Film and Video Production

Welcome to Film and Video Production at GVSU!

A strong hands-on emphasis characterizes the film and video production major at Grand Valley State University. Courses of study include animation, documentary, fiction, film studies, new media, nonfiction, scriptwriting, and sound design. The curriculum integrates production experience with insights offered by media history, theory, and criticism. The film and video production program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).   

 

 

January 2023 edition!

Click on the booklet to see what some of our Film and Video Production Alumni are doing with their degree!

Degree Options

BA/BS in Film & Video

Students may pursue a BA or BS with this major. The BA degree requires a cognate area consisting of a third-level proficiency in a foreign language while the BS requires three courses in Computer Information Systems.  Both options prepare the student for a successful career in the media industry, with a variety of employment options.

 

Film and Video production Major Information

 

 

Check out the trailer for Summer Film Project 2021

Trailer for "Thing from the Factory by the Field" (2021 Summer Film Project). FVP 328 and FVP 428


Learning Environment

Students on set

Film and video production students can expect the following:

  • Development of their personal expertise and interests by exploring a diverse set of courses offered.
  • Faculty members that are active practitioners with a broad range of experience and interests.
  • High-impact learning opportunities outside the classroom through internships and local production projects.
  • Opportunities to present work that are offered through regularly scheduled public screenings, and a peer-reviewed academic journal.
  • Student organizations offering opportunities for growth, such as the student-run television station, radio station, newspaper, film screening clubs, and many more.
  • Hands-on experience by producing projects for real clients in and outside of the classroom.
  • Preparation for graduate studies in a variety of filmmaking and cinema studies programs.

 

 


Faculty

Ryan Copping

Ryan Copping
Visiting Professor

Spencer Everhart
Adjunct Professor

Julie Goldstein
Associate Professor
 

Joel Potrykus
Assistant Professor
 

Padrick Ritch

Padrick Ritch
Affiliate Professor
 

Kim Roberts
Professor
 

John Schmit
Professor
 

Anal Shah
Associate Professor

Suzanne Zack
Senior Affiliate Professor
Internship Coordinator
 


100-level courses

Introductory course in the critical study of the various modes of film/video/animation/new media production. Examines distinctive formal elements of each mode as well as the economic and cultural context of production and reception. A prerequisite course for film and video production. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Restricted to film and video, communication studies, health communications, multimedia journalism, photography, advertising/public relations, and theatre majors.

Credits: 3

Fundamentals of video production, including the techniques and the aesthetics of shooting, lighting, and editing. Emphasizes hands-on production experience, using digital video. A preadmission course for film and video production. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Restricted to film and video, communication studies, health communications, multimedia journalism, photography, advertising/public relations, and theatre majors.

Credits: 3

200-level courses

This is the second course in the video production sequence, emphasizing the techniques and aesthetics of shooting and editing. Additional emphasis placed on concept development and production management. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Admission to major.

Recommended corequisite: FVP 227.

Credits: 3

ntermediate-level post-production techniques are explored and applied including editing, motion graphics, visual effects, and color correction. Tutorials and workshops are designed to advance technical skills in support of course-related projects and upper-level production courses within the film and video production program. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Admission to the major.

Recommended co-requisite: FVP 226


Credits: 3

Writing for film, video, radio, and mixed media. Writing exercises include dramatic, informational, documentary, public service announcements, and commercial formats. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Restricted to film/video majors.


Credits: 3

Introduction to the general principles of sound, to the hardware and software of radio, and to other major media uses of sound. This is a production course. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: Restricted to film/video, communication studies, and multimedia journalism majors.


Credits: 3

300-level courses

This is an intermediate-level production course using class members as the production unit focusing on fiction filmmaking, including story development, production/post techniques, directing and interpretation of drama from script to screen. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: FVP 226 and FVP 227.

Credits: 3

Working in production teams, students produce a documentary video about a substantial topic of their choice. Includes viewings and readings. Offered every year. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.

Credits: 3

Basic electronics theory, audio and video recording, synthesizing on audio or video signal, and signal processing. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.


Credits: 3

Introduction to 3D modeling and animation using computers. Students will demonstrate proficiency at basic modeling skills, surfacing, lighting, and animation. There will be consideration of how color, shape, lighting, and texture influence meaning. Work in critical analysis provides a context for the animation process. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.

Credits: 3

An introductory course in animation filmmaking. Students will work in small groups on animation and movement exercises and will individually produce a short final film. Readings will be assigned, films will be viewed and discussed. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.


Credits: 3

An introduction to theory and practice of new media production as a means for storytelling and creative expression. Explores the practice of user-testing and participation, image manipulation and multimedia production with a focus on emerging and traditional forms of media production. Offered fall semester.Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.

Credits: 3

A practical examination of the elemental codes and structures of film and video. Exercises in lighting, sequencing, sound, color, and composition. Viewings and readings. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.

Credits: 3

Explores the craft of narrative drama in motion pictures. Students with some background in film, video, and/or audio gain an understanding of the professional model of media production by assisting in the planning and shooting of a dramatic film. Offered spring/summer semester. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

Credits: 3 or 6

Explores conceptual issues in editing images and sound in a digital production environment. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.


Credits: 3

This course will introduce various perspectives on the study of film in order to explore and explain how films generate meaning and pleasure. Students will gain an historical understanding of film, and learn to write in the language of scholarly film criticism. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

A seminar in which students work on individual scripting projects of substantial length, using class and instructor for critical analysis. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227, FVP 261

Credits: 3

The process of studio and location lighting for film and video; principles, instruments, measurement tools, filters/diffusers, single/multiple setups. Offered fall and winter semester. Prerequisites: FVP 226, FVP 227.

Credits: 3

A historical survey of American cinema which examines the cultural and aesthetic significance of film as well as the changing economic and technological contexts of the U.S. film industry. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

A global historical survey of animated film and video production that examines styles of animation, how animation techniques evolved as technology changed and the economic determinants of the production and reception of animated films. Offered fall semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

An historical survey of nonfiction film and video that examines the theoretical context for documentary production, the varied functions and styles of documentary work, how documentary technique evolved as technology changed and the economic determinants of documentary production. Offered fall semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

This course investigates the representation of gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity, and class in contemporary cinema. It focuses on the role cinematic representation plays in the construction of identity and stereotypes, and ways in which film can also challenge conventional representations. Offered winter semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

This course examines the international history of experimental film and video and contemporary practice within the mode. The course emphasizes the theoretical and critical analysis of significant work in its historical context. Offered winter semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

Explores the economic, historical, and cultural context for film production and exhibition in several countries to understand the relationship between cinema and national culture. Examines the influence and significance of films that have constituted alternatives to the Hollywood entertainment model. Close textual readings of foreign films. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: FVP 123.

Credits: 3

A survey of cinema in Latin America. The course will analyze representative films as works of art and examine them as cultural, historical, political, and economic products that characterize and reveal diverse perspectives from significant film producing countries in Latin America. Course is cross-listed with LAS 376. Offered fall semester.

Credits: 3

A study of special topics not regularly covered in the curriculum. Expectations of the student in this course approximate those in other 300-level courses. May be repeated for credit when content varies. Prerequisite: Admission to major.

Credits: 3

A two-part course: First, core topics that are the foundation of all audio production. Second, topics of special interest, such as radio, TV, film, music recording, and digital audio. Throughout the course, professionalism will be stressed both in the final products and in the individual performance. Offered winter and spring/summer semesters. Prerequisites: FVP 282 and restricted to film/video, communication studies, and multimedia journalism majors.

Credits: 3

400-level courses

In this advanced workshop, students will work in large production crews to produce short, dramatic fiction motion pictures from their original scripts. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: Admission to the major, FVP 321


Credits: 3

Working in production teams, students produce a documentary video about a socially significant topic of their choosing. Readings and assignments will develop an understanding of the methods for producing independent documentary and the accompanying issues commonly encountered. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: Admission to the major and FVP 322.

Credits: 3

Continued work in animation production for character and graphic animation. Introduction to 3-D computer animation and current technologies for special effects in motion pictures. Students will design, storyboard, and complete an animation project. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: Admission to major and FVP 325.

Credits: 3

A continuation of theory and practice of new media production as a means for storytelling and creative expression. This course further expands the focus on conceptual and technical skills in emerging and traditional forms of media production. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: FVP 326 or permission of the instructor.

Credits: 3

Explores the craft of narrative drama in motion pictures. At an advanced level, film students gain theoretical and practical experience in the production of a dramatic film. Students fill skilled positions on the film’s crew. Offered spring/summer semester.Prerequisites: Admission to the major, FVP 321

Credits: 3 or 6

The process of audio, film, and video postproduction, emphasizing the draft/revision process. Editing will proceed in a nonlinear digital environment. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: FVP 261 and either FVP 330 or FVP 282.

Credits: 3

Students produce media solutions to meet the goals of nonprofit clients. Projects are field-tested to ensure professional-level media production standards. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: Admission to major and one intermediate video production course (FVP 320 or higher).

Credits: 3

In-depth study of recording and manipulating sound to enhance visual communications. Students sharpen their skills in adapting standard recording tools to the requirements of video/film. The class encourages critical thinking about how sounds conveys meaning and transforms the meaning of the image. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: Admission to major and FVP 282.


Credits: 3

A supervised work experience in an area of a student’s potential career interest. Initiated by the student, who plans the work experience with the advisor, the faculty sponsor chosen to supervise the internship, and the supervisor at the worksite. Credit is awarded only when the student, the Film and Video Production Internship Coordinator and the work supervisor have completed evaluations of the internship. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: Admission to the major.

Credits: 1 to 6

The senior thesis/project demonstrates both depth and sophistication in the major. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: Admission to the major. Permit required (proposal process)

Credits: 1 to 6


Professional Networking

Grand Valley Television (GVTV)

GVTV is GVSU's only student-run television station. They broadcast news, sports, fiction shows ranging from sketch comedy to drama. 

Women in Cinema Club

This organization equips students with resources and knowledge for film production and critique.

Scriptwriting Club

This organization is devoted to writing and vision.

Animator's Guild

This organization promotes the appreciation of  animation.

Cinesthesia

Cinesthesia: The Grand Valley Journal of Cinema was established to provide undergraduates the opportunity to showcase their academic work, both written and video in format, in the field of cinema studies. 

Access Cinesthesia Issues Here


Other Links


Visit Us

Prospective Students are invited to attend one of the High School Student Receptions, held throughout the academic year. Receptions follow the Laker Experience Days.

Attend a High School Student Reception

 


Request Information

For questions about the Film and Video Production area, please contact:

Professor Anal Shah
Film and Video Production Program Coordinator
217 Lake Superior Hall
Phone: (616) 331-8204
E-mail: [email protected]

 

 



Page last modified August 9, 2023