New to VCU: Department of Cinema

The difference between film and cinema will be defined this fall at VCU.

The School of the Arts is planning to introduce the new Department of Cinema, which will offer a bachelor’s degree in art.

“Art Foundation was a complete waste of time.”
-senior film student Sam Kirk

School of the Arts Dean Richard Toscan will head the new department.

“The Virginia Film Office has been urging VCU to expand its offerings for the past 10 years as a way to help support the film industry in Virginia,” Toscan said.

The cinema program will focus on narrative feature and short films, using digital filmmaking technology instead of traditional celluloid film. Students in the cinema program will work toward a bachelor’s degree without having to graduate from VCU’s Art Foundation program.

The current film program requires students to go through the foundation program for the first year. Once AFO is completed, students’ portfolios are reviewed for entrance into the fine arts school. This requirement can add a year to the degree process for students.

“Art Foundation was a complete waste of time,” senior film student Sam Kirk said.

The difference between the cinema program and the film program goes beyond comparing a bachelor of art degree and a bachelor of fine art degree.

Cinema courses will concentrate on a movie’s story structure, the technical aspects of using state-of-the-art digital film production, as well as business factors of the movies, such as audience focus groups and marketing.

The academic track will require students to take classes year round. Students will enroll in theory and rhetoric courses during fall and spring semesters. Summer semesters are reserved for intensive hands-on film production courses. The cinema program also offers international opportunities, such as internship opportunities at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

The philosophy of the cinema program is modeled after the undergraduate film programs at the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. The cinema program still is awaiting accreditation approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

“It is just a lengthy process,” said Rachel Hunter, new-student coordinator for the School of the Arts. “But the program should be approved.”

According to the School of the Arts dean’s office, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia will complete the review process and notify VCU regarding the cinema program’s approval by the end of spring.

Students are encouraged to pursue a second major outside of art. The purpose is for students to establish a foundation in filmmaking.

A second degree will be helpful for students who wish to be admitted into leading graduate programs in filmmaking, such as those at New York University and Columbia University.