BA (Hons) Make-Up and Hair Design Bachelor's degree at Southampton Solent University

In this module you'll engage with the core practices, techniques, and meanings of beauty within make-up and hair design contexts. Through studio-based workshops you'll develop foundational technical skills, establish safe and ethical working practices, and begin to build a critical awareness of how make-up and hair practices are shaped by wider social, cultural, and contextual factors.

This module will introduce you to wig and make-up skills with insight into the real-world industry setting, enabling you to develop your fundamental technical abilities and approach to historical design in relation to the staged body. You will formulate a body of supporting work using the cultural and social theories about wigs, which focuses on using external forces for inspiration.

This module explores the representation and influence of subculture within film and television, examining how alternative identities, aesthetics, and social movements are constructed and communicated on screen. Through critical analysis and practice-led learning, you'll engage with key subcultural references while developing foundational filming techniques, including camera operation, framing, lighting, and editing.

This module introduces you to the fundamentals of image making practice - you will learn about the function and uses of cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production techniques. You'll explore both studio and location practice, with practical demonstrations and hands-on participation, and you'll be introduced to standard industry practices, such as model releases.

Editorial Alchemy explores the creation of high-impact fashion and beauty visuals, challenging you to push beyond conventional aesthetics and develop elevated editorial work. Through practice-led learning such as live briefs, industry-focused workshops, digital media, and collaborative shoot environments you will engage with professional processes from concept development to execution.

In this module you'll understand the terminologies used and how the structure of the theatre industry and live performance works in relation to character creation. You'll explore how complex techniques can be used creatively and expand your critical approach to designing hair characterisation. Through the experimental application of materials applied to the face and body, you will create your character using theatrical direction techniques within practical seminars and workshops.

This module introduces and develops application skills and critical awareness on fashion and horror in film and TV. You'll explore film which has a rich history of prosthetics, hair, makeup and styling that have guided the evolution of horror. Having a wider knowledge and understanding of film can inform your work, giving you access to ideas and techniques that will help to raise the standard and complexity of your creations. You will be challenged by changing the familiar into the unknown.

This module will develop your understanding of your industry and help you position yourself within it through brand identity creation, freelancing skills and portfolio building. You'll build your personal brand through image portfolio creation, web production, and CV enhancement; and you will develop your technical skills in image construction through practical studio and location workshops.

You will create an authored body of work to a high professional standard, tailoring it to your specific areas of interest and chosen pathway. Your work will be informed by industry practice and you'll be encouraged to be both creative and innovative in your practice and research. You will need to implement a range of skills in image creation, design, web content, and exhibition curation, managing multiple elements into an industry ready portfolio.

In preparation for your major project, you will learn to devise, plan, and discuss an independent creative project focused on your own specific creative and/or career interests and in a media of your own choosing. This is your opportunity to use your artistic, intellectual, research, and technical skills in the proposal of an ambitious, original and critically engaged creative research project.

In this module, you will be expected to complete 100 hours of work-based experience. Engaging in a professional environment will help you develop the skills and experiences to work competently within the creative industries and boost your confidence, while providing an insight into the various job roles available to you.

In this module you will learn to independently employ practice-based approaches to research in the development and realisation of a creative project. Operating as an independent designer you will be develop, manage and realise of a creative research project. You will produce a substantial body of conceptually and technically advanced work, addressing an identified issue or design problem relevant to your own creative interests and visual culture.