The course

Please note that MA Immersive Storytelling is closed for 2019 entry.

This Masters focusses on immersive technologies and developing your creative storytelling practice. You will develop an entrepreneurial and critical understanding of the creative industries and the place of immersive technologies within these.

You will look at a variety of storytelling techniques and processes for immersive projects and consider the traditions of relevant screen media, including film, television and video games. You will examine the emerging UK immersive economy within the global context, and become familiar with the research and development and business model challenges in the sector, key institutions, and working practices.

You will develop a broad understanding of the group nature of immersive experience creation and how the roles played by the various parties, such as engineer, producer, writer, performer, subject and director shape and influence the screenplay.

You will learn how to undertake routine and adaptive work in hardware and software that responds to demands of sound, vision and perception in creative contexts, and how to write, pitch and present ideas in a range of formats. You will develop proof of concept, prototype, pilot and short form immersive experiences and recognise the potential for re-imagining existing story forms, structures and intellectual property.

Course structure

Core Modules

In this module you will develop an understanding of the nature of audio and visual signals in different situations, how they can be captured for analysis, and how the ear and eye process inputs before coding them for higher centres of the brain. You will look at signal capture devices, bandwidth, coding schemes, and consider their advantages and disadvantages. You will also examine how audio and visual signals are best presented to users.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the process of writing, developing and storyboarding for immersive productions within the context of technological and budgetary constraints. You will debate, critique and contextualise approaches to immersive narrative against traditions in film, television, games and interactive media. You will provide professional, actionable and clear feedback on story propositions for immersive experiences, and translate stories and story form from other media to immersive.
In this module you will develop an understanding of production management for immersive video experiences. You will look at the creative application of immersive video technologies in relation to the core production skills of budgeting, scheduling and pitching. You will consider the importance of proof of concept approaches to immersive video development examining the heritages of film, interactive documentary and gaming.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the the process of writing, developing and storyboarding for immersive productions within the context of technological and budgetary constraints. You will debate, critique and contextualise approaches to immersive narrative against traditions in film, television, games and interactive media. You will focus on interactive and non-linear storytelling for immersive environments examining user-testing and audience use-case development of creative works. You will provide professional, actionable and clear feedback on story propositions for immersive, and translate stories and story form from other media to immersive.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the industrial and working practices of UK creative industries in a global context, with a particular focus on the immersive, interactive and creative technologies sectors. You will look at the role of business models, funding sources, financing, regulation and policy in the digital creative industries and consider how these shape creative decision making. You will analyse specific digital creative industry case studies and examine how business models, funding sources, financing, regulation, policy and industry practices impact production.
In this module you will demonstrate your creative, technical and collaborative working skills to produce a short immersive project. You will work to a professional standard of creative practice, including developing and keeping to schedule, budget and collaborative agreements. You will apply entrepreneurial skills in fund-raising and financing, talent and subject recruitment and consider how to respond to user testing and audience feedback in developing creative work in a commercial context. You will also respond to peer review, including dialogue with other disciplines, to create collaborative productions.

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

In this module you will develop an understanding of the way in which marketing has evolved and continues to evolve as a result of the rise and dominance of digital and social media. You will consider the influence digital media, the web, mobile and social technologies have had on marketing, and the impact they will likely continue to have on the way marketing practice develops in the future. You will examine the theoretical and historical context of digital and social media marketing, particularly how they relate to the film and television industries, and critically assess a range of campaigns and multiplatform marketing strategies.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the principles underpinning the design of software used for immersive engineering. You will look at the core elements of virtual reality systems and the associated software design challenges. You will examine the limitations of existing software and consider how improvements might be made in the future, proposing designs for novel immersive software.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the design needs and hardware solutions of modern immersive capture, storage, mixing, rendering and presentation systems. You will look at the core elements of virtual reality systems and the design challenges, and propose designs for novel immersive hardware. You will also consider the limitations of existing hardware and how improvements might be made in the future.
In this module you will develop an understanding of the nature of audio and visual signals in different situations, how they can be captured for analysis, and how the ear and eye process inputs before coding them for higher centres of the brain. You will look at signal capture devices, bandwidth, coding schemes, and consider their advantages and disadvantages. You will also examine how audio and visual signals are best presented to users.

Teaching & assessment

You will be taught through a mixture of hands-on workshops, experimental labs, lectures, seminars, group and individual exercises as well as one-to-one supervision for your final project.

Experimental labs will enable you to work alongside MSc Immersive Technologies students to adapt and adopt technologies to creative demands, as well as work in commercial environments with partner business.

You will typically be assessed through creative exercises (written, visual and experimental), oral presentations and pitch documentation, project plans and the final Immersive Storytelling project.

Entry requirements

2:2

Preferred subjects: Media, Drama, English, Video Games, Digital Media, Film, Photography, History or Music.

You are likely to be invited for an interview to assess your motivation for the subject.

International & EU requirements

English language requirements

All teaching at Royal Holloway is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start.

The scores we require

IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 6.5. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 51.
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.

Country-specific requirements

For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.

Your future career

Graduates from Media Arts postgraduate programmes have successfully progressed into a wide range of professions including advertising and marketing, the creative industry, the public sector, and teaching. For other graduates, completing an MA is the precursor to embarking on research, and may ultimately lead to a PhD.

Fees & funding

Home and EU students tuition fee per year*: £11300

International students tuition fee per year**: £18500

Other essential costs***: TBC

How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis. Students studying on the standard part-time course structure over two years are charged 50% of the full-time applicable fee for each study year. All postgraduate fees are subject to inflationary increases. This means that the overall cost of studying the programme via part-time mode is slightly higher than studying it full-time in one year. Royal Holloway's policy is that any increases in fees will not exceed 5% for continuing students. For further information see tuition fees see our terms and conditions.

Please note that for research programmes, we adopt the minimum fee level recommended by the UK Research Councils for the Home/EU tuition fee. Each year, the fee level is adjusted in line with inflation (currently, the measure used is the Treasury GDP deflator). Fees displayed here are therefore subject to change and are usually confirmed in the spring of the year of entry. For more information on the Research Council Indicative Fee please see the RCUK website.

^*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree programme at Royal Holloway. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.