Film and Electronic Arts

Courses

In addition to regularly scheduled academic and production courses, the program offers advanced study on a one-to-one basis with a professor. Recent tutorials include Film Sound; Buñuel, Almodóvar, and the Catholic Church; and LGBTQ Archiving.

Areas of Study

The program encourages interest in a wide range of expressive modes in film and electronic arts. These include animation, narrative and non-narrative filmmaking, documentary, performance, and installation practices. Regardless of a student’s choice of specialization, the program’s emphasis leans toward neither fixed professional formulas nor mere technical expertise, but rather toward imaginative engagement and the cultivation of an individual voice that has command over the entire creative process. For example, a student interested in narrative filmmaking would be expected to write an original script, shoot it, and then edit the film into its final form. Students are also expected to take advantage of Bard’s liberal arts curriculum by studying subjects that relate to their specialties.

Recent Senior Projects in Film and Electronic Arts

• “Syndromes,” an animated narrative film
• “The Thick Black Line,” a documentary that explores a proposed coal export terminal on native Lummi treaty land
• “The Way of the Person,” three profiles of young Rwandan adults and their daily lives
• “Why Did I Marry a Sentimentalist? Family and Domesticity in the Films of Steven Spielberg”

Facilities

The Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center houses a 110-seat theater equipped with 16mm, 35mm, and digital projection; performance space with digital projection capabilities; shooting studio with a control room; computer lab with current Adobe editing software; darkroom; two seminar/screening rooms; editing suites for sound and video; studios for seniors; and a film archive. Visiting artist talks, screenings, symposia, and other public events are regularly scheduled in the theater. For production classes, students take advantage of the resources of the equipment office and have access to the various workrooms. The program also has an in-house media collection that consists of features, documentaries, experimental films, and past Senior Projects.