Students practice conceptualization and implementation as a group and individually, and can apply their talents in both student and professional productions where they gain experience as location sound recordists, sound editors, designers, and postproduction mixers. Students learn to develop and execute visual concepts that reflect the underlying intentions of the script. They also specialize in communicating visually the many possible messages of a piece. For Critical Studies majors, the concentration offers in-depth studies of genres, filmmakers, national cinemas, film movements and other critical and historical approaches. This is a rich preparation for graduate work or careers in film writing and criticism.
Advanced coursework emphasizes collaboration with producers, editors, and directors of photography.
Our faculty represents a variety of directorial backgrounds and approaches. The goal is for students to develop their own directorial styles, based on solid technique, a responsive inner life, and a critical awareness of the world around us. The curriculum prepares students for work in the many varieties of non-fictional filmmaking, and emphasizes how vital an improvisational training is to fiction directors. In the Producing Center, film and video makers acquire the skills to sell film and video ideas to producing entities within the existing system of professional film production and financing. They further learn how to negotiate, finance, and distribute creative products according to the content and approach of any particular project.