Program Overview

Overview

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts is a competitive degree program that requires an application and selection procedure. The program aims to prepare artists who will be competitive and original as independent filmmakers, who may aspire to advanced graduate degrees beyond the BFA, or who are considering an artistic approach to their filmmaking portfolio.

Requirements

Admission Requirements

• The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts educates students in the history and development of film as an art form and contemporary medium.
• The curriculum instills an informed analytic awareness of the ways in which film has evolved artistically, stylistically, and provides the resources for significant creative exploration of the medium.
• Applicants must have a cumulative GPA at CU Boulder of 2.3 or higher and a CINE GPA of 3.2 or higher.
• Students are required to have completed CINE 1502, 2000, and 2500 to apply.
• Applicants must submit an online application, an essay, and two creative samples of Moving Image.
• Admission into the BFA program is contingent upon approval of the application materials by the BFA committee.

Program Requirements

• No more than 6 credit hours of independent study may be credited toward the major.
• Students must complete the required cinema courses with a grade of C or better.
• The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts requires a minimum of 57 credit hours in support of the BFA degree requirements.

Required Courses and Credits

• Required Critical Studies Courses: 17 credit hours
  • CINE 1502: Introduction to Cinema Studies 1
  • CINE 3051 & CINE 3061: Film History 1 and Film History 2
  • CINE 2005: Form, Structure, and Narrative Analysis
  • CINE 4604: Colloquium in Film Aesthetics
• Required Production Courses: 22 credit hours
  • CINE 2000: Moving Image Foundations I
  • CINE 2500: Moving Image Foundations II
  • CINE 3400: Cinema Production I
  • CINE 3515: Lights, Camera, Action
  • CINE 3525: Post Production Lecture
  • CINE 4500: Cinema Production 2 (Part I and Part II)
• Production Course Electives: 9 credit hours
  • Select 9 credit hours (6 hours must be upper-division)
• Critical Studies Elective Requirements: 9 credit hours
  • Select 9 credit hours (6 credit hours must be upper-division) from the following:
    • CINE 2001: Space Odysseys: Astrophys/Astronomy via Cinema/Arts
    • CINE 2002: Recent International Cinema
    • CINE 2003: Film Topics 3
    • CINE 2004: CU Cinema Studies Seminar: Film Festival Cultures
    • CINE 2005: Form, Structure, and Narrative Analysis
    • CINE 2312: Film Trilogies
    • CINE 2203: American Indians in Film
    • CINE 2302: Nazis on Screen: Hollywood, War, Propaganda
    • CINE 2513: Major Asian Filmmakers
    • CINE 2521: Classics of the Foreign Cinema: 1960s to Present
    • CINE 3002: Major Film Movements 3
    • CINE 3003: Major Film Directors 3
    • CINE 3004: Alfred Hitchcock: The American Films
    • CINE 3012: Documentary Film
    • CINE 3013: Women and Film
    • CINE 3041: Environmental Cinema
    • CINE 3042: Horror Film: History, Contexts, Aesthetics
    • CINE 3043: Topics in Critical Film Studies 3
    • CINE 3081: Contemporary American Cinema: 1980 to Present
    • CINE 3104: Film Criticism and Theory
    • CINE 3422: The Hollywood Musical
    • CINE 3503: German Film Through World War II
    • CINE 3513: German Film and Society
    • CINE 3901: Independent Study (Critical Study)
    • CINE 3940: Cinema Studies Internship
    • CINE 4001: Screening Race, Class & Gender in the U.S. and the Global Borderland
    • CINE 4003: Film and Literature
    • CINE 4004: Topics in Film Theory 3
    • CINE 4023: Topics in International Cinema 3
    • CINE 4024: Advanced Research Seminar 3
    • CINE 4043: Topics in Cinema Critical Studies
    • CINE 4105: Advanced Screenwriting
    • CINE 4211: History of Russian and Soviet Cinema
    • CINE 4453: History of Avant-Garde Film
    • CINE 4604: Colloquium in Film Aesthetics
    • Any CINE class crosslisted with another department (i.e., foreign language) that has been approved by the cinema studies chair
• Total Credit Hours: 57

Graduating in Four Years with a BFA

• Consult the Four-Year Guarantee Requirements for information on eligibility.
• The concept of "adequate progress" as it is used here only refers to maintaining eligibility for the four-year guarantee; it is not a requirement for the major.
• To maintain adequate progress toward a BFA in cinema studies & moving image arts, students should meet the following requirements:
  • Declare and start the cinema studies major the first semester freshman year.
  • Complete CINE 1502, CINE 2000, CINE 2005 or CINE 2105, and one lower- or upper-division critical studies course for 3 credit hours by the end of the third semester.
  • Complete 3 credit hours upper-division Critical Studies Elective, CINE Production Elective (3 credit hours), and CINE 2500 by the end of the fourth semester.
  • Note: In order to graduate in four years, a student must apply and be accepted into the BFA program at the end of the fourth semester. See the admission requirements section above for details of the application process.
  • Complete CINE 3051, CINE 3400, CINE 3515, CINE 3525, and CINE 3061, and two production elective (6 credit hours) by the end of the sixth semester.
  • Complete CINE 4500, 3 credit hours upper-division critical studies elective by the end of the seventh semester.
  • Complete 3 additional credit hours of CINE 4500, CINE 4604, by the end of the eighth semester.

Recommended Four-Year Plan of Study

• Year One:
  • Fall Semester:
    • CINE 1502: Introduction to Cinema Studies
    • Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: QRMS)
    • Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: Lower-division Written Communication)
    • Elective
    • Elective
  • Spring Semester:
    • CINE 2005 or CINE 2105: Form, Structure, and Narrative Analysis or Introduction to the Screenplay
    • CINE 2000: Moving Image Foundations I
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution/Diversity course (example: Social Sciences/US Perspective)
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences)
    • Elective
• Year Two:
  • Fall Semester:
    • CINE 2500: Moving Image Foundations II
    • CINE Critical Studies Elective (Lower or Upper-division)
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution/Diversity course (example: Social Sciences/Global Perspective)
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences with Lab)
    • Elective
  • Spring Semester:
    • CINE Critical Studies Elective (Upper-division)
    • CINE 2010 or CINE 2300 or CINE 2610 or CINE 2900: Moving Image Computer Foundations or Beginning Filmmaking - Aesthetics or Animation Production or Lighting
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences)
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Social Sciences)
    • Elective
• Year Three:
  • Fall Semester:
    • CINE 3051: Film History 1
    • CINE 3400: Cinema Production I
    • CINE 3515: Lights, Camera, Action
    • CINE 3525: Post Production Lecture
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences)
  • Spring Semester:
    • CINE 3061: Film History 2
    • CINE 3620 or CINE 3700 or CINE 4400: Experimental Digital Animation or Cinema Audio Design or Digital Post-Production
    • CINE 3010 or CINE 3940 or CINE 4005 or CINE 4010 or CINE 4021: Film Production Topics or Cinema Studies Internship or Screenwriting Workshop: Short Form or Topics in Film Production or Directing/Acting for the Camera
    • Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: Upper-division Written Communication)
    • Elective
• Year Four:
  • Fall Semester:
    • CINE 4500: Cinema Production 2
    • CINE 4604: Colloquium in Film Aesthetics
    • CINE 4000: Advanced Digital Postproduction
    • Elective
  • Spring Semester:
    • CINE 4500: Cinema Production 2
    • CINE Critical Studies Elective (Upper-division)
    • Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Social Sciences)
    • Elective
    • Elective

Learning Outcomes

By the completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate substantial to advanced technical proficiency in various film, video, and media-making formats including (but not limited to) analog and digital capture cameras, as well as analog and digital editing, sound, and general post-production skills.
• Develop advanced creative principles of screenwriting, producing, and directing film and video projects.
• Exhibit significant understanding of cinema aesthetics in narrative, experimental, animation, and/or documentary practices.
• Apply safety protocols, crew etiquette, and other related professional practices.
• Demonstrate significant understanding of film criticism, aesthetics, history, and theory.