Master of Fine Arts in Digital Cinema 2007

The Master of Fine Arts in Digital Cinema is a highly selective terminal degree program in digital filmmaking. A student is not admitted into the MFA directly; rather, a student enters the Master of Science in Digital Cinema (either the Cinema Program or the Animation Concentration) to gain the required technical foundation in cinema production and then, during pursuit of the Master of Science degree, applies for admittance into the MFA program.

The MFA typically extends the course of study by 2-3 years beyond the completion of the MS degree. This includes one year of coursework and the successful completion of the MFA thesis project, which may be live action, animation, or a combination of the two. The MFA culminates in the public presentation of the thesis project and defense of the student's thesis project to his/her MFA Committee.

The Master of Fine Arts degree is a terminal degree in digital filmmaking. As such, the student who successfully completes the Master of Fine Arts degree is awarded the MS/MFA degree similar to the MA/Ph.D in other academic disciplines.

FIND OUT MORE AT THE DIGITAL CINEMA WEBSITE

MFA Application Process

 At any time after completing the MS Core Knowledge Phase a student may apply for admission into the MFA program. The application should be made to Gary Novak, Chair of the MS/MFA Committee. The application should include:

•  a statement of purpose in pursuing the MFA degree.

• samples of creative work submitted on DVD.

•  a synopsis and production/finishing schedule for the proposed thesis project.

The Digital Cinema MS/MFA Committee

The MS/MFA committee will meet during the second week of every academic quarter to consider applications into the program. Decisions pertaining to acceptance or rejection into the MFA program will be made only at these meetings. Students applying into the MFA program should be aware of this schedule and make their application plans accordingly. Students will be advised of MS/MFA Committee application decisions by the 5th week of the academic quarter. All admission decisions of the MS/MFA Committee are final.

Students MFA Committee

After admission into the MFA program, the student will assemble his/her MFA Committee. The committee shall have a Chair and a minimum of two other members. The Chair and one committee member must be full-time Digital Cinema Faculty. After assembling an MFA Committee the student will advise the Chair of the Digital Cinema MS/MFA Committee of the composition of that committee. The student will work closely with the Chair of his/her committee in planning and completing the MFA thesis.

The MFA Thesis

The MFA Thesis shall be a major artistic digital project. Although there is no prescribed length for theses, the following should be used as guidelines:

 - for live action projects, 30 minutes or more. The Digital Cinema faculty encourages students to produce feature length films.

 - for animation projects, 10 minutes or more.

The Thesis Screening

A major component of the MFA degree is the public screening of the MFA thesis. It is the student's responsibility to organize, schedule, promote and publicize this screening.

The MFA Thesis Defense

At some point following the public screening the student will schedule a thesis defense with his/her MFA committee. At this defense the student's MFA Committee will discuss, evaluate, and critique the thesis and make a determination on the awarding of the MFA degree.

Required Courses for the MFA in Digital Cinema

Time Limit

The time limit to complete the MFA degree is 5 years from the time the student is admitted into the MFA program.

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