Students may apply to Media Study once they have completed 50 hours at the University
and 3 courses in Media Study. Once requirements have been met and, if applicable,
a portfolio submitted and accepted, students can bring an updated DARS report
and fill out an application with the department advisor in 231 CFA. Admission
to the department of Media Study for the B.A. in Media Study and for the B.A.
in Film Studies is based on the following criteria:
-» Acceptance is strictly limited and available only
as space permits.
-» Students must have 50 credit hours at U.B., a 2.0
overall G.P.A., and a 2.5 G.P.A. in three or more courses in Media Study. (These
are minimum G.P.A. requirements; we are a competitive department and tend to
recruit students with higher G.P.A.s).
-» Students who elect to pursue the Production concentration
must submit a portfolio by their sophomore year. Transfer students with 50 or
more credit hours who have media production experience in their chosen field
are also required to submit a portfolio for acceptance into the Production concentration.
We suggest the following as appropriate Media Study courses for pre-majors. Students should be aware that acceptance into the Production concentration of the Media Study Major requires that they submit a portfolio of their media work. If you are interested in this concentration, you should choose at least one appropriate production course that will enable you to develop your portfolio.
Production
-» DMS 101 Basic Filmmaking
-» DMS 103 Basic Video
-» DMS 105 Basic Documentary
-» DMS 121 Basic Digital Arts
-» DMS 155 New Media
Critical Studies
-» DMS 107/108 History of Film I & II
-» DMS 109 Intro to Film Interpretation
-» DMS 259 Media Analysis
-» DMS 303 Video Analysis
_/ _/ _/ Portfolio Requirements
All intended
and current majors, as well as transfer students, are required to submit a portfolio
for acceptance into the Production concentration. There is no portfolio requirement
for Critical Studies concentration. Each year portfolios
are due March 1 (for fall) and October 1 (for spring), and must
be submitted to the Undergraduate Advisor in 231 Center for the Arts. These deadlines will be strictly adhered to.
Your portfolio Review Submission should contain the following:
1) A personal statement of NO MORE THAN 300 words (1 double spaced page). This statement should address why you want to make media and what you are
trying to say or accomplish in this work.
2) An unofficial transcript or DARS report showing your grades in the course
you have taken at UB or your previous school.
3) A work sample (made in one of our
basic production classes; Basic Filmmaking 101, Basic Video 103, Basic Documentary
105, Basic Digital Arts 121, Programming for the Arts 110 or New Media 155)
including 1 or 2 works or excerpts, no more than 10 minutes long. Please pay
particular attention to the technical requirements (see below) for your work.
4) A list of work-sample materials submitted including:
- titles of works submitted.
- medium of work.
- your role in creating the work.
5) An 8 1/2" x 11" manila envelope. Place items 1-3 in this
envelope. You should write your name, pereson
#, and work sample medium (film, video, CD-ROM,
etc.) in the upper left hand corner of this envelope.
Please follow these requirements for all media:
Film, Video, and Documentary:
Work will be accepted on DVD, VHS, S-VHS (SP-speed highly preferred) or min-DV
videotape, or on Super-8 or 16mm film. Each work must be on a separate videotape
or film reel, and EVERY tape, sleeve or box, film, film-can, and other container
must be labeled with your FULL NAME and the TITLE, DATE, and LENGTH of the
work.
Work submitted may be of any length. There is no minimum length requirement.
However, the committee will review a MAXIMUM of ten minutes TOTAL of your
work (including either one or two works). Therefore, CUE your videotape(s)
to the section that you wish the committee to see. If your tape is not cued
to the beginning of the work, you should indicate how many minutes in from
the head of your tape it is cued, and provide a brief description of what
has already been seen by this point in the work. Films may be cued by inserting
a small slip of paper in the reel, with a note of instruction to pre-cue the
film to that point. Any special instructions you may have for projection,
such as when or how to run a separate (cued!) audiocassette, must be included.
Digital: Work will be accepted work on a Mac or PC formatted disk, CD-ROM
or Zip. We use Mac OSX and PC. Specify which files should be viewed and whether
the disk is Mac or PC formatted. You can also provide a URL. Each work must
be on a separate storage device, each labeled with your FULL NAME and the
TITLE, DATE, PLATFORM, and PROGRAM to run the work.
Available programs to open your work are: Flash, Dreamweaver, Premiere,
Photoshop, Director, Maya, Protools, Peak, Soundedit, Windows Media, Real
Media, Quicktime, and VLAN. IBM or Macintosh- please specify. If other programs
are required to open your work, these must be included with the work. With
each piece, include instructions for opening and running.
Other Media (Installation, Robotics, and Mixed Media): Any work which does not conform to the above, may be accepted for
review, but must be represented by documentation on videotape or other visual
means (slides, diagrams, digital documentation).
What are the criteria for portfolio review?
-» Use of film/ digital arts technical skill -» Originality -» Social awareness or diversity -» Visual and/or literary strength -» Breadth of concept and experience -» Does it "work"? -» Wit, fun, honesty, or authenticity
Work should be strong in at least three of these categories. Note that professional quality of production will count less than the concept of the work and the originality and care that you show in execution.
Note: Please see an instructor for any other questions regarding
the portfolio.
