Bachelor of Digital Screen with Honours

A Shared Foundation in Digital Media

In your first year, you explore the broad landscape of the digital screen industry without having to commit to a single path immediately. You will study compulsory subjects like Storytelling for the Digital Screen and The Game Development Process. This "taster" year is designed to be highly interactive, where you might spend one week in a film editing suite and the next learning 2D and 3D art principles for games. It’s a creative hub where you meet future collaborators across all six majors: Animation, Cinematic Arts, Game Arts, Game Development, Screen Sound, and Screenwriting.

Collaborative Projects and Industry Facilities

From the second year onward, your learning shifts toward intensive, team-based project work. As a student, you gain access to the Digital Screen Campus, which features motion capture labs and virtual screen production stages typically only found in professional studios. You won't just be sitting in lectures; you will be on set or in a studio, applying film production techniques to make your games look like cinematic masterpieces or using game engines to create immersive virtual environments. This hands-on style means you learn by doing, failing, and refining your work alongside peers who are as passionate as you are.

The Honours Year and Professional Portfolio

The fourth year is the Honours year, where you work on a massive capstone project—either a high-quality short film, a cinematic-standard animation, or a AAA-quality game. Throughout this stage, you receive mentorship from industry experts, helping you polish your work to a commercial standard. You graduate not just with a degree, but with a professional-grade portfolio that acts as your "calling card" in the global media market. Whether your goal is to be a creative director, a technical animator, or a game developer, the degree provides the networking opportunities and technical edge needed to step straight into the workforce.

Specialized Knowledge and Indigenous Storytelling

Unique to UC is the option to include a minor in Indigenous Narrative, which teaches you how to authentically represent Māori and Pasifika stories in digital forms. This focus on culturally responsible storytelling is increasingly important in global media production. Because the degree was designed with industry collaboration, every subject is geared toward the "convergence" of media, ensuring you are prepared for future roles that may not even exist yet in the rapidly evolving digital screen space.