Cinematic Arts

Program Information

The B.S. in Communication Studies with a concentration in Cinematic Arts is a two-year cohort program that students enter in their junior year. Students who have completed the CORE classes* and who will be juniors as of fall 2013, can apply for admission to the program. No more than 40 students will be accepted for fall 2013 and the CORE classes will be offered summer 2013.

See the degree completion plan for both a major and minor in Cinematic Arts.

Application

To apply for the degree program (B.S. in Communication Studies, with concentration in Cinematic Arts) students must provide*:

  • Unofficial university transcripts that provide proof of completion of the CORE classes with at least a B average.
  • Two letters of recommendation from:
    • University instructor or staff member
    • Past or present employer or peer
  • Essay/pitch (1,000 words) telling the story of a film you want to make
  • Written letter explaining why you want to be a filmmaker and a declaration of documentary or narrative study
  • Oral interview (set an appointment)

*Films, DVDs or videotapes will not be accepted with applications

Program Fees

  • $1,000 per year cinema production fee (for two cohort years)

Students will be responsible for the costs associated with their film productions.  This can be as little as a few hundred dollars depending on students' self-imposed limits.

Tangible Takeaways

Graduates of Liberty University’s Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center will be able to walk out of the Cinema program and walk into employment on the largest Hollywood production without missing a beat.  They will have been trained using industry standard equipment from “Red” camera packages to Avid edit bays, to ProTools and THX certified surround sound mixing experience. Not only will graduates know how to make a movie, but will know how to make a living doing it.

Most importantly, graduates graduate with the know how to make their own movies and bring them to a global market.  Graduates will be grounded in great storytelling techniques. Tangibly, students will graduate with a:

  • short film they wrote and directed
  • completed and polished feature length screenplay
  • business plan for their feature length screenplay
  • a reel of their own work
  • credit on a long format film

*The CORE classes are CINE 201, 202 and 203 (Screenwriting, Motion Picture Directing and Cinematography, respectively)