DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED CHANGE: MAJOR MODIFICATION DEPARTMENT / PROGRAM. English and Film Studies / Film Studies Program MOTION

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1 MAJOR MODIFICATION DEPARTMENT / PROGRAM English and Film Studies / Film Studies Program MOTION On the recommendation of the Senate Academic Planning Committee, that Senate approve the proposal to introduce a new Option in Film Production. APPROVED AT: (please note date of approval at previous levels) Film Studies Advisory Group March 4, 2015 FS Department in Council March 10, 2015 Arts Curriculum Committee April 10, 2015 Arts Divisional Council April 17, 2015 Senate Academic Planning Committee May 12, 2015 EFFECTIVE DATE: September 2015 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED CHANGE: The Film Studies Program is proposing the addition of an Option in Film Production to its existing and highly successful academic programs: Combined Honours BA (since 2002) Honours BA (since 2012) Minor in Film Studies New: *Option in Film Production* The technical skills at the basis of contemporary filmmaking practice videography, editing, lighting, sound design, and post-production work are common to many professional fields from film to television to journalism to advertising. Our existing academic program foregrounds the theoretical, historical, and stylistic analysis of film; the proposed addition of the Option in Film Production will allow any student (not just FS majors) to put their learning into practice and, in so doing, gain valuable and marketable skills for their post-graduate careers. 1

2 From 2011 until 2013, the Film Studies Program offered two different digital video production courses: FS 309b Introduction to Digital Video Editing (Winter 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013) and FS 309c Advanced Digital Video Editing (Winter 2013) through ADVIDEO from Kitchener s Communitech Hub. These courses were extremely popular and represented an important first step in a move toward the integration of film production into the Film Studies program. We followed up the success of these studio courses with regular academic courses that offer a film industry and production focus: FS 209a: The Business of Film (Winter 2015) and FS 309g: Screenwriting and Directing (Fall 2014). Given the unequivocal success of all four courses, and in response to current and prospective student demand, Film Studies seeks to expand its current offerings and introduce a formalized Option. Two Intro and two History courses are offered each year; and a minimum of one each of the Industry and Studio courses would be offered each year. The proposed Option in Film Production consists of the following Film Studies courses: 0.5 credits in Intro Film Studies courses o FS 101: Film and Narrative o FS 102: Film and the Image o FS 103: Film and Genre 0.5 credits in Film History courses o FS 240: Film History to 1950 o FS 241: Film History since credit in Film Studio courses o FS 370: Intro to Video Editing (pre-requisite: 1.0 FS credits) o FS 371: Advanced Video Editing (pre-requisite: FS 370) 1.0 credit in Film Industry courses o FS 275: The Business of Film o FS 280: Audiences & Film Fandom o FS 374: Screenwriting & Directing (pre-requisite: 1.0 FS credits) Two Intro and two History courses are offered each year as required courses for the existing Honours and Combined Honours these courses would also provide students in the new Option with the foundation needed to move into the Studio courses. A minimum of one each of the Industry and Studio courses would be offered each year with the approval of the new Option. The practical skills and theoretical knowledge gained by students would contribute directly to their personal growth as both scholars and creators; to more creative, critical, and interdisciplinary thinking; and to successful post-graduate careers. Students who complete the Option in Film Production would have the knowledge and skills to pursue careers in the growing sectors of digital media production and post-production for film, web, and television, screenwriting and directing, public relations and advertising, outreach for NGOs and NPOs, teaching, events organization, and festival programming. They also would be well positioned to pursue graduate studies in film and media studies, communications, and cultural studies. Background 2

3 The Film Studies program has grown significantly in the last decade with the hiring of six full-time faculty, the development of many new courses, and a dramatic increase in student enrolment. Since 2002, the number of Film Studies majors has tripled (to ~90) and the number of students taking FS courses has also tripled (to ~1300). With support from CAS, we typically offer 20 courses per year, including two large ( ) first-year courses. In 2012, we launched the stand-alone Honours BA in Film Studies, a testament to our healthy development as one of the top film programs in Canada. Until the late 1990s, Laurier had offered production courses through the Communication Studies and Film Studies programs. These courses, however, were phased out because of costs: small course enrolment in addition to limited equipment and appropriate space; the studio space housed in the DAWB (in Media Technology Resources) was eliminated during the 2006/2007 renovation. A turning point came in 2011, however, when we partnered with ADVIDEO (Communitech Hub) to offer two production courses: FS 309b Introduction to Digital Video Editing (Winter 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013) and FS 309c Advanced Digital Video Editing (Winter 2013). One third of the students who completed these courses were offered paid internships, co op placements, and part time and full time employment opportunities at ADVIDEO. Others found employment in production companies and the media industries in KW, Guelph, and Toronto. The unmitigated success of these pilot courses suggests that a formalized expansion into an Option in Film Production would enhance students post-degree employability. RATIONALE FOR PROPOSED CHANGE: Student Demand and Institutional Differentiation In a recent poll of Film Studies majors, production courses were among the most requested; similarly, the majority of prospective students who visit the Ontario University Fair ask about production courses as part of the Film Studies degree. With the new provincial emphasis on institutional differentiation, the Film Studies program believes that expanding our production course offerings into an Option, using existing courses, would make Laurier s one of the leading undergraduate film programs in Ontario competitive with existing top programs. For example, whereas York University s production courses are intended primarily for BFA and MFA students who must apply directly to the production program, at Laurier Film Production courses would be accessible to all students, regardless of major. The Option in Film Production would be of direct benefit to students who want to pursue careers in the film industry as, at the moment, they are required to supplement their academic knowledge with production experience by attending production programs at Sheridan, Humber, and Centennial Colleges. To be able to provide Film majors with production experience as part of the undergraduate degree would open up more immediate job opportunities and attract more students to the program. At Laurier, we would offer students the opportunity to acquire both knowledge of the academic field of Film Studies but also skills to pursue jobs in the film industry. The expansion of the program offerings will distinguish Laurier Film Studies from other academic film programs in Ontario such as University of Toronto and Western and establish Laurier as a competitor of production oriented programs such as York and Queen s. Learning Outcomes The increasing demand among employers for technical, media-based skills in a variety of professional fields has prompted our reconsideration of how we are meeting our program s Learning 3

4 Outcomes. Historically, students academic study of film has always benefited from their concomitant development of technical and professional skills; film, after all, is a technologically driven medium and a crucial part of the global entertainment industry. At the same time, one of the best ways to understand film narrative is to know how to tell a story cinematically. While some of our instructors already integrate production-based assignments into their classes (e.g., by using storyboarding in order to teach techniques of Hollywood editing), we are confident that a formalized program of Studio and Industry courses will greatly augment the creative, analytical, intellectual and professional growth of our students in consonance with our program s Learning Outcomes, as described below. ALIGNMENT WITH UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC PLAN: The proposed Option in Film Production aligns at many key points with Laurier s Academic Plan. As the Plan states, Laurier s commitment to teaching and learning is manifested in our focus on integrative and applied learning. Theoretical research and academic programs are balanced by applied, practice-based research and pedagogy generated across academic disciplines and the professions. Such emphasis on the application of academic knowledge will find a highly appropriate and effective venue in the proposed Option, through which students would take both traditional academic and practical, technical-based courses, within a single four-year program. The Option, therefore, also addresses Laurier s Core Principles, such as Integration, which is shorthand for the capacity of students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers who can draw on knowledge, skills, and personal and work experiences to resolve complex issues encountered in life and work. A related principle is Synthesis: the application of both theory and practice in academic programs; hybrid forms of pedagogy including interdisciplinary courses. Overall, integration and synthesis at Laurier imply the connection of work and learning, which the proposed Option perfectly embodies, synthesizing and articulating the construction of a film with its critical deconstruction. Finally, the Option in Film Production would offer an unprecedented opportunity to integrate and synthesize two of Laurier s Core Domains: Social and Cultural Analysis with Cultural and Artistic Production. The same student who is taking or has taken more traditional academic Film Studies courses will be able to supplement this critical-analytical approach with the practical experience afforded by the new production courses, combining these diverse skill sets to open up manifold employment opportunities. IMPACT ON PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: The Option in Film Production will benefit Laurier students who want to pursue careers in the film industry as, at the moment, they are required to supplement their academic knowledge with production experience by attending production programs at local colleges. Our ability to provide students with a formalized production Option as part of the undergraduate degree will enhance our students learning experiences, shorten the overall duration of their post-secondary education, and provide new avenues of employment for graduates. The Option in Film Production expands our program s Learning Outcomes by: 4

5 Enabling students to put theory into practice, and in so doing to come to appreciate the challenges of filmmaking and gain an understanding of how staging, cinematography, editing, and sound combine in the construction of meaning in a film; Encouraging students to engage actively in a collective critical dialogue around film- and media-related issues in public forums; Contributing directly and significantly to students understanding of how filmmakers operate within technological, economic, and industrial constraints, and how those different constraints have operated across film history and in various genres and national contexts; Improving students capacity to produce and express coherent and persuasive arguments in cinematic or digital formats, with attention to academic integrity and a respect for diverse perspectives and disparate ideas; Developing students abilities to work in groups and independently; Allowing students to apply the resulting knowledge to their everyday lives and as they take advantage of their new skills to ensure successful careers after university. IMPACT ON RESOURCES: This Option can be offered without any increase in the number of courses currently allocated to EFS for Costs: None - the Studio Courses require additional resources but at no additional cost. Both Studio courses require the use of 30 Dell laptops (from ICT), which are available to sign-out at the Student Service Desk for classroom use and assignments: o Weekdays: Mon Thurs 8:30am-10:00pm; Fri 8:30am 4:30pm o Weekends: Sat 1:00pm 5:00p; Sun 5:00pm 9:00pm Studio courses can be run with free software programs Studio courses would have to be capped at 30 students due to restrictions with equipment access and also because of the need for one-on-one interactions with the instructor Benefits: The formalization of the Option in Film Production will Offer a new degree program whose direction matches current global trends Establish new marketability of Laurier to national and international students Generate additional revenue from student tuition from Continuing Studies programs Enable Laurier to compete against more established production programs in Ontario Increase the employment/placement ratio for Film Studies grads & Continuing Studies students Produce a new generation of Laurier graduates working in fields, including Film and Video Production, Video Post Production, Video Gaming, Film Trailers, Interactive Mobile Video Applications, and related industries. NEW CALENDAR DESCRIPTION: The Option in Film Production is designed for students who seek to combine a foundational 5

6 knowledge of Film Studies with a practical understanding of the techniques of video and film production, from script to screen. The Option is composed of at least 3.0 credits in Film Studies courses as follows: 0.5 credits in Intro Film Studies courses (FS 101, FS 102, FS 103) 0.5 credits in Film History courses (FS 240, FS 241) 1.0 credit in Film Studio courses (FS 370, FS 371) 1.0 credit in Film Industry courses (FS 275, FS 280, FS 374) 6