Location:

Chicago, United States

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Master

Specialty:

Media Studies

Program Overview

Program Description:

Dedicated to the development of emerging screen storytellers, Columbia's MFA in Film & Video emphasizes the individual filmmaker's personal voice and cultivates the leadership role of the director. The program teaches authorship by asking the student filmmaker to create work that is authentic, diverse, and invokes the human experience. Committed individuals with a strong creative vision, a collaborative spirit, and the desire to express their stories through film or video will thrive in this exciting and rigorous program. Under the guidance of a dedicated faculty of working professionals, film scholars, and independent filmmakers, students engage in a comprehensive curriculum that centers on writing and directing, but also includes film production, theory, and history. The program provides students with a strong base in the craft of filmmaking which allows them to expand their sense of aesthetic possibilities and further develop their individual voice as a writer and director. The technical skills required to support a student's creative passion can be developed during the course of his or her studies; prior filmmaking experience is not required. This careful balance of narrative development, film theory, and technique in the classroom is reinforced by practical filmmaking experience—students begin making short films in their first semester and continue to develop their creative portfolio throughout the program. The capstone project is a twenty minute thesis film written and directed entirely by the student. Students who wish to immerse themselves in the art and community of filmmaking have the advantage at Columbia—as part of the nation's largest film and video program, they pursue their work in collaboration with a diverse group of actors, writers, composers, and creative producers who have expertise in multiple modes of presentation. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is supported by innovative facilities such as the College’s new 35,000 square foot Media Production Center which features two sound stages, a motion-capture studio, production shop, and animation lab.