Film and Video, BA

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Film and Video majors must complete 52 credit hours in the major. Students begin by taking foundation courses that cover story development, the history and aesthetics of film and video, technical fundamentals, and the craft basics of the filmmaker at work. Once the foundation curriculum is completed, students may take advanced classes across a wide variety of specialties including Audio for Visual Media, Cinematography, Critical Studies, Directing, Documentary, Postproduction, Producing, Screenwriting, and Animation (Traditional and Computer). Students may choose to concentrate in one of these areas or pursue the Film & Video major without a concentration and build their degree with a personalized mix of courses from across the department’s offerings.

More Information about this Department

Requirements for the Major

Foundations of Film & Video: All students are required to take a series of basic film and video classes to introduce them to fundamental concepts, including story, collaboration, and phases of production. These courses prepare them for advanced study in Film & Video.
Advanced Study in Film & Video
1. Film & Video Major Without a Concentration: Students who choose to complete a general degree in Film may design a course of study across the concentrations. This further study must total at least 52 credit hours including the Foundations of Film & Video, and for each course the student must have the appropriate prerequisites. Students pursuing this option are expected to regularly seek faculty advice so they follow the most effective sequence of study in realizing their career goals.
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2. Film & Video Major with Concentration: Students who choose to concentrate in one aspect of Film then complete the 52-credit-hour degree requirement with a specific course of study to prepare for their chosen professional specialization, usually in a custom designed and equipped center with its all-important sense of community.

Animation

The Animation program offers the experience of animation through hands-on access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in the Animation Center. The student is urged to explore no singular approach to the art form, instead remaining open to the possibilities of this powerful communications tool. Whether enrolled in traditional or computer concentrations, students first learn the art of timing, movement, and storytelling by taking a series of classes that teach both the skill and origin of the animation process.

Audio for Visual Media

The Audio for Visual Media concentration prepares students for audio careers in film, video, and related visual media. Students study the theory and practice of sound track design, recording, editing, and mixing sound in relationship to story structure. Students develop an understanding of aesthetic principles as well as communication and professional skills that allow them to effectively pursue their future goals. Audio for Visual Media is a collaboration with the Department of Audio Arts and Acoustics, requiring students to complete courses in each department.

Cinematography

The Cinematography concentration offers a curriculum that develops a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the camera assistant’s, camera operator’s, and director of photography’s work. It covers 16mm and 35mm film formats and equipment, electronic imaging, image optics, visual effects, lighting, and laboratory practices. Students learn to develop and execute visual concepts that give full expression to the underlying intentions and complexities of narrative, documentary, and experimental projects, and to develop strategies to communicate with all the creative and technical contributors to the film production process.

Critical Studies

For Critical Studies majors, the concentration offers in-depth study of genres, filmmakers, national cinemas, film movements, and other critical and historical approaches to the screen arts. This constitutes a rich preparation for graduate work or careers in film writing and criticism.

Directing

The Directing concentration trains students in all aspects of fictional directing, including analysis of dramatic texts, casting of actors, rehearsal procedures, direction of performance, and application of camera to dramatic material. Work on a Director’s Breakdown includes the preparation of storyboards, ground plans, brackets, and shooting scripts. Advanced coursework emphasizes collaboration with producers, editors, directors of photography, and production designers. Our faculty represents a variety of directorial backgrounds and approaches. The goal is for students to develop personal directorial styles based on solid technique, a responsive inner life, and a critical awareness of the world around them.

Documentary

The Documentary curriculum and the specially equipped Michael Rabiger Center for Documentary are dedicated to a vision of documentary filmmaking that places people above product, exploration and discovery above pre-conception. We validate tolerance and understanding, and emphasize the power and responsibility documentary makers have in a world where communication is dominated by the moving image media. Students are encouraged “to grasp the lived reality of people and to convey the quality of their experience.” The curriculum prepares students for work in the many varieties of non-fictional filmmaking and emphasizes the dynamic interplay among reality, experience, and representation. Many fiction directors also find they benefit from exposure to the direct, improvisational training Documentary provides.

Post-Production

Through training in a custom-designed Post-Production Center, students prepare for careers in offline and online picture and sound editing, digital and optical effects design and creation, and post-production supervision. Using 16mm and 35mm film, film digitally transferred via the Center’s telecine, or material shot in digital video or sound acquired digitally, Post-production students learn the craft’s vital function in structuring and pacing film, video, and multimedia productions across all the moving image modes, from fiction and documentary to experimental screen art. They work closely with directors and producers to maximize the strengths of field footage and to realize the specific aims for each project through the creative and imaginative interplay of sound and vision. The concentration also emphasizes the history and aesthetics of editing and utilizes a range of non-linear digital platforms and associated techniques.

Producing

Good producers work to ensure that screen productions exceed the reasonable sum of the myriad elements from which they are crafted. In the department’s Producing Center, film and video makers acquire the skills to pitch film and video ideas to producing entities within the existing system of professional film production and financing. They also learn how to manage a full range of productions across the moving image media and how to sell completed works to a producer/distributor. Courses emphasize merging the creative and business skills necessary to: find material, conduct research, productively employ “people management” skills and networking strategies, develop project proposals, build creative teams, and interact with creative and technical personnel. Students are taught how to negotiate, finance, and distribute creative work for the screen according to the aims, content, and approach of any particular project. Career outcomes may be in producing, line producing, and production management, and senior students are eligible to apply to participate in our Semester in L.A program.

Screenwriting

In the Screenwriting Center students learn storytelling for the screen through a managed regimen of in-class and out-of-class experience that emphasizes the essential mix of imagination and craft in screenwriting. They hone their skills in observation, communication, and visualization, and receive instruction on structure for screenwriting and how to employ written language to articulate dramatic and visual expression. Through constant practice and self-reflection they learn story development, re-writing, story analysis, constructive critique, and a range of strategies for selling scripts. The curriculum is designed for both those solely interested in writing and those wanting to direct their own work. Students explore the various available roles of the screenwriter in Hollywood, in independent film production, and in the international film world, and are eligible to apply to participate in our Semester in L.A program near the end of their study.