Graduate Diploma in Screen Arts

at Massey University - Wellington Campus New Zealand

Concept design is about visualising and developing the ideas behind film, television, gaming, performance, products and interactive experiences.

In the Bachelor of Design with Honours (Concept Design), you’ll use traditional and contemporary art forms to communicate your concepts for new objects, characters or environments. This could include drawing and sculpting 3D models, as well as making digital plans and renders.

You could be designing characters, creatures, props, vehicles and machines, all the way to building entire worlds to form the foundations of feature films, theme parks, events, toys or exhibits.

Concept design is one of the first stages in every design process. Concept designers create the basis for further production and development, rather than finished products.

Create, critique, and connect with your media world with the Graduate Diploma in Arts (Media Studies). You will gain the equivalent of an undergraduate major in media studies without completing a second bachelor’s degree.

Interested in television and popular culture? Social media and the blogosphere? Film and cultural theory? Media studies can help you unlock your creative potential and develop practical skills to excel in your career.

The Graduate Diploma in Arts (Media Studies) is a bridging tool for graduates in other subjects to get the equivalent of a major in media studies.

This unique degree is for those who love being creative, writing and the performing arts, but also want to discover how the media shape our identities and our world.

In this unique composite major, you’ll study courses in both media studies and expressive arts. You’ll blend theory with creative practice.

Expressive arts is unique in New Zealand and was created in response to student demand. You’ll get to study a combination of the three creative discipline areas of theatre, creative writing, or digital media production.

In the media studies part of your study, you will learn about the production, consumption and content of media and their social, cultural, political and economic implications.

You will learn how decisions are made on what is communicated, how media forms and industry structures shape those messages, and how this impacts our lives and understanding of the world.

The world is undergoing a radical shift in how people communicate, work and share ideas. More people can share more ideas in more ways than ever before - photos, video, animations, tweets, graphics and experiences. We can connect with people across countries, languages and cultures. People can interact with governments and corporations in new ways, while they are using the same tools to try to influence us.

Visual communication design (VCD) offers huge scope and flexibility. At Massey, we teach a diverse range of media, like print, web and video, and give you the chance to try all of them. Within VCD you can explore and specialise in print, typographic and editorial design, information and graphic design, web, interaction and service design, and illustration and branding. You’ll learn to solve complex design problems. You’ll follow your interests and aspirations by developing a higher level of expertise in a specific area.

Massey's Diploma in Communication will introduce you to a selection of disciplines in the communication field.

A Diploma in Communication can open up employment pathways in the many fields including:

• Public relations
• Communication management
• Arts administration
• Event management
• Relationship management
• Journalism
• Web content management
• Social media advising
• Brand management
• Advertising
• Marketing/communications executive
• Media planning/buying.

The Graduate Diploma in Screen Arts is an opportunity for people who have already completed a degree to add an additional subject area to their learning.

You’ll be studying with other students in courses at 200 level and above across the majors offered in the Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours. These are:

• Animation
• Factual Production
• Film Production
• Game Development
• Immersive Media
• Media Technology
• Visual Effects

Working in a production focussed environment, you’ll respond to briefs that combine creative studio practice, storytelling, professional practice and portfolio development, using industry-standard production facilities, studios and labs.

In the Music Industry major, you’ll learn how to market and support musicians, developing the skills and networks to become an essential behind-the-scenes music industry professional.

Study artist development and management, and how record labels and distribution networks work, including modern platforms like Spotify and social media. Get experience project-managing live music for concerts, tours and festivals.

Engage critically with the music industry, considering the philosophy, politics and economics of commercial music. Explore new business models that challenge traditional industry conventions.

Work with students from across Massey’s commercial music degree to work on gigs, tours, music videos and online promotion.

Textile design has many possibilities including fashion, interior, or gallery outcomes. Develop skills in colour, styling, texture, pattern, and surface application. You can specialise in print, dye, knit, weave, mixed media and non-woven textiles, going beyond traditional fabrics.

We prepare you for the rapidly evolving world of work and business. We’ll help you develop your own research and design approaches and push the boundaries of current textile practice. Skilled innovators will always have the edge.

Massey provides an intellectual and creative environment, encouraging critical debate. You'll be positioned to make your own choices about the design and manufacture of your own textiles. That could include questions like sustainability values and ethical production. We train you to create opportunities, identify new concepts, and take part in the global industry.

Textile design research at Massey has particular strengths in:

• Adding value to New Zealand wool products
• Developing innovative ways to use textile waste, and
• Sustainability.

Commonplace across all major broadcasters and platforms is the audience's desire to consume factual series, bite-size web content and formatted shows from around the world. Factual Production is usually associated with non-fiction broadcast and includes formats such as documentary, chat shows, comedy, quiz and reality shows etc. In addition to broadcast TV, these formats are distributed across a number of different digital platforms both real-time and pre-recorded.

You will go on a journey of discovering compelling real-world true stories and characters lighting the screens of Aotearoa, as well as the international market. This deep dive into factual development, production and post- production reveals the mechanisms of fun and formatted, multi-camera, and studio shows all the way to long-form storytelling around the big issues of the day and character-based features.

We will investigate how the story or format defines the best approach to making the content, alongside explorations to discover your unique, creative voice. 

Explore and develop fashion design concepts, garments, accessories or systems that respond to the times. Consider the global impact of the multi-billion dollar fashion industry and explore how fashion can have a more sustainable future.

You’ll learn skills in idea generation, fashion communication, patternmaking, construction, materials, historail and contemporary fashion analysis, and critical thinking.

Degree-level study of fashion design teaches innovative and creative design of apparel, skills in producing patterns and prototype garments, knowledge of textile materials, market and trend analysis. This qualification will help you develop the ability to position fashion products in the marketplace.