Course description

Duration
This is a Full-time One Year course which runs from Sept. to May. Exact details of the timetable will be given out to students during the induction process prior to class commencement in September.

Overview

This media production focusing on Film, Photography, and Radio course is an excellent foundation course for media degrees in IADT (National Film School), DCU, TU Dublin, and other Higher Education Institutes and Universities. Students will be exposed to the radio, film, and photography processes and procedures; used by digital media studios today in program making. Students will gain practical knowledge of how different media products are produced, as well as an understanding of how the relationships between the producer, financing, and audience impact on one another.

Students will produce a portfolio of work for assessment which may be used for progression applications to degree programmes elsewhere.

Entry Requirements
One of the following:

Leaving Certificate (LC Established, LCVP, LCA) or equivalent
A Full Level 4 QQI Award (or equivalent)
For Mature applicants (aged 21 or over) – appropriate experience will be considered in lieu of formal qualifications. Note: Mature applicants may be entitled to VTOS funding. For details about VTOS, please contact the college.

Applicants whose first language is not English require level B1 competency on the CEFR language framework. Applicants may be required to undergo English language testing to establish their language competency.

Course Modules

Film Production
Traditional Black and White Photography
Radio Programme Production
Scriptwriting
Image Processing
Media Analysis
Communications
Work Experience
Module Information

Certification
Level 5 QQI Award Media Production (5M18518)

Special Features
This is a very practical course enabling the student to develop a personal portfolio of work; structured and produced to radio, television, and video industry standards. Students will use professional digital cameras, Avid Media Composer (editing software), Adobe Audition, and Adobe In- Design as well as darkroom practice and techniques.

This course is supported by FIT, which offers students the opportunity to acquire essential skills to gain employment. Students are given training in job interview techniques and CV preparation.

Free Full Suit of Adobe Creative Cloud Software for all students on this course for one year to facilitate portfolio and assessment work.

All DFEi students are provided with an M365 account, which gives them access to the tools and resources needed to deliver assessment work while attending their course. M365 Apps include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and OneDrive.

Work Experience
Students will be required to undertake a period work placement in an organisation connected to their vocational area during the academic year. Work Experience is mandatory for all of our full-time Level 5 courses. Students are required to source their own work placement but will be assisted in this by the work experience teacher. The work placement is usually for a period of 10 days or a minimum of 60 hours. Students usually find the work experience element of the course to be invaluable and should bear in mind that a successful work placement can sometimes lead to further opportunities.

Additional Information
Learners will produce a portfolio of materials from their course work in Film, Scriptwriting, Photography, Radio, and Desktop Publishing which may be used for application to the IADT and other Higher Education Institutes.

Assessment

Assessment techniques will be used to assess the knowledge and skills that students will have achieved on successful completion of modules:

Student Record
Collection of Work
Assignments
Examination (Written)
Project
Skills Demonstration
All assignments are submitted electronically. Therefore all students need access to a device such as a computer/laptop.

A full major award is granted on passing the relevant eight components. On successful completion of each component, you will be awarded a pass, a merit, or a distinction grade. See www.qqi.ie for more details

Progression Opportunities
DFEi: Graduates may progress to the Level 6 QQI Advanced Certificate in Television and Digital Film or the Sound Engineering/Sound Production Level 6 at DFEi.

Elsewhere: Graduates are eligible to apply through the CAO and/or the Higher Education Links Scheme for entry to year one of a range of higher certificate and degree programmes, at Universities, Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities using their full QQI Level 5 major award. Places are not guaranteed in these Institutes and are subject to students meeting certain criteria. It is the students’ responsibility to consult with the relevant HEI for information on the admissions process and any specific entry requirements. Students may also refer to the individual HEI prospectus or may also refer to the QQI FET section of the CAO website. www.cao.ie

Examples of CAO progression opportunities are listed below.

Progression Examples
BA Film and Broadcasting (TU983)

BA in Photography (Portfolio) (TU976)

Technological University Dublin (City) – www.tud.ie
BA Media Production and Digital Arts (TU982)

Technological University Dublin (Tallaght) – www.tud.ie
BA Film (DL843)

BA Photography and Visual Media (DL833)

BA New Media Studies (DL837)

BA Television (DL844)

IADT Dún Laoghaire (National Film School) – www.iadt.ie
BA Film and Television Production (DK864)

BA Creative Media (DK863, DK769)

Dundalk Institute of Technology – www.dkit.ie
BA Creative Digital Media (TU796, TU981)

Technological University Dublin (Blanchardstown) – www.tud.ie
BSc Multimedia (DC133)

BA Communication Studies (DC131)

Dublin City University – www.dcu.ie
BA Media Studies (MH109)

BA Arts (MH101)

BA Psychology (MH106)

Bachelor of Social Science (MH107)

Maynooth University – www.nuimaynooth.ie
BA Arts (DN520)

BA Humanities (DN530)

BSocSc Social Policy and Sociology (DN750)

BSc Social Sciences (DN700)

BA Psychology (DN720)

University College Dublin – www.ucd.ie
BA Film and Screen Media (CK105)

BA Arts (CK101)

BA Government and Political Science (CK122)

University College Cork – www.ucc.ie
BSc TV and Media Production (SE208, SE212)

South East Technological University (Carlow Campus) – www Setu.ie
BA Arts Journalism (GY119)

BA Arts (Global Media) (GY135)

Galway University – www.nuigalway.ie
BA (Hons) TV, Radio and New Media (MT812)

Advanced entry into 2nd Year

Munster Technological University (Tralee Campus) – www.mtu.ie

Career Paths
Graduates from this course usually opt to advance to further studies, however, others have gained direct employment as floor managers, camera operators, data wranglers, radio broadcasters and production assistants. They may also pursue careers as content creators for website and social media clients.