Pennsylvania State University Film Program

Instead of placing the greatest emphasis on liberal arts, as many other universities do, the film program at Pennsylvania State University places an emphasis on communications. Their communications program is the largest accredited communications program in the United States. This helps to provide their students with a strength in that field. The education that film students at Pennsylvania State receive is one where subjects in liberal arts will be explored; however, the majority of classes will give students a strong background in applied and conceptual communications theories.

Those who wish to pursue film as a major must apply for admittance into the program. Penn State only allows students into this program during the fall semester and only during their junior year. Thus, students will take the requisite liberal arts and communications preparatory classes during their first two years, then end their undergraduate experience with two years focused on film and video production. The application for the film school includes an essay and creative writing exercise--both of which will be judged by faculty members.

Once accepted into the film program, students have the flexibility to decide upon their specialization. The three fields offered are screenwriting, narrative fiction, and non-fiction production. Along with the classes which focus on their specialization, students will take classes which highlight the theoretical and aesthetic properties of film-making.

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania State does not have a specialization dedicated to editing or post-production practices. An additional drawback to their program is that they do not have any classes specifically devoted to editing. This particular drawback can be rather disappointing for those who wish to pursue editing, but it is important to note that the vast majority of American universities which offer a major in film/video do not have a specialization in editing. While Penn State does not offer this particular specialization, they do cover aspects of editing in many of their film-making courses.

The first opportunity students will have to learn how to properly edit a film is in their introductory film-making class. This class will cover the basics in modern film-making, including lessons on editing. There are also more advanced classes which utilize editing as a component of the learning process. They offer a course in alternative and documentary film-making which explores the theoretical and practical methods used in these two art forms. Additional courses include an introduction to multimedia production and an intermediate course in film and production techniques.

Temple Film School Review

If you are in search of a university whose film department places an emphasis on applying theoretical concepts to actual film making, then Temple University might be a good choice for you.

The film program at Temple begins as most film curriculum's do; the beginning courses in this department include an introduction to the aesthetics and theoretical concepts of media arts. This would include film, video, and television. However, what sets Temple apart from other universities are the opportunities that upper level film students have the chance to experience.

In their senior year, many film students have the chance to participate in the creation of a senior project. Admittance into this program is highly selective. Students must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average (GPA) and must submit a proposal of their planned creative output.

Once approved, the student will work with a professor to complete the production of a film and an accompanying production book. These senior films are presented annually at an end-of-the-year event.

This particular program is considered to be very intense. It will help hone the student’s pre-production, production, and post-production skills. The goal of this program is to further prepare students for the film industry via the creation of a film that is aesthetically pleasing and makes a social statement.

Additional unique programs found in the film department include learning opportunities in other locales. The Los Angeles Internship program is a favorite amongst the student body. In this program, students will experience various network opportunities in the heartland of the film industry.

Guest lecturers and industry professionals will advise students on the methods they used to achieve success in the industry and can advise students on their proposed plans. It is an excellent way for students to get a head start on their careers.

The Temple film curriculum also offers a seminar in London. In this program, students will study British film and theatre under the tutelage of an international faculty. There are a number of film, television, and theatre-related internships available with this program. This program lasts five weeks and takes place during the summer.

As for film editing, Temple does not offer a specialization in this field; however, they do offer classes singularly devoted to nonlinear editing. This includes advanced classes as well. Another helpful course is “Experimental Film” where students will explore alternative approaches to filmmaking; this includes experimental forms of editing.

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UCLA Film School Review

The most logical destination for many future filmmakers is Los Angeles. There are a number of excellent editing film schools in the area, but the school to receive the most acclaim for its film and video curriculum is the University of California, Los Angeles. The Princeton Review ranked UCLA’s school for Television, Film, and Television (TFT) in first place out of 500 national programs. If, for some reason you find the Princeton Review’s opinion to be questionable, then you might want to consider the US News and World Report’s analysis which has ranked UCLA’s film school/television program in the top three for the past few years.

Alumnae of this school have gone on to win Emmys, Oscars, and Tony’s. With that said, it is obvious that admittance into this editing film school is highly competitive. In 2003, they admitted 310 students out of 3,688 applicants. Therefore, it is imperative that applicants display an attitude towards academic excellence as well as an appreciation for the aesthetics of their proposed major.

One unparalleled aspect of their film program is that this program is combined with those on the television and theater tract. No other university in the United States combines the curriculum of live-action theatre, multimedia, and video in one school. The Theater, Film, and Television (TFT) school is integrated so that students with like-minded artistic goals have the opportunity to learn, and have experience in, similar fields. The ideal result of this experiment is that the students of this program will not become cookie-cutter graduates of a mundane film school; instead, UCLA strives to have film graduates who are artists with an eye towards aesthetic innovation in film and television.

In the TFT, it is important that students receive a historical, theoretical, and aesthetic appreciation for film. Thus, the UCLA Film and Television archive is available for students to explore the rich history of their field. Additional concerns of this school are that students remain well rounded by receiving a strong foundation in the liberal arts.

The film program offers concentrations in three areas: critical studies (criticism of film, television); production (pre- and post-production of film, animation, and multimedia); and film and television writing. This concentration will be pursued during a student’s final year, however the concentration must be chosen in the spring quarter of their junior year. Those interested in film editing will take classes that revolve around film production, a class on film post-production, and a technical lab.

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Film Program at University of Michigan

The film program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is one which places a significant emphasis upon the theoretical aspects of the craft of film making. This approach is generally seen in national film programs at other universities, but it tends to wane as students progress in their studies. At the University of Michigan, this approach is maintained during a student’s full four years at the school.

For their introductory courses, students have a choice between the Art of Film and the Introduction to the Moving Image. Both classes will teach students to appreciate the aesthetics and theoretical concerns of historic film makers. Students will also gain an appreciation for the modern storytelling.

After this broad introduction, students will continue to study critically acclaimed films in courses which cover both American and International films. The final class in this cycle of criticism is Film Theory and Criticism. This class analyzes film criticism and the various approaches predecessors have taken towards this medium.

The hands-on portion of the curriculum begins with the Introduction to Film, Video, and Television. In this class, students gain experience with every level of production. Students are expected to utilize their critical studies background during this experience. Their critical background will help them to identify artistic methods and innovative expressions to make their films exciting.

Students who are enrolled in the program have access to resources which will help them along their journey to producing high quality 16mm films. At the Frieze Building, students can use the 30 X 45 sound stage, film editing suites, and audio production and mixing studio to complete the post-production on their films. These editing suites house multiple Avid machines.

To ensure that students have some grasp of the film world that is awaiting them, the University of Michigan initiated the James Gindin Visiting Artist Series. This program brings industry professionals to the campus to lecture students on their climb to the top of their field. With this series, these professionals will also work closely with students to give them feedback and pointers which the students can later use during the making of their films.

During the final weeks of the school year, there is a screening of the best student work produced that year. This screening is a major campus event which draws a diverse audience. Here, students are allowed to view and digest their peers opinions of their creative output.

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NYU Film School

The film program at the famed Tisch school at New York University (NYU) is one of the most competitive programs of its kind in the nation. It is competitive for good reason. Their film-making facility is counted amongst the largest on the East coast. Running this enormous facility requires 11 staff members and over 50 assistants. With a film-making facility of that magnitude, it is only reasonable to assume that the film program in the Tisch school would be equally impressive when compared to other film schools.

The Todman Center for Film and Television houses a 2500 square foot film and television sound stage where students can rehearse and shoot their films and/or television programs. Rehearsal space at the Todman center is used well over 1000 times per year for student casting sessions. In separate facilities, you will find two teaching sound stages where students are trained to professionally film their scenes.

The Production Center might resemble heaven to those interested in editing. The main goal is for students to achieve a professional-looking film utilizing industry-standard equipment. This post-production area houses Steenbeck flat bed editing machines, Beta-cam SP, Pro Tools, Final Cut Pro, and Avid Media Composer, XPress, Xpress DV, and Symphony. The post production area is open for long hours from day to night, but the service hours stretch to 24-hours during especially hectic times of the school year.

The Tisch school also incorporates many editing classes into their curriculum. There is a post- production colloquium which focuses mainly upon the objectives of the editors. Students will learn about the editing process during class sessions in which they will deconstruct film clips with their peers. They will also learn to approach a the editing of a film from an aesthetic as well as a cost-effective point of view. This class is enhanced with guest speakers who will communicate their own challenges and successes in the editing room.

The first full-semester class which focuses on the art of editing is “Film Aesthetics: Editing”. In this class, students will explore the theoretical and aesthetic processes of film editing in classic and modern films. The course will also contrast common methods of editing used in narrative, experimental, and documentary films. This analyzation will help students to readily identify the ways in which editing can highlight or influence the viewer’s perspective on the subject matter. This class can be followed by more advanced classes in editing.

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