University of the West of Scotland

BA (Hons) Contemporary Screen Acting (3rd Year Entry)
(Degree)

The new BA (Hons) Contemporary Screen Acting is an innovative programme which sits alongside two highly successful programmes, BA (Hons) Performance, and BA (Hons) Musical Theatre.

The BA (Hons) Contemporary Screen Acting is a two year degree, delivered at the UWS Ayr campus, aimed at entrepreneurial acting students who are interested in the New Media for delivery and dissemination of their creative acting talent. Typically they will have gained an HND in the area of acting and performance or equivalent and they now wish to embark on a degree level study of Screen Acting and delivery through the New Media, beginning at level 9 in third year. Potential applicants will prepare two contrasting screen acting pieces and will be invited to attend an interview.

The programme offers a distinct and unique student experience in the practical and theoretical study of Screen Acting, by the use of several new core modules specifically designed to combine creativity, flexibility, commerciality and entrepreneurship. It will appeal to students on a full time basis, but due to flexible delivery, will also be an attractive prospect for actors who wish to expand their acting abilities. Uniquely, they will gain experience of working with external client groups such as SMEs, Community Groups, Charities and Voluntary Bodies. The students liaise with the small enterprises to create a commercial relationship in order to publicise their client’s activities on the Web through the creation of Screen Acting artefacts such as interactive dramas and viral ads. As well as this, students are trained to create, record, and edit their own web deliverable Screen Actor’s marketing showreel.

Students explore Screen Acting techniques for new technologies such as Green Screen, Chroma key, and the expanding sphere of Computer Generated Imaging. Increasingly it is the case that actors who work in the small and large screen are being asked to work in studio environments where they can act in complete scenes where they are the only human actor. At present, very little training is given for this type of work and UWS is the first university to offer this unique educational experience.

course website