Media emphasises three main areas of art making:

• Photography (digital and analogue)
• Moving Image (video, film, sound, animation, projected image installation)
• Critical Making (physical computing, Arduino, electronics, coding)
• Digital Spaces (3D modelling, virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive installations)

What will I study?

Media students are encouraged to explore the rapidly changing world of Photography – from high-end studio images to social media platforms using mobile phone apps. Learning about moving Image involves working with cameras, lights and microphones in our video studio, experimenting with green screen facilities, and developing editing skills in the digital editing suite. We also support your a range of animation processes. In Digital Spaces, you learn and explore the virtual online world, produced and experienced through software and hardware, such as the Oculus Rift VR system. You will learn to experiment with the relationship between virtual and physical worlds working with technologies like Kinect sensors, generative software and multimedia installations.

Year 1

Explore interdisciplinary Art and Design research, observation and analysis in the first semester. In the second, all Fine Art students get a working taste of subjects with six weeks of workshops in two pathways selected from: Ceramics and Glass, Media, Painting, Print, Sculpture and Textile Art & Artefact. The balance is spent in the Media Department on the ideas, processes and technologies that will become central to your learning.

Year 2

A series of timetabled studio projects develop your skills in Photography, Moving Image and Digital Spaces (all of which will include many other interesting approaches to making art). You work on projects to bring all this learning together into an art exhibition event. Attending workshops, seminars, lectures, presentations and field trips to contemporary art exhibitions is also important. After second year, you have two options: (a) study on a Studio+ / International year, or, (b) continue into the final year of the course.

Year 3: Studio+ & International

An optional opportunity to gain experience in a range of social and cultural contexts in the world beyond NCAD. Build your skills as an artist while working with an organisation with links to the School of Fine Art. Studio+ can also include a period of study abroad through the Erasmus programme with internationally recognised art faculties partnered with NCAD.
Students who choose Studio+ will complete a 4 year BA Fine Art or a 4 year BA Fine Art (International).

Final Year

The final year is structured to support you in developing your self-directed art practice. You will have a personal tutor to help guide you through a range of possibilities as your practice evolves. There are weekly studio presentations, research seminars and lectures, giving you a framework through which to build your learning. By the end of the final year you will have developed a substantial body of research and studio work, and will present the outcomes in an exhibition space for assessment. The programme also features visiting lecturers, off-campus collaborative opportunities, field trips, and study visits. Towards the end of your studies you will be actively encouraged and supported in applying for postgraduate study.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment throughout the programme, in both studio practice and in Critical Cultures, is on a continuous basis, at the end of each completed module and at the end of each semester (half-year). Formal assessment results are issued at the end of each academic year. Modes of assessment include practical and written assignments, oral and visual presentations, portfolios and exhibitions.

Critical Cultures

Become a critically engaged, reflective and effective practitioner through studying the connections between history, theory and practice in modern and contemporary contexts.
Find out more on the Find out more

Opportunities after graduation

Media graduates have a wide range of opportunities open to them. Our graduates go on to become artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators, animators, lighting designers, app and games developers, special effects designers, television and social media producers, and many other related roles. Many of our graduates also go on to postgraduate study, at NCAD and at other institutions nationally and internationally. NCAD offers MFA and PhD pathways for graduates interested in further study.