May 09, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

Cinema Major


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Department of Communication and Cinema

Interim Department Chair: Erin Watley, Ph.D.

Description


In the field of Cinema, technology is transitory. Every year brings new high-tech systems and software, new video formats and distribution platforms. The only cinematic tools that don’t become obsolete: The human brain and the human heart.

Audiences are inundated by Hollywood films with awesome stunts and visual effects, great costumes, and mega-star talent, all wrapped around weak, forgettable stories and characters devoid of passion, ingenuity, and humanity.

Our goal at McDaniel Cinema: Solid stories, smartly told.

Rather than the typical button-pushing, widget-obsessed method to producing media, McDaniel Cinema takes a holistic approach that emphasizes mastery of three key liberal arts-based areas that have always lain at the core of great cinema:

  • Writing: A mastery of the process and formatting of strong cinematic stories.
  • Critical Analysis: Understanding the broader context of cinema in terms of history, theory and analysis, by studying iconic filmmakers, key thinkers, genres, and movements.
  • Production:  The ability to complete a cinematic project – regardless of medium or venue – from casting through effective and dramatic shooting and editing.

All supplemented by values at the core of the liberal arts: teamwork, critical thinking, and creative problem solving.

McDaniel Cinema prepares the next wave of creative thinkers and storytellers, people who communicate powerful ideas using images and sound – graduating talented and well-rounded citizens of the world who have something exciting and meaningful to say, and who can use their mastery of cinematic storytelling to work in all facets of the media industry.

Required


Select One Internship (2 credits):


Total Program Hours: 50


Departmental Writing Requirement


The Departments extends writing throughout the major. Students who major in Cinema are required to take two writing-intensive courses as noted with the # symbol.

Requirements for Departmental Honors


A minimum major GPA of 3.5 as well as a record of departmental engagement and commitment, as determined by tenured faculty.

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