Film (MFA)

Program Overview

To develop creators, innovators and leaders for the future of filmmaking by combining new technology with the fundamentals of storytelling to produce creative, original stories, with an eye towards emerging technologies that enhance the production, distribution, and exhibition of those works in the global marketplace.

Vision Statement

The Film program of the Department of Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing will be preeminent nationally in filmmaking education. As a leader, the Film Program will be recognized for its excellence by:

1. Developing a high-quality comprehensive curriculum that balances storytelling and technical competence;
2. Developing a comprehensive artistic experience that emphasizes creativity, confidence, innovation, and experimentation;
3. Developing a comprehensive approach to professional practices and career strategies in the motion picture industry including the business of filmmaking and marketing of films;
4. Recognizing trends that will create opportunities for filmmakers in the future;
5. Drawing positive attention in the University, in the region and nation-wide, to the program, faculty, and students;
6. Maintaining an infrastructure, including facilities, equipment, and computers, that supports the program’s vision;
7. Maintaining a student to equipment ratio that keeps new and cutting edge equipment in the student’s hands, both in the classroom and outside of class on their own projects;
8. Fostering the community-wide appreciation of the art and production of films;
9. Recruiting, enhancing, and retaining an internationally recognized faculty and staff.

Core Values

Programmatic

• Providing an exceptional quality education that meets the high standards of the University of Central Arkansas as well as the specific needs of the emerging filmmaker.
• Fostering an environment of creativity, experimentation, and innovation for students and faculty to craft stories that are unique and individual.
• Providing an educational environment that values equal opportunities, inclusiveness, and cultural diversity.

Students

• Helping students become practicing artists and creators with a clear identity and the confidence to engage the world.
• Focusing on fundamental storytelling techniques and encouraging students to craft stories that are unique and individual, and that help students develop a unique voice.
• Fostering student group productions and faculty-lead film productions that allow for the development of collaboration and teamwork, work with local industry, and provide examples of professional-level filmmaking

Program Outline

Curriculum and Facilities

• Taking accessible and cutting edge technologies and applying them to the solution of creative challenges.
• Providing up-to-date equipment and facilities that serve as a working model of current filmmaking production.
• Proactively updating and developing the Film program’s curriculum.

Faculty

• Actively engaging in scholarly and creative activities.
• Keeping up with the latest developments in our fields.
• Collaborating with colleagues on and off campus as equal partners in ways that capitalize on each other’s unique strengths in research and creative activities.

The Master of Fine Arts in Film is a three-year, 60-credit-hour terminal degree. The program emphasizes storytelling and production through a series of courses and the thesis project. In addition, students are required to take courses in history and theory to create a well-rounded education. Students are expected to take 12 credits a semester in fall and spring of the first two years of the program.

Courses

The student is required to complete a minimum of 42 hours of course work before beginning the thesis project.

Required Courses

Production Block (12 credit hours)

• FILM 6300 Production Project (repeatable)

Storytelling Bock (12 credit hours)

• FILM 6327 Storytelling 1: Introduction to Visual Narrative
• FILM 6326 Storytelling 2: Directing the Motion Picture
• FILM 6363 Storytelling 3: Short Film Writing
• FILM 6360 Storytelling 4: Screenwriting

Studies Block (12 credit hours)

• FILM 6316 Film Theory
• FILM 6317 Cognitive/Ecological Theories of Cinema
• FILM 6340 History of American Cinema
• FILM 6341 History of International Cinema

Electives (12 credit hours)

• FILM 5305 Production Design
• FILM 5311 Cinematography
• FILM 5312 Cinematic Lighting
• FILM 5320 Film Editing
• FILM 5354 Animation for Visual Effects
• FILM 5355 Visual Effects Compositing
• FILM 5363 Audio Production and Design for Film
• FILM 5373 Documentary Production
• FILM 5375 Experimental Film Production
• FILM 5380 Seminar in Film Studies
• FILM 5V90 Internship (variable credit: 1–3 credit hours)
• FILM 5V92 Topics in Film Production (variable credit: 1–3 credit hours)
• FILM 6390 Directed Study in Film

Thesis (12 credit hours)

• FILM 7V80 Thesis (variable credit: 1–6 credit hours)

Substitutions may be made at the discretion of the student’s advisor and/or committee.

Comprehensive Examination

The student must pass a comprehensive examination administered by the thesis committee before beginning the thesis project (usually spring semester of the second year). The comprehensive examination will cover history, theory, and production practices.

Thesis Project

The thesis project will take the form of a short, narrative, fiction film, the approximate length of which will be determined by the student’s thesis committee.

Students are expected to complete a minimum of 42 hours of course work and pass the comprehensive examination before beginning thesis hours.

By the end of the fourth semester of study (48 credit hours completed) the student will submit a script and production proposal that must be approved by the thesis committee. The script details the student’s proposed film and provides the opportunity for review and feedback from the committee. The production proposal will provide the student’s vision for the film.

The script and proposal will be submitted to the committee in a formal meeting. Graduate students are required to present their script and proposal orally to their committee, providing members the opportunity to evaluate the student’s knowledge and understanding of the proposal as well as the student’s ability to reason and present logical explanations to questions related to the completion of the proposed film.

Students typically enroll in six hours of thesis credits per semester in their third year. Students must complete 12 hours of thesis work to graduate.

The completed thesis project will include the following elements:

1. A completed short, narrative, fiction film
2. A copy of the production proposal, with a new, added Conclusions section
3. The final shooting script in proper script format
4. A production book containing all relevant pre-production and production paperwork, including, but not limited to, script breakdown sheets, story boards, shooting schedule, element lists (props, costumes, etc.), and all necessary release forms (actor, location, music, etc.), as well as creative documents, including shot lists, set plans, and script analysis

When the thesis project is completed, an oral examination of the candidate will be held. The oral examination is principally a defense of the thesis. This provides an opportunity for the student to present his/her work to the committee formally and for the committee to indicate its acceptance or to require further work.