Visual and Performing Arts
Filmmaking Minor
Students engage content, methods, and practices with faculty in order to develop the capacity to use film as a medium to communicate compelling fictional and documentary narratives.
Your Four-Year Journey
Foundation courses explore aesthetics, techniques, and criticism. Intermediate courses explore cultural circumstances and formal elements. Advanced courses emphasize styles and logistics, leading to a documentary or narrative film as a Senior Project.
2-3 courses. Most majors take both introductory courses: Film & Digital Storytelling 1 and Film as a Narrative Art. Some students take a Film & Media Making course, such as Video Activism or Community-Based Media.
3-4 courses. Most majors take Film & Digital Storytelling 2, a Film & Media Making course, and begin both their selected Modules of Inquiry (usually at the 100- or 200-level). The four modules are Media, Politics, and Technology; Popular Culture and Civic Life; Digital Storytelling, and Live Performance.
4-5 courses: Most majors take the Junior Seminar, continue their Modules of Inquiry (usually at the 200- or 300-level), and a Film Studies & Culture course such as Film Studies, Screen Cultures, Writing Nonfiction, or Introduction to Culture through Film.
3 courses: Majors complete both their selected modules (300-level courses) and complete the Senior Project.
Maria D’Antonio, Alumna
Class of 2010, Midday Personality for CBS Pittsburgh
“ While I chose to go down the path of radio broadcasting, a communication degree provides you with so many different job opportunities: sales, marketing, social media management, etc. It’s an awesome feeling to know that I have several backup options. ”