College of Motion Picture Arts

Undergraduate

Dean: Reb Braddock

Established in 1989, the College of Motion Picture Arts is one of only seven university-based film conservatories in the country. In the short time the College has been in operation, it has quickly become recognized nationwide as an outstanding motion picture production program. At the undergraduate level, the College offers Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees with majors in Production and in Animation and Digital Arts. At the graduate level, the College offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees to those admitted. The College provides state-of-the-art motion picture equipment and studio facilities for production and post-production operations, and it funds all student workshops and projects, including the graduate and undergraduate thesis productions.

The expertise of the College's faculty reflects the direction and range the school will take in the future. Dean Reb Braddock is an experienced industry professional, who is joined by twenty-five faculty members, all of whom are specialists in the areas of producing, writing, directing, cinematography, visual effects, animation, editing, sound recording, production design, motion picture history, theory, and aesthetics.

Faculty Distinctions

The College of Motion Picture Arts has a strong commitment to hiring experienced working professionals who have both teaching skills and professional goals. The full-time faculty is comprised of working filmmakers with various specializations as writers, directors, production designers, and editors in both the theatrical and non-theatrical film and television industries, many of whom have won national and international awards and honors for their work. Some of the faculty also have strong records as research scholars and fiction writers, including visiting professors in the fields of motion picture law, business distribution, exhibition, and promotion.

Facilities

The College of Motion Picture Arts operates extensive production facilities for its graduate and undergraduate programs in University Center A on Florida State University's campus in Tallahassee, and in an off-campus site in Midway, Florida, known as the Torchlight Center.

Considered one of the finest facilities in the world devoted exclusively to film education, it includes: professional sound stages, a green-screen/motion capture stage, a cinematography and set operations teaching stage, grip and electric trucks fully equipped with industry standard G&E equipment, an ADR and Foley recording studio, re-recording stages, QC and dailies screening rooms, digital animation/VFX production labs, color correction suites, a 120-seat screening room, digital animation/VFX production suites, seminar rooms, writer rooms, interactive classrooms, individual post production suites, teaching labs, and student production planning rooms.

The College is equipped for and supports industry-standard acquisition in HD, 2k, 4k, and 8k digital formats, and digital sound recording formats.

Undergraduate Degree Program

The programs of study leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are designed to lead students through the complete process of creating short films, while incorporating a well-rounded liberal arts education that includes writing courses. Core courses in the majors include producing, directing, cinematography, screenwriting, sound, editing, production management, animation, visual effects, motion picture history, theory, and aesthetics. Students may be accepted into the programs at the freshman level or transfer into the programs once at least thirty semester hours of the liberal studies requirements have been completed.

The College's world-class facilities aid in meeting the goals of the undergraduate programs—to educate students in the art and craft of motion picture storytelling and to help them become integral members of the academic community of Florida State University. Graduates are trained to be members of the entertainment profession and participants in a creative and professional enterprise. After required coursework, students are encouraged to complete their program of study by enrolling in the program's internship course to apply their learning in a real-world setting in the industry. This capstone experience will position students for greater chances of success in their careers.

Admission to the Undergraduate Program

Admission to the College of Motion Picture Arts is limited access, making admission highly selective and competitive. Applicants must apply to Florida State University's Office of Admissions by their Fall admission deadline and must submit a separate application to the College of Motion Picture Arts by the same Fall admissions deadline used by the Florida State University Office of Admissions. As a part of the College of Motion Picture Arts application, each applicant must submit a résumé, three letters of recommendation, a creative portfolio (which can include film work, photographs, animations, etc.), a writing sample adhering to the given prompt, and a 500–1000 word essay describing his or her motivation for becoming a filmmaker. Any application that does not contain all these items will be considered incomplete and will be denied automatically. All application materials must be submitted online via the application portal for the applicant to be considered for admission the following Fall semester. More information concerning the undergraduate application is available online at https://film.fsu.edu/admissions.

Health Insurance

Students seeking degrees in certain majors, including film, assume any exposure to the particular hazards associated with that major. As protection for our students, the College of Motion Picture Arts requires that majors present proof of health and accident insurance (name of insurer and policy number) prior to registration in the Fall semester of each year. Students are expected to maintain this insurance throughout their enrollment in the program and keep the information updated with the Associate's Dean's Office.