the theory side, you will explore key approaches to film studies, including genre, star studies, auteur theory, and psychoanalytic feminism.
Year Two
Explorations in Film & Visual Culture 1 – Film and Visual Culture Course (Semester 1)
This module in the Film and Visual Culture course enables students to develop their creative and critical skills. In weekly practice seminars, you will learn the foundations of photography, including lighting and composition, and use these skills to produce a portfolio of studio-based portraiture. On the theory side, you will study early film history, covering silent-era comedy, interwar British cinema, and Italian Neorealism.
Explorations in Film & Visual Culture 2 – Film and Visual Culture Course (Semester 2)
This module in the Film and Visual Culture course prepares students for the final year by deepening their engagement with film practice and film studies. In weekly practice seminars, you will work in groups to produce a 5- to 10-minute short film, taking the project from initial story idea through filming and post-production. On the theory side, you will study representations of gender, sexuality, and race in post-war Hollywood cinema, spanning the 1950s to the 2000s.
Year Three
In the final year of the Film and Visual Culture course, options are based on the principle of developing specialism. You will choose from a range of practice and theory modules, selecting those most suited to your interests and career goals. Choices may include practice modules such as Advanced Filmmaking and Advanced Photography, as well as theory modules such as World Cinema, where students explore the national cinemas of countries including Iran, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan, alongside transnational cinematic movements.
In addition, you will complete an extended research project on a topic of your choice. This project can take the form of a traditional academic essay or a screenplay for a short film, completed under the guidance of a supervisor.
Entry requirements
There may be some flexibility for mature students offering non-tariff qualifications and students meeting particular widening participation criteria.
Careers
Graduates of the Film and Visual Culture course have pursued a wide range of careers, including film and television production, freelance photography, and social media management. Other potential roles include journalist, festival and events manager, screenwriter, teacher and/or researcher, curator, and performance technician.
Many graduates also continue their studies through postgraduate programmes to further develop their knowledge and skills in the field of film and visual culture.
Enhancement opportunities
Work Placement Opportunities
During your degree on the Film and Visual Culture course, you may have the opportunity to gain experience in the creative industries through links the department has with a variety of local businesses. These activities help build your CV and portfolio before you graduate.
SALA
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
Study Abroad
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are £9,535* for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,535*.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
*subject to Council approval.
Additional costs
You will also need to consider the cost of your accommodation each year whilst you study at university. Visit our accommodation pages for further details about our Halls of Residence.
Scholarships
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
International tuition fees
The International Tuition fees for 2026/27 are £14,500.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
Course combinations
This course is only available with Foundation Year as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects: