BA.FILM - Filmmaking, B.A.

Introduction

The Woodbury School of Design and Media Arts BA in Filmmaking is a professional liberal arts degree that places emphasis on the study of film through a focus on the entertainment industry. Our students engage with film from multiple angles: as an artform for communicating ideas, as a business for selling cultural products, and as a technology for creating memorable moving images.

The BA in Filmmaking integrates historical study with practice-based education in a variety of filmmaking disciplines. The program shares a common foundation with the BFA in Filmmaking during the first two years of study. All students receive a broad introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques of filmmaking via instruction in the building blocks of film production, the industrial processes of the entertainment industry, and the history of moving images. Then, students focus their upper-division studies on the history, aesthetics, and industry of moving image media by taking advanced classes in producing, marketing, and media studies before culminating their degree in a research-based, multimedia thesis project. In addition, as part of our program’s focus on the business of the entertainment industry, all students gain hands-on professional experience by completing an internship as part of their academic journey.

Internship/Career Experience

Prior to graduation, students must complete 120 hours of internship or work experience at a production or postproduction facility, agency or management company, or other job related to the entertainment media industry. The career experience is usually accomplished in the junior or senior year. Woodbury’s Career Development Office offers a variety of programs, services, and resources to assist students in exploring careers and securing internships. The staff works with students one-on-one to develop successful search strategies to help students connect with employers through internship postings, résumé collections, on- and off- campus interview opportunities, alumni connections, and employer outreach in the United States.

Assessment Process

Student performance and outcome attainment is evaluated systematically throughout the program via ongoing assessment strategies at the formative and capstone levels. Each year, the program specifies key areas for measured assessment of student learning outcomes that involve programmatic outcomes, as well as core competencies and institutional outcomes. The process provides a vehicle to assure program quality and promotes continuous improvement in student work, teaching effectiveness, and curriculum design.

Capstone

Student work in the BA is evaluated through a research based, multimedia thesis project. Students take a two-semester course sequence during their senior year in which they research, develop, and produce a multimedia project with a focus on the history, aesthetics, and/or industry of moving image media. With guidance from the instructor, students are expected to identify an area of interest, engage in independent research, and determine the scope of a yearlong individual or collaborative project that will serve as a capstone for their study of filmmaking at Woodbury.

Program Specific Standards

A minimum grade of “C” is required of all Filmmaking studio courses. Students receiving a grade below a “C” must successfully repeat the studio prior to enrollment in the succeeding studio. It is strongly recommended that students take no more than 12 studio units in a single semester.