Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalog 
    
2018-2019 University Catalog [Archived Catalogue]

BFA in Film + Video


Mike Attie, Program Director
mattie@uarts.edu
215.717.6558

C O N T E N T S

Description

Your vision is unique. Not content to settle for what everyone else is doing, you’re curious, inventive and willing to take risks. Whether your passion is for narrative, documentary, music videos or experimental film, the UArts Film + Video program will help you transform your vision into reality.

You’ll learn about every aspect of the business from active professional filmmakers, including an Oscar nominee and recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts, Guggenheim and Sundance fellowships, whose work has been screened on PBS, at the Whitney Museum of American Art and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in festivals around the world. You’ll collaborate with other students – writers, actors, dancers, musicians, costumers and set designers – in a city bustling with film productions, both Hollywood and independent. You’ll use the same high-tech equipment the pros use, including Black Magic cameras, a variety of digital editing systems in our state-of-the-art digital imaging and editing labs, and a purpose built, acoustically isolated film-shooting studio.

In addition to creating your own films, you’ll do an internship, maybe on a film or TV show being shot in Philly – like “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Creed” – or in New York, Los Angeles, or abroad. A class assignment might take on a city-wide film competition and the UArts entries will sweep the awards, as they did with a contest sponsored by the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Or you might find yourself collaborating via the Internet with film students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow. You’ll have study abroad options in England, Australia, Ireland, Finland, South Korea, Scotland, New Zealand and Italy. And in addition to exploring Philadelphia’s vibrant film and art scene, you’re only two hours from New York’s galleries and museums showcasing contemporary film and video.

Program Objectives

Students graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film + Video will:

  • Express a developed personal, artistic vision
  • Demonstrate technical and aesthetic proficiency in creating films
  • Acquire professional film skills in a collaborative environment
  • Develop an understanding of professional practices in the field of film
  • Demonstrate critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze various historical and cultural contexts in film

This major provides students with a background in all phases of media production, including digital cinematography, sound and image editing, lighting, and sound/image manipulation. Film + Video students acquire a strong background in criticism, theory, and the history of media and take advantage of a wide range of internship and study abroad opportunities.

Academic Plan

Academic plans provide a semester by semester suggested course sequence. Plans can be customized through discussions with academic advisors.

Program Requirements (120 credits)

Critical Studies (30 credits)


Students will complete a writing placement exam to determine their composition sequence. Students who do not complete the exam may be placed based on standardized tests scores (if available) or high school GPA. Some students may be required to complete additional developmental coursework.

Students will complete one of the following sequences:

First Year Writing (6 credits)


Developmental


ESL


Critical Approaches to the Arts and Culture (9 credits)


  • Select 3 courses from subject CRIT

Scientific Inquiry Foundation Track (3 credits)


  • Select 1 course from subject SIFT

Critical Studies Electives (12 credits)


  • Select courses from subjects:
    • AHST (Art History), HIST (History)
    • FRCH (French), ITAL (Italian), LITT (Literature)
    • PHIL (Philosophy), RELI (Religion)
    • MATH (Math), SCIE (Science)
    • ANTH (Anthropology), PHIL (Philosophy), PSYC (Psychology), SOCI (Sociology)
    • STCU (Cultural Studies), STDA (Dance Studies), STGS (Gender & Sexuality Studies),
      STMU (Music Studies), STPF (Performance Studies) 
  • Select courses from  : Art History or Critical Studies Elective.

Electives (18 credits)


  • Complete 18 credits of free electives. This requirement is satisfied by any undergraduate course that isn’t required by the program.