CalArts Academic Assessment Plan

CalArts Academic Assessment Plan School: Film/Video Program: Program in Film and Video Degree(s): BFA, MFA Last revised by: Betzy Bromberg Revision date: June 2014 I. Program Description The Program in Film and Video is designed for students who use film and video as media for personal expression and exploration those artists for whom independent film and video is a calling and not simply a mode of production. In the workshop environment cultivated by the program, each student develops and refines his or her practice as a respected member of a community of artists. Individually and collectively, the program s faculty is broad in its sympathies and interests. The program supports an unparalleled breadth of work from personal essays and political documentaries to experiments in narrative, from lyrical and abstract films to installation and new media. Students acquire a full range of technical and practical skills, learn to think critically about their chosen media, and work to develop a precise language and aesthetic for personal articulation. The faculty maintains that, as filmmaker Fernando Solanas once put it, the possibility of making a new cinema completely outside the system depends on whether or not filmmakers can transform themselves from directors into total filmmakers. And no one can become a total filmmaker without being a film technician, without being capable of handling the production. To enable students to understand the fundamental processes of film and video production, the first year of both the undergraduate and graduate curricula is devoted to rigorous technical training, including core workshops in 16mm film production, video production, sound production and editing. These workshops also help students to acquire a valuable set of vocational skills abilities that can serve as a future means of financial support as graduates of the program pursue their own personal work. Importantly, the Program in Film and Video embraces the rapid technological changes that are broadening and democratizing access to the means of making films and videos. Students are encouraged to develop and utilize these new potentials in order to better control the means of production and thus assert themselves as truly independent artists. Program faculty also believe that a division between production and critical studies now prevalent in most American film schools is detrimental to both areas of study. Critical studies classes are a vital part of the curriculum, especially during the first two years of the undergraduate program; and film and video artists are expected to know the histories and theoretical traditions of their chosen media, so that they can make fully informed artistic decisions during the development of their work. II. Student Learning Outcomes 1

1. Technical and practical skills 2. Think critically about their chosen mediums 3. Artistic growth while experimenting with different forms of cinematic expression III. Curriculum- Outcomes Alignment Program in Film and Video BFA Curriculum Map SLO 1 SLO 2 SLO 3 F101A Filmmaking Fundamentals F101B Filmmaking Fundamentals F126 Video Production Workshop CS175A Film History CS175B Film History F153 Structuring Strategies F134 Digital Editing: Introduction to Avid F108A Undergraduate Film Production Workshop F103 Cinematography F185 Production Sound F209 Optical Printing F210 Documentary Production F270 Sound T.A. Class F273 Acting Bad F281 Sound Editing and Mixing F283 Creative Sound Design F290 Post Production F298 Devices of Illusion F314 A & B Film Today F324 Sound and the Image F328 Video T.A Class F336 Experimental Film Techniques I and 2 F340 Undergraduate Critique F343 Visiting Artist Workshops F381 Post Production Sound F318 Sexuality, Gender & Destruction in Cinema F117 Videographics F297 Alchemical Cinema F382 Dangerous Filmmaking F405 Writing About Film Program in Film and Video BFA Curriculum Map Continued 2

F140 Film to Video F 230 Editing Aesthetics F270 Screenwriting F301 Intermediate Digital Production/Post F347 Under 15 minutes: a short film workshop F358 Advanced production F416 Cinema & Media East Central Europe F430 Video Installation F522D Graduate Seminar: Deleuze and Cinema F600 Production Crews F601 Post Production Crews F346 Documentary Inquiries - Performance, Witnessing and Restless Archives F370 History of Documentary Film F424 Radicalizing Vision F427 Cinema of Exile: Perspectives on Israel and Palestine F535 Finding Money F800 Undergraduate Independent Proj: Film and Video CS275 History of Experimental Film CS570B Women in Cinema: Part V CS570D History of Video Art CS570I Questions of Third Cinema CSSS42 Contemporary Latin American Film/TV/Video FD517A Special Topics: Realist Style FD517B Special Topics: The Curious Art of Autobiography FD517L Special Topics: Love Stories Program in Film and Video MFA Curriculum Map SLO 1 SLO 2 SLO 3 F117 Videographics F126 Video Production Workshop CS175A Film History CS175B Film History F153 Structuring Strategies F134 Digital Editing: Introduction to Avid F108A Undergraduate Film Production Workshop F103 Cinematography F185 Production Sound F209 Optical Printing F210 Documentary Production F270 Sound T.A. Class Program in Film and Video MFA Curriculum Map (Cont.) SLO 1 SLO 2 SLO 3 3

F273 Acting Bad F281 Sound Editing and Mixing F283 Creative Sound Design F290 Post Production F298 Devices of Illusion F314 A & B Film Today F324 Sound and the Image F328 Video T.A Class F336 Experimental Film Techniques I and 2 F340 Undergraduate Critique F343 Visiting Artist Workshops F381 Post Production Sound F318 Sexuality, Gender & Destruction in Cinema F501 Filmmaking Fundamentals F297 Alchemical Cinema F382 Dangerous Filmmaking F405 Writing About Film F140 Film to Video F 230 Editing Aesthetics F270 Screenwriting F301 Intermediate Digital Production/Post F347 Under 15 minutes: a short film workshop F358 Advanced production F416 Cinema & Media East Central Europe F430 Video Installation F522D Graduate Seminar: Deleuze and Cinema F501 Filmmaking Fundamentals Graduate F600 Production Crews F601 Post Production Crews F346 Documentary Inquiries - Performance, Witnessing and Restless Archives F370 History of Documentary Film F424 Radicalizing Vision F427 Cinema of Exile: Perspectives on Israel and Palestine F535 Finding Money F 900 Graduate Independent Project: Film and Video FD517A Special Topics: Realist Style FD517B Special Topics: The Curious Art of Autobiography FD517L Special Topics: Love Stories CS275 History of Experimental Film Program in Film and Video MFA Curriculum Map (Cont.) SLO 1 SLO 2 SLO 3 4

CS570B Women in Cinema: Part V CS570D History of Video Art CS570I Questions of Third Cinema CSSS42 Contemporary Latin American Film/TV/Video IV. Mid- Residency Review and Graduation Review Methodology Faculty in the Program in Film and Video teach each student according to his or her unique goals, talents, strengths, and abilities as an artist, as determined in many one- on- one conversations with the mentor and other faculty. Students in the Program in Film/Video will develop core knowledge and abilities that empower them to create powerful and unique film and video works. In all reviews, a hired note- taker creates a review document that becomes an official document of the registrar s office. Review notes are officially approved by both the mentor and dean before they are made available to the student. Undergraduate Reviews: At the mid- residence review, student and Mentor select two additional faculty members to evaluate and discuss the presentation of film/video/media works. Recommendations for artistic changes, technical issues, and relationships to other film or video artists are considered. The committee discusses the student s aspirations for projects that will be completed in the final two years. This is also an opportunity to evaluate the student s performance in their course work, including critical studies, and to make recommendations for any needed adjustments. Final BFA graduation reviews are again composed of faculty interested in an individual student s work. The committee reviews recent accomplishments by the student, with discussion, as well as consideration of the student s future artistic goals. At this time, the student s full academic record will be reviewed to ensure that he or she has successfully completed the coursework required for graduation. Graduate Reviews: The Program in Film and Video provides artists with a dynamic laboratory for producing new forms of narrative, documentary and experimental work in film, video, and installation. We match each student with a faculty mentor who guides that student throughout their artistic development at CalArts. Students are expected to produce a number of works during their three years of graduate study. Their degree is granted upon satisfactory completion of a thesis project which MFA students design, produce and present in close consultation with faculty. At the preliminary thesis review (during the second year), student and mentor select two additional faculty members to evaluate and discuss the presentation of the thesis proposal. This review is an opportunity to engage in an in- depth critique and discussion of the project s potential, as well as to discuss technical considerations and workflow. All technical faculty and staff must have signed off on needed facility use. The student is expected to meet individually with the mentor and other faculty on their review committee to discuss the work- in- progress. 5

At the final Graduation Review, the thesis committee meets again to view and assess the completed thesis project. Work may be presented on 16mm film, video, or as installation, and must be fully edited and include a final sound mix. V. Use of Review Results All reviews are posted, along with grades, through the registrar s office and are available for the student to view. The reviews provide faculty with ongoing evidence of the outcomes of teaching practices. The faculty, as a group and in an ongoing manner, discuss both the work being made within the program as well as the curriculum. In bi- weekly program faculty meetings, the faculty assess and adjust curriculum as needed and according to the current student body. The needs of incoming students change from year to year according to many factors such as: changing technologies, educational backgrounds, international origins, language skills, technical skills, group and individual interests. As well, students receive critical artistic and aesthetic feedback in their reviews. They are able to present their films and videos, and ask specific questions regarding their work, their path and their aesthetic intent. Students likewise engage in intensive conversation with faculty when they work one- on- one with individual faculty in the form of independent studies. Independent studies are a vital part of the PFV curriculum. Students are encouraged to engage with appropriate faculty in this intensive form of study particularly in their final years (for Undergraduates, independent studies are encouraged in the 3 rd and 4 th year; for Graduates, independent studies are encouraged in the 2 nd and 3 rd years). In addition to the individual undergraduate and graduate reviews, the Program in Film and Video faculty also conduct a Midyear Review which requires all students to submit 5 minutes worth of newly made work in addition to written material. All submissions are watched as a group during a number of weekly sessions. The midyear review provides faculty with an oversight of the work being made by all students, both undergraduate and graduate, on a yearly basis. It provides another process for Program in Film and Video faculty to discuss student work in relationship to curriculum and scholarship. At least two times a semester, students are invited to participate in both full film school and program faculty meetings. This provides an opportunity for direct communication between faculty and students to address any concerns. Finally, the Bijou Festival, which is held in the Bijou during the last week of school, provides faculty and students the opportunity to see all student work made during the year. This provides an additional overview for the Program in Film and Video faculty to evaluate the outcomes of their teaching and mentoring. Faculty are able to watch the work produced as well as observe students as they present and discuss their work to a larger audience. This final week of presentation is an invaluable means for assessing the strengths and addressing any deficiencies within the program. For the students, the Bijou festival provides a forum to show and discuss their work with both their peers and faculty. Each 6

screening is followed by discussion and Q & A. Thus students are able to hear and respond directly to inquiries and comments regarding their work. 7