2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
Film and Media Arts
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 Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
Professor Mark Kerins, Division Chair
Professors: Sean Griffin, Mark Kerins, Rick Worland
Associate Professors: Amber Bemak, Derek Kompare, David Sedman
Assistant Professor: Jennifer Prediger
Professors of Practice: Michelle Glasby-Millington, Devon Smith
Adjunct Lecturers: Michael Cerny, Kesleigh Dougherty, Rebecca Flores, Tearlach Hutcheson, Niloo Jalilvand, Benjamin Pluenneke
The Division of Film and Media Arts offers students intensive training and close mentorship in the art of film and other audiovisual media, helping students develop their own artistic voice and vision, and building their understanding of the relationships between media and society. Production courses focus on fostering individual creativity and imagination while simultaneously developing technical skills (e.g., in screenwriting, cinematography, editing, and sound). History and critical studies courses expose students to the key artists and theorists of film and media across the past century, as well as to the various aesthetic movements that have developed across the globe. Students are also taught about the business of media, including how industrial concerns shape technological, artistic, and ethical choices, and prepares them to successfully enter their chosen field upon graduation. Students are also encouraged to take an internship in the professional sector to gain practical experience in the field and establish professional contacts.
The B.A. in film and media arts requires 33 credit hours; it is designed to prepare students for careers in media industries, or for postgraduate work in film and media studies and related fields. The B.A. is also designed to allow time for significant study in other disciplines, making room for additional majors and minors in other fields. Courses in film and media history, theory, and criticism provide extensive insight into these media as art forms and as important social and cultural institutions. Courses in production build experience and creative skills in writing, shooting, directing, and editing film and other media. Courses that focus on the business of media train students in the industrial aspects and logics of these industries. Finally, a capstone sequence provides final preparation for entrance into a career in the media industries.
The B.F.A. in film and media arts requires 51 credit hours and emphasizes developing the unique creative voice of each student. The B.F.A. is designed to prepare students for careers in media production and to develop their creative abilities in the art form. B.F.A. students choose one of two paths of emphasis: production or screenwriting. Courses in production offer creative development and experience in shooting, directing, and editing film and other media. Courses in screenwriting train students in the necessary skills and dispositions for crafting their stories in scripts suitable for production as films, television series, and other media. Courses that focus on the business of media train students in the industrial aspects and logics of these industries. Additionally, courses in film and media history, theory, and criticism provide extensive insight into these media as art forms and as important social and cultural institutions. Finally, a capstone sequence provides final preparation for entrance into a career in the media industries, culminating in a collaborative or (if qualified; see “B.F.A. Thesis “) individual creative production.
The Division of Film and Media Arts is located on the first and second floors of the Umphrey Lee Center, which houses faculty offices, classrooms, production and post-production facilities, and media support areas. A computer lab with a full suite of editing, audio, and graphics software is available to majors seven days a week through ID card access. Other facilities include a recording studio, an audio mixing suite, equipment checkout, a seminar room, and production classrooms.
To declare the B.A. in film and media arts, a student must complete FILM 1300 with a B- or better. Students transferring from other universities must have completed an equivalent course and obtained an equivalent grade in that course before they can declare the major.
The B.F.A. in film and media arts is a dual admit program: in order to be considered for the B.F.A. in film and media arts, a student must submit a portfolio of creative work (in video, film, or screenwriting) prior to matriculation. The portfolio will be reviewed by a faculty committee to determine acceptance into the B.F.A. program. Upon matriculation, a dually admitted student must complete FILM 1300 with a B- or better in order to declare the B.F.A. To be considered for acceptance into the B.F.A. program while in attendance at SMU, students must have completed FILM 1300 , FILM 1303 , and FILM 1304 with a cumulative 2.700 or better GPA between these courses (with no grade lower than a C- in any of them), and they must submit a portfolio. Students transferring from other universities must submit a portfolio, and must have completed FILM 1300 , FILM 1303 , and FILM 1304 (or equivalent courses from their previous university) and obtained a cumulative 2.700 or better GPA between these courses (with no grade lower than a C- in any of them) before they can declare to the major.
Upon attaining junior-level status (60 credit hours), qualified students are encouraged to pursue internships that enable them to work under the guidance of professionals in the media industries. Non-classroom internship credit is limited to three credit hours taken as an elective on a pass/fail basis. Students must be a declared film and media arts major (B.A. or B.F.A.), must have taken FILM 1304 , and must obtain permission from the division’s chair before enrolling in an internship course (FILM 4125 , FILM 4225 , or FILM 4325 ).
B.A. students wishing to pursue a senior thesis project (FILM 5214 - Research Thesis ) must have at least a 3.500 departmental GPA, 3.300 SMU GPA, and 18 credits of Film and Media Arts courses completed by the end of the fall of their junior year. In consultation with a full-time Film and Media Arts faculty member, they would then propose a research project that they would research and write the following academic year, under the supervision of a committee of three SMU faculty (including at least two from Film and Media Arts). This proposal is due the Friday after spring break of junior year. If this proposal is approved by a faculty committee, the student would plan to enroll in FILM 5214 the spring term of their senior year. The thesis will be presented to the committee for final approval in mid-April of that term.
Applications for the B.A. Research Thesis are competitive and only a small number of proposals will be accepted each year.
One of the capstone options for the B.F.A. degree requires enrollment in a yearlong thesis sequence and completion of a senior thesis project, depending on their area of emphasis (production or screenwriting). Interested B.F.A. juniors must submit a thesis project proposal by the end of the first school week after spring break. Details about what to include in the proposal are available on the division website, and will be distributed to all B.F.A. juniors. Proposals will be reviewed, and thesis committees formed, by the faculty. Students whose proposals are accepted will be given a review of their proposal prior to registration in FILM 5305 - Thesis Development and can move forward on their projects during the summer. Students not submitting proposals will not be allowed to lead a thesis project, but are still required to take FILM 5305 the fall of their senior year and assist with one or more thesis films in production. Applications for a senior thesis film or screenwriting thesis are competitive and only a small number of proposals may be accepted each year. B.F.A. students with accepted thesis proposals will register for FILM 5305 in the fall, and for FILM 5112 and FILM 5205 - Production Thesis , or FILM 5213 - Screenwriting Thesis (depending on their area of emphasis) in the spring. Students must make satisfactory progress on their film production through the fall semester, as determined by their committees, in order to enroll in FILM 5205 or FILM 5213 in the spring semester. Students enrolled in either FILM 5205 or FILM 5213 will have, at most, until the second day of final exams that term to complete the proposed project to the satisfaction of their committees. This means thesis defenses should be scheduled no later than mid-April to allow time to address any issues or concerns raised by the committee at the defense. Each thesis filmmaker will be required to publicly screen their finished project after it has been approved by the committee, before the date of spring commencement. This usually occurs at the annual Senior Screening, two days before spring commencement.
A directed study is a close collaboration between a professor and an advanced student with junior or senior standing who conducts a rigorous research or creative project that goes beyond the experience available in course offerings. The student must secure formal approval from the professor to undertake a directed studies project.
Due to limited class space and enrollment pressures, a student who fails to appear on the first day or who fails to attend three consecutive class meetings during an academic term without establishing contact with the instructor may be administratively dropped from a course. Course instructors determine other attendance policies.
Grade Requirements
Except as noted in the program descriptions, the minimum passing grade for courses to meet major requirements is D-. Film majors must achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.000 among all courses taken toward the major to graduate.
Both B.A. and B.F.A. film and media arts majors with sufficiently high standing may graduate from the division with honors (i.e., with departmental distinction). All students who are qualified – 3.500 departmental GPA, 3.300 SMU GPA and 18 credits of film and media arts courses completed – will be informed by the division chair of their eligibility at the end of the fall term of their junior year. To attain the departmental distinction recognition, an eligible bachelor of arts major must complete a thesis project through FILM 5214 , and successfully defend the thesis to a departmental faculty committee with a final grade of B+ or higher.
An eligible B.F.A. major must complete FILM 5305 with a final grade of A or A-, and must also complete and successfully defend a thesis project through FILM 5205 or FILM 5213 with a final grade of B+ or higher.
For both B.A. and B.F.A majors, candidates must also maintain a 3.500 departmental GPA and 3.300 SMU GPA through graduation to earn departmental distinction. Students should note that admission to FILM 5205 , FILM 5213 , and FILM 5214 is competitive and depends on having a thesis project proposal accepted; eligibility for departmental distinction does not guarantee acceptance into these courses.
ProgramsCoursesFilm and Media Arts
Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
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