Screen Performance

Screen performance is a craft that differs significantly from stage acting. The camera imposes its own demands, rewarding restraint, psychological truth and the ability to inhabit a character fully within a confined frame. Where theatre performance must project outward to an audience, screen acting works inward, trusting the lens to convey what a live audience can only see at a distance.

Understanding that difference, and developing the technical and creative skills to perform effectively for television and film, is what screen performance as a discipline is about.

At the University of Sunderland, this three-year full-time programme equips you with a broad range of performance skills tailored to screen contexts. You will develop your acting technique in relation to the specific demands of camera work, learning how to give consistent, believable performances across multiple takes, how to work with directors and camera operators, and how to navigate the physical and logistical realities of a film or television set. The programme includes a year abroad, offering you international exposure and the opportunity to experience performance training or professional contexts beyond the UK.

The typical entry tariff is 120 UCAS points.

Graduates from screen performance programmes pursue careers in television, film, digital media and online content creation. Many continue to develop their practice as working actors, combining auditions and professional engagements with other creative work. Others move into related areas of the screen industries, such as casting, directing, production, presenting and voice work, where a thorough understanding of performance is an asset.

Some graduates combine their screen training with theatre work, since the skills are complementary even if the techniques differ. Postgraduate study in performance, film or screen arts is an option for those who want to deepen their theoretical or practical engagement with the craft.