Master of Screen Studies

Course notes

Important course notes

• Non standard timetable requirements

  Students enrolling at the start of the year can elect to complete the course over 12 months or 18 months. Students choosing mid-year entry will be required to complete the course over 18 months.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a high level of interdependence and individual accountability through the critical evaluation of collaborative and individual processes or roles.
2. Demonstrate and reflect on cross-cultural awareness, including indigenous cultural competence and its application to screen production.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the recent developments in contemporary film, television and new media in an Australian and International context.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of research principles, methods and trends required to produce screen projects.
5. Demonstrate mastery of the theories, history, trends, characteristics and methods required to successfully plan and execute screen projects.
6. Design, evaluate, implement and analyse the theories, approaches and strategies of screen production to service clients and key stakeholders.
7. Generate innovative ideas and evaluate complex concepts in the pre-production, production and post-production of screen projects.
8. Investigate, analyse and synthesise the theories, information, problems and technologies available during all stages of a screen project.
9. Reflect critically on the problems in the production process, then develop and apply sustainable solutions to overcome them.
10. Research, interpret and communicate the theories and methodologies required to adopt appropriate roles to successfully execute a screen project to specialists and non-specialists.
11. Research, plan, apply and defend ideas, creativity and innovative practice to execute pre-production, production and post-production screen projects.

Quick guide to uni-speak

• • ATAR

    ATAR is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate university courses in Australia. The ATAR is a percentile score which denotes a student's ranking relative to their state-wide peers upon completion of their secondary education.

  • CRICOS code

    CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. A CRICOS code is allocated to education institutions (like ECU) who are approved to recruit, enrol and deliver education to overseas students. Courses with a CRICOS code are available to international students who meet the entry requirements.

  • Majors

    A major, or unit set, is your chosen area of in-depth study in an undergraduate course. It usually involves 8 units of study, or one-third of the units in a 3-year degree. Talk to your Student Information Office if you need help choosing a major subject.

  • Minors

    Minors include between 4 and 6 study units in a specific discipline. Not all courses require you to complete a minor. Your minor subject doesn't appear on your printed degree (parchment), but is part of your academic transcript.

  • Full-time

    If you're enrolled in 3 or more units in a semester this is considered full-time study. To complete most 3-year degrees studying full-time you'll need to complete 4 units per semester, i.e. 24 units over 3 years.

  • Part-time

    If a course is available to study part-time you can generally expect it to take twice as long to complete as it would in full-time mode. Part-time students are enrolled in 1 or 2 units maximum per semester.

    Note: International students who hold a student visa can only choose the full-time study option for our courses. This is to ensure the course is completed within the duration of the student visa.

• • Semester 1

    Most courses start in Semester 1 each year, usually in the last week of February. Some courses can be started in Semester 2 (we call this mid-year). There's a week of Orientation before each semester to help you get used to uni life.

  • Semester 2

    A lot of our courses start in Semester 2 each year, usually in the last week of July. We call this mid-year. There's a week of Orientation beforehand to help you get used to uni life.

  • Credit Points

    We use a points system to make it easier for you to understand your study progress. Most Bachelors degree study units are allocated 15 credit points. If you're studying a 3-year full-time degree you'll need to successfully complete 360 credit points – that's 24 units x 15 points per unit.

  • Core Units

    These are compulsory units you have to successfully complete as part of your course.

  • Recommended Electives

    An elective is a unit you choose to study that counts towards your course requirements, but isn't compulsory. For some courses we recommend elective units. In some situations, a course coordinator may approve an elective unit as a replacement for a compulsory one.