Unit for Cinema Studies

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Frequently Asked Questions What can I do with a degree in Cinema Studies? Which courses may be used to fulfill the Cinema Studies Concentration requirement of "Twenty-one hours of other cinema studies courses" or the requirements of the Cinema Studies Minor? Which courses may be used to fulfill the requirement of "Twelve hours of supporting coursework" for the Cinema Studies Concentration? Does illinois offer an advanced degree in Cinema Studies? Does the Unit for Cinema Studies teach filmmaking? Can I major in filmmaking at illinois? I really want to be a filmmaker. Should I transfer to some other university with an undergraduate degree program in film production? Which graduate school should I attend if I want to be a filmmaker? Are there any opportunities to study film in a foreign country? If I get a degree at illinois in Cinema Studies/Humanities, which commencement ceremony should I attend and what arrangements should I make for my family and guests to attend? Who starred in/wrote/directed that movie I saw on TV last night or in the theater twenty years ago? Where can I rent obscure or hard-to-find videos of foreign films, American independents, avant-garde films, or Hollywood classics? What is showing locally, and when and where can I see it? What can I do with a degree in Cinema Studies? Cinema Studies students from illinois have gone on to careers in various areas. Cinema Studies: some of our graduates go on to Ph.D. programs in Cinema Studies, with the intention of teaching film at the college level. Filmmaking: others go on to M.F.A. programs in Film Production, with the intention of becoming directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, or producers. A Cinema Studies undergraduate degree provides a firm historical/theoretical background for a career in filmmaking. Film-related professions: these may not be high-profile film careers, but they are essential to the industry. They include careers in/with talent agencies, distribution, exhibition, entertainment law, film festivals, state film commissions, media arts organizations, local television stations, advertising agencies, entertainment publications, computer graphics firms, image archives, and many others involved in conveying information or narratives through visual images. Non-film-related professions: Cinema Studies is a liberal arts undergraduate major which trains students in thinking and writing critically about texts and other cultural artifacts, and as such it provides a good general background for most professions which do not require a highly specialized, technical undergraduate major. [Top of this page] Which courses may be used to fulfill the Cinema Studies Concentration requirement of "Twenty-one hours of other cinema studies courses" or the requirements of the Cinema Studies Minor? Any cinema course taken on the illinois campus to fulfill the requirements of the Cinema Studies Concentration or the Cinema Studies Minor must be a course officially approved by the Unit for Cinema Studies. Approved courses appear on the printed lists published by the Unit for Cinema Studies at Early Registration each semester and on this web site. A cinema course transferred from another institution will be considered on an individual basis if it has not already been approved as a substitute for a specific illinois course. [Top of this page] Which courses may be used to fulfill the requirement of "Twelve hours of supporting coursework" for the Cinema Studies Concentration? Supporting coursework includes courses (1) which study texts of one sort or another in ways which are similar to or complement the ways in which Cinema Studies courses approach film (for example, literature, speech communications, or art history courses) or (2) which provide a background or context for a student's study of the cinema (for example, history, anthropology, or advanced language courses) or (3) which provide other sorts of analytical tools for approaching the study of film (for example, psychology, philosophy, or linguistics courses) or (4) which relate to actual film or video production. Because of the great number and variety of courses which could be used to fulfill this requirement, it is impossible to give more than a sample list of courses which might be used. For this same reason, students in the Cinema Studies Concentration should consult with the Cinema Studies Advisor in selecting cinema-related courses. [Top of this page] Does illinois offer an advanced degree in Cinema Studies? No. But a Graduate Minor in Cinema Studies is available through the Unit for Cinema Studies. The Minor is pursued while a student works toward an advanced degree in some other field of study. [Top of this page] Does the Unit for Cinema Studies teach filmmaking? No. The Unit for Cinema Studies offers and coordinates courses about various aspects of the cinema which examine it from diverse historical and critical perspectives. Although the Cinema Studies Concentration accepts courses in videomaking as supporting coursework, the primary concern of the Concentration is the study of film rather than the making of films. This sort of academic background is, however, an important foundation upon which a would-be filmmaker can build. [Top of this page] Can I major in filmmaking at illinois? There is no formal degree program in film production at illinois at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Some students have in the past, however, put together their own individualized curricula in filmmaking through the Individual Plans of Study (IPS) program administered through the Humanities Office. For more information on this option and its requirements, contact the Humanities Office. Note, however, that changes in the course offerings of the School of Art & Design (eliminating filmmaking courses, offering video courses and digital imaging courses in their stead) will have a significant impact in this regard. [Top of this page] I really want to be a filmmaker. Should I transfer to some other university with an undergraduate degree program in film production? Maybe not. Although there are some exceptions, the great majority of the young directors making movies in Hollywood today are the products of graduate-level programs in film, not merely of undergraduate programs. You can get a solid preparation at illinois for such a graduate program. Conversely, if you are not interested in making feature-length narrative films of the sort coming out of Hollywood, an undergraduate program in filmmaking might serve you well, but whether it would be significantly better and/or more cost-effective than a program of study you could put together here would depend on a number of considerations. It would be a good idea to discuss this with the Cinema Studies Advisor. [Top of this page] Which graduate school should I attend if I want to be a filmmaker? That depends on what sort of films you would like to make. You can learn the basic techniques and skills in any filmmaking program. Certain programs give their students more of an advantage starting out in their careers, however, because they are located in cities where films are made. New York University, UCLA, and the University of Southern California all have excellent programs, and they also have well-established links with the film industry in their respective cities. They also have a lot of students applying for admission to their programs. Other considerations, apart from the obvious one of costs, might affect your decision. If you want to make Hollywood features, you should think about UCLA and USC as your first choices; if you want to make films in the Chicago area, Columbia College would make a lot of sense; if you are interested in making personal, experimental films, you might want to look into Northwestern's program; if you are interested in making documentaries, you might investigate the program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. You can check out various graduate programs in film production through our Links page; and you also might want to read Film School Confidential: The Insider's Guide to Film Schools by Karin Kelly and Tom Edgar (New York, 1997), a Perigee Book published by The Berkeley Publishing Group. [Top of this page] Are there any opportunities to study film in a foreign country? Many of our Cinema Studies students have spent a semester or a year studying abroad, both in English-speaking countries and in non-English-speaking countries. Courses taken abroad can readily be used to fulfill requirements of the Cinema Studies Concentration. For more information on studying in a foreign country and on the various programs available, consult the Study Abroad Office. [Top of this page] If I get a degree at illinois in Cinema Studies/Interdisciplinary Studies, which commencement ceremony should I attend and what arrangements should I make for my family and guests to attend? For complete information on commencement ceremonies (Spring or Winter), see the LAS Commencement web site. Cinema Studies students can also participate in a smaller Spring commencement ceremony involving majors in departments housed in the Foreign Languages Building, which comprise the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics. [Top of this page] Who starred in/wrote/directed that movie I saw on TV last night or in the theater twenty years ago? See our Links page for on-line information sources, including searchable databases. Once you have found the title of the film, you may then be able to find a copy of the script or a trailer or a clip on-line, perhaps along with a text commentary, to confirm your memory of the film. [Top of this page] Where can I rent obscure or hard-to-find videos of foreign films, American independents, avant-garde films, or Hollywood classics? In Champaign-Urbana, try That's Rentertainment. If you cannot find what you want there or if you live outside the C-U area, try Facets Multimedia, the nation's largest distributor of art, classic, cult,documentary, foreign, and hard-to-find videos. [Top of this page] What is showing locally and when and where can I see it? Check our links to local cinemas, including those of special note in neighboring communities. [Top of this page] University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Unit for Cinema Studies rleskosk@illinois.edu updated 5.16.2008 rjl