The Negotiated Research Project is the capstone project and the culmination of study on the Screen Industries and Cultures MA. Here you will develop an extended and original research project on an appropriate topic. You will define clear and realistic research goals that will define the parameters of a piece of work that will contribute to both the your own learning and to debates within your chosen field. Over the course of this module, you will be encouraged to demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of your chosen topic and a critical awareness of the relationship of your own research to other work of others in your field. You will identify research methodologies appropriate to your research and will be encouraged to identify core theoretical and conceptual approaches in the study of the screen industries and cultures. With support, you will develop a coherent and sustained argument as appropriate to the research project and method of enquiry and present it in an appropriate academic format to a professional standard. You will demonstrate their ability to identify and access relevant research material and assess these sources of information for their validity. You will become fluent in time and project management, and in the autonomous organisation of your work, developing key independent research skills, and working to a professional standard in the presentation of their research material.

1. Project Presentation Pitch with Research Portfolio assessing learning outcomes 1-4 2. Negotiated Project, either a Dissertation (or), written report (or), Video Essay (or), media campaign assessing learning outcomes 1-4 1. Project Presentation Pitch The project presentation pitch will be completed by all students and will define the parameters of the final piece of work that they will produce, detailing how it will contribute to both their own learning and comment or address key debates within their chosen field. The pitch will consist of a ten-minute presentation supported by a research portfolio of 2,500 words that summarises the approach that will be adopted and the literature that will be drawn upon. This literature will be summarised in the form of an annotated bibliography.

2. Negotiated Project of either a) Dissertation, b) written report, c) video essay or, d) media campaign in written form or presentation The negotiated project can take the form of either a) a traditional dissertation (or) a written report (or) video essay (or) media campaign, each assessing learning outcomes 1-4. Steps will vary depending upon the method of assessment chosen and while a traditional dissertation or written report will likely generate no supplementary material, it is expected that a video essay and media campaign would require specific supplementary task that will form part of the submission. For the video essay this will take the form of an A/V shooting script detailing a plan of what will appear on screen with what will be heard, paying particular attention to academic referencing. This will be accompanied by a 1500 rationale. Similarly, if video is employed in the media campaign a similar approach will be adopted. However, if the campaign is image or web-based, than the shooting script will not be necessary and this will replaced by a 2500 word rationale.

Through a sustained programme of independent learning, supervisory support and virtual group sessions, this module will develop your understanding of the contemporary screen industries. Building on the foundation provided by earlier modules, you will combine your understanding of the organisations, cultures, structures and processes that shape the contemporary screen industries to produce a sustained independent research project.

1. Select appropriate research methods for the critique of historic or contemporary screen industry practices and processes
Enquiry

2. Demonstrate skill and proficiency in the selection and use of appropriate frameworks in the production of your own work and a critical awareness of the limitations of these systems
Application, Knowledge and Understanding

3. Use various forms of communication as appropriate, during and on completion of the work process, to elicit information, to explain, debate and persuade, adapting to audience and circumstances at the level of professional practice and academic discourse.
Communication

4. Plan and implement action at a professional level, identifying targets and organising resources, and managing your time effectively.
Analysis

Alongside internally embedded resources such as the Virtual Learning Environment, Blackboard and Box of Broadcasts for screenings, the industrial focus of the programme means that you will be expected to engage with a variety of industrial and governmental bodies. Such as, but not limited to:
Arts & Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is a national funding agency supporting arts and humanities research and study in the UK. Website contains up-to-date developments, debates and discussions.
Arts Council England Arts Council England is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales
Arts Council – Creative Case NORTH Supported by investment from the Arts Council, Creative Case NORTH has been finding ways to embed the creative case across the arts and cultural sector throughout the north of England. The north area approach is important because it spans a wide geography and supports a huge range of organisations and types of diversity, embracing all the protected characteristics
. BFI Film Forever The BFI exists to promote greater understanding and appreciation of, and access to, film and moving image culture in the UK
BFI InView Here you will find over 2,000 non-fiction film and television titles from the 20th century to the early 21st. InView is easily searchable, comprehensively catalogued and clearly organised under six main Themes, each with an introductory essay by an academic historian
BFI Screenonline The British Film Institute's Screenonline is an online encyclopaedia of British film and television featuring hundreds of hours of film and television clips from the vast collections of the BFI National Archive, and several hours of recorded interviews with film and TV personalities. These clips are supplemented by rich and authoritative contextual material by expert writers, specially commissioned for BFI Screenonline alongside thousands of stills, posters and press books
British Council documentary resources The Foundation exists to nurture independent documentary filmmakers from the UK and around the world
British Council Film Collection The British Council Film Collection is an archive of 120 short documentary films made by the British Council during the 1940s designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played. Over 120 films were produced as 'cultural propaganda' to counteract anything the Nazis might throw out and to refute the idea that ours was a country stuck in the past. These films were designed to showcase Britain to the rest of the world, at a time when Britain itself was under attack.
The British Film Commission (BFC) The British Film Commission (BFC) is the national body in charge of attracting, encouraging and supporting the production of international feature films in the UK. With offices in the UK and the US, the BFC provides free professional advice to help make productions in the UK a reality
British Universities Film & Video Council this site covers educational use of film and video in all academic subject areas, and is a good source of information on research collections and educational broadcast productions. Includes the catalogue of the British Universities Newsreels Project
ScreenSkills as part of their remit as sector skills council, ScreenSkills is the definitive source for reseach into employment, conditions and skill levels in the IK film industry. Additionally, alongside the websites listed above, there are a number of important websites that contain more focussed articles on the film industry. www.deadline.com up-to-the-minute entertainment, Hollywood and media news www.variety.com : The most prestigious Hollywood trade publication. www.hollywoodreporter.com :

Another very prestigious Hollywood trade publication. www.screendaily.com : Another important trade publication, its focus is mostly on the European film and media industries. www.boxofficeguru.com : A very valuable research tool. It uses box office data from Variety as well as from other major databases. It has hundreds of extremely useful links www.imdb.com : Extremely valuable tool in obtaining information about films (production companies, distributors, box office figures, reviews, filmographies, film trailers etc). It can also be used as a search engine to identify a corpus of films you might want to discuss www.the-numbers.com : Another very good site to obtain box office information and other important industry data

Specific Texts
Balio, Tino (2019) Hollywood in the New Millennium
Hill John, Kawashima, Nobuko (2018) Film Policy in a Globalised Cultural Economy
Havens Timothy (2006) Global Television Marketplace
Jäckel, Anne (2019) European Film Industries
McDonald, Paul (2019) Video and DVD Industries
McDonald, Paul, Brannon Donoghue, Courtney and Havens, Timothy (2021) Digital Media Distribution: Portals, Platforms, Pipeline.
McDonald, P. (2023) The Routledge Companion to Media Industries. Abingdon: Routledge
. Miller, Jade L. (2019) Nollywood Central: The Nigerian Videofilm Industry
Perren, Alisa (Author), Steirer, Gregory (2021) The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood
Sinclair, John, Straubhaar, Joseph (2013) Latin American Television Industries
Steemers, Jeanette, Iosifidis, Petros, Wheeler, Mark (2005) European Television Industries

Szczepanik, Petr (2021) Screen Industries in East-Central Europe Wei-Skillern, Jane and Marciano, Sonia (2008) Primer on the U.S. Television Industry Generic Texts Bailey, S. (2003) Academic Writing: A practical guide for students, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Barzun, J. & Graff, H. F. (1992) The Modern Researcher, London: Harcourt & Brace. Berry, R. (2000) The Research Project: How to Write It, London: Routledge Erickson, G, 2005 The Independent Producers Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Source Book. 2nd Edition: Schirmer Trade Books. Goodell, G, 2003, Independent Film Production: A Complete Guide Through Concept to Distribution. 1st Edition: St. Martin's Griffin, Lang, J. (2000) Lights Camera, Action, London: BFI Publishing. Marshell, L & Rowland, F (2004) A Guide to Learning Independently, London: OUP.

The Negotiated Research Project is the capstone project of the Screen Industries and Cultures MA and is the culmination of your study with us at Staffordshire University. Here you will develop an extended and original research project on an appropriate self-negotiated topic. The project is completely self-negotiated and as such, you will be required to define clear and realistic research goals that will define the parameters of a piece of work that will contribute to both your own student’s own learning, but also to contemporary debates within your discipline