Applicants with a 2:1 from a UK university, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, in a media or design specialism (e.g. Media Studies, Digital Design, Digital Media Arts, Interactive/Digital Media, Game Design) will be considered. Applicants with a 2:2, in a relevant subject, plus at least 2 year’s work experience in the fields of media, interactive design or cultural industries, and a relevant design portfolio may be considered. Applicants with a non-relevant subject will not be considered.
Practice-based research in media production combines hands-on making with critical theory, using the creation of digital artefacts as a research process to engage with key debates around culture, technology and society. This approach allows you to learn by making while asking fundamental questions: Why are we making this? What social purpose does it serve?
You’ll use practice-based research to examine how media shapes our identities, our communities and our relationships with power, while critically interrogating the aesthetic, ethical and cultural implications of rapidly evolving and emerging technologies. You’ll explore and creatively respond to complex issues such as bias in AI, algorithmic logics, representation, digital inequalities and creative ownership through meaningful media production rather than commercial industry training.
Here at the UCL Knowledge Lab’s Media Production Studio, we’ve got the capabilities, the tools, and the breadth and depth of expertise to facilitate your creative practice across an unusually diverse range of media formats, including game design, animation, VR/XR, digital storytelling, audiovisual essays, interactive websites, and more.
As a graduate of this course, your ability to think critically, create and communicate meaningfully, and adapt to rapidly evolving technologies will increase your career prospects across the creative industries, which are being reshaped by automation and AI.
Your hands-on experience with industry-standard tools across games, animation, and digital storytelling will be matched by a rigorous grounding in digital media and cultural theory. The practice-based research approach means every project is also an act of enquiry, so by the time you graduate, your portfolio won’t just demonstrate technical skill, but creative ambition and critical depth.
The result is a graduate who is not only technically capable, but socially engaged and ready to actively shape contemporary cultural debates through meaningful digital work. This will make you a valuable asset across a range of creative industries, from research and education and activism to commercial media production.
Graduates from this course go on to be successful across a wide range of opportunities in the creative industries and academia.
While many applicants seek to enhance their existing practice as artists, media practitioners and independent creators, the course is equally valuable if you’re looking to secure or enhance roles in game design, animation, UX/UI design, and broader digital production, or develop media-related careers within cultural institutions.