MFA in Digital Cinema

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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.

MFA in Digital Cinema 2008

The Master of Fine Arts degree is a terminal degree in digital filmmaking. The MFA culminates in the successful completion of the MFA thesis project, a public presentation of the thesis project and a defense of the thesis to the student's MFA Committee.

Program Requirements 2008

To view Graduate Program Requirements for previous years click here.

MFA in Digital Cinema 2008

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Cinema 2008

MFA Application Process

At any time after completing 7 courses (28 credit hours) toward the MS degree a student may elect to apply for admission into the MFA program. The steps in applying for the MFA are as follows:

Contact the full-time DC faculty member with whom you want to work. This faculty will become Chair of your MFA Committee if you are accepted in the MFA.
Work with that faculty member in preparing materials and a timeline for your application.
Make a formal MFA application during the first week of any academic quarter or during the first week of the Summer I session.
Your sponsoring faculty member will serve as your advocate during the MFA selection process.

MFA Application Materials

The MFA application should include:

a statement of purpose in pursuing the MFA degree, including the faculty member who will be your advocate.
samples of creative work submitted on DVD.
a synopsis and production/finishing schedule for the proposed thesis project.

The MFA Application

The application should be made to Gary Novak, Chair of the MFA Committee. Applications should be made during the first week of any academic quaarter or during the first week of the Summer I session.

Digital Cinema MFA Committee

The MFA committee will meet every academic quarter (and during the Summer I session) to consider applications into the program. Decisions pertaining to acceptance or rejection into the MFA program will be made only at these meetings. The criteria for admission into the MFA are as follows:

The student's creative potential as a filmmaker.
The committee's determination of the student's ability to complete the thesis project.
The compatibility of the Digital Cinema MFA program with the student's goals as indicated in the statement of purpose.

Students will be advised of MFA Committee application decisions by the 5th week of the academic quarter (or at the end of the Summer I session). All admission decisions of the MFA Committee are final. Students who are not admitted into the MFA will continue on in the MS program.

Student's MFA Committee

The student's MFA Committee shall have a Chair and a minimum of two other members.. The Chair (who was the student's advocate during the selection process) 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 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.

Courses Requirements

The requirements for the MFA are as follows: the 13 courses required for the MS plus 3 MFA thesis seminars

Offered Fall
In class	Online
√		DC 565 Thesis Development
		DC 566 Thesis Production
		DC 567 Thesis Post-Production

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, 15-35 minutes. 15-20 minute films tend to get the best festival play. Films longer than 35 minutes usually do not qualify for the SAG student film waiver.
the Digital Cinema faculty encourages students to produce feature length films
for animation projects, 10 minutes or more

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.

All courses in degree

DC 565 Thesis Development
DC 566 Thesis Production
DC 567 Thesis Post-Production

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 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.