Sound Design for Film and Television

Entry requirements

We are looking to assemble a group of students with diverse and varied backgrounds. There is no 'typical' student or perfect candidate who conforms to a mandatory list of qualifications. Applicants are likely to have some industry experience, or training in their chosen field. Your background may be in the arts or other media, you might be looking for a further professional qualification or wish to broaden your knowledge of sound post-production, taking you to a higher level of work.

While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record or an alternative qualification.

Months of entry

January

Course content

Sound design is the emotional heartbeat of a film, TV show or game.

A soundtrack has the ability to make you feel scared, to be uplifted, to bring you to tears, to build tension and release joy. At the NFTS, we marry together training in the technical skills of sound design with a passion for telling stories through sound.

At the NFTS, you’ll get to work in industry-standard facilities and learn all aspects of audio post-production, developing the techniques and creative awareness required to work as a professional sound editor, sound designer and dubbing mixer.

You will also have the opportunity to use your skills to tell real stories, collaborating with students including composers, production sound, editors and directors on a range on genres across film, television and games.

Course Facilities

NFTS Sound Editing suites are fully equipped with Apple computers, Protools, key industry plugins, LCR or 5.1 monitoring from PSI, and S1 mix controllers. Our Dubbing Theatres are kitted out with Industry standard Avid S6 and S4 mixing consoles. The studios are Dolby approved, with JBL Monitoring and ProTools Digital Audio Workstations. Our largest Dolby Atmos dubbing theatre is based in the original Anvil recording studio, where many famous scores were recorded, including those for the Hammer Horror films.

We also have a dedicated Music Recording Studio for recording live music and foley.

What You Will Study

You’ll explore, in detail, the components of the soundtrack – dialogue, atmospheres, Foleys, ADR and designed FX - in our industry standard post-production facilities. With a firm emphasis on storytelling, you’ll develop an aesthetic awareness integrated with technical expertise, being encouraged to be a collaborator from an early stage in all productions and throughout the whole post-production process.

The course represents a steady progression beginning with the basic technology and skills that underpin and support the creative process and ending with the responsibility for sound design on a range of graduation projects, including fiction, documentary, animation, science and natural history, TV, and games. At each stage skills are added through workshops, to provide you with a comprehensive education that is of great value in understanding, and communicating with, other industry professionals.

Information for international students

This course is open to UK/EU/International students.

Fees and funding

Please visit our website for fees information. All production costs are included in the course fees, including the use of School facilities and equipment.

The NFTS is committed to ensuring it is open to students of genuine ability, no matter what their background or financial circumstances, which is why we award more scholarships and bursaries to British students, relative to the size of our student body, than almost any other educational institution in the UK.