Degrees offered

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours)

 

How do ipods and other new technologies affect movie viewing?

Can Alberta forge its own film industry?

Is there a future for art house cinema?

 

Join us at the Movies!

Explore your love of film in the Faculty of Communication and Culture. Animation, documentary, experimental film, Canadian cinema, Hollywood and international cinema - critically analyze genres, cinematic history and directorial styles from around the world!

The Film Studies program plays a vital part in Alberta's growing reputation as both a destination for film production and as a region with its own expanding industry. At present, Alberta has approximately 3 percent of film and television production in Canada, worth about $150,000,000. The Alberta Film Development Program has established a strategic plan to more than double the amount of film and television produced in the province to nearly $400,000,000. This industry growth will position Southern Alberta as one among the four largest producers of feature films in Canada. Graduates of Film Studies will contribute to the creative and skilled pool of talent required for this expanding industry.  

Students taking a BA in Film Studies will develop a critical understanding of cinema and an awareness of the cultural, historical and social character of film. Students will consider film as an art form, as a cultural industry, and as an innovative and developing technology with cultural, social and political significance.

The Film Studies program is closely connected with leaders in the Canadian film industry through its Film Studies advisory board. The advisory board ensures the program stays in touch with new developments in technology and cinematic styles so we can offer you solid knowledge of the film industry in a national and global context.  Students also interact with the film industry through experiential and community service learning, by participating in activities such as volunteering with film festivals and arts development agencies - all for course credit.

Film Studies students also engage in a core curriculum which prepares all Communication and Culture students with critical thinking, research and communication skills. Heritage courses expose students to the evolution of Western thought and ideas which now permeate cultural industries. The interdisciplinary study of film integrates the knowledge and research from other fields of study to explore cinema from more than one perspective.

In addition to these skills and experiences, students learn cultural appreciation, gain knowledge about policy and economic constraints in the film industry, its regional promotions and the organizations involved in these activities, as well as developing skills to inform others about aspects of our cinematic heritage. A degree in Film Studies will allow graduates to make a real impact in areas of journalistic writing about film, promotion of film, film festivals, regional production and locations management.

 

Where have all the moviegoers gone?

While movies are as popular as ever, a cultural shift has occurred in how we experience them. Watching movies on DVD, the Internet and iPods has dramatically increased, while attendance at movie theatres and film festivals is down across North America. Dr. Charles Tepperman, film studies professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture, says new film-viewing technologies mean we are increasingly watching movies in isolation, and this changes our experience and our engagement with the issues movies represent.

"Our emotional and aesthetic experience of a film is heightened when people watch movies together. This contributes to our engagement with the subject matter and with our fellow audience-members," says Tepperman.

He argues that when people experience movies together, they are more likely to have conversations about the issues represented and this can impact public debate.

"This is particularly relevant with movies on pressing current issues, such as Michael Moore's films or An Inconvenient Truth," he says. "People who go out into the world and encounter works about social issues in a public forum are perhaps more likely to engage in the debate and in creating solutions to these problems. When people say the cinema is dying it is because audiences are not having the communal experience we historically associate with it."

One of the challenges of Film Studies lies in tracing the ever-changing significance of motion pictures: movies were the mass art of the 20^th century, but what will they be tomorrow?

 

Highlights of the Program

Film 201 - Analyze the main issues involved in the study of cinema including medium, story, photography, mise-en-scene, movement, editing, sound, and acting.

Film 321 - Discover the history of film production including the development of filmmaking technologies, the evolution of cinematic styles and narrative traditions in popular cinema, and changing industry practices.

Canadian Studies 331 - Study the culture of Canadian cinema including film auteurs, documentary and social change, feature film genres, and the role of government regulation.

Film 441 - Explore the social practices and operational aspects of film festivals including tourism, identity formation, celebrity and star formation, marketing, jurying, lobbying and audience cultivation. Students participate in community service learning through volunteering with film festivals.

Co-operative Education - Paid work terms allow you to bring your academic training together with the world of work and learn first-hand what you can do with a degree in Film Studies. For more information, check out the Career Services website.

 

Career Paths

The Canadian film industry is a vital and expanding cultural player. It will need graduates with university-level backgrounds to produce, direct, distribute and perform in films.

Graduates of Film Studies work in the following areas:

filmmaking screenwriting television production film review and criticism programming at film repertory cinemas and film festivals archiving scholarship cultural management

film archives and film libraries newspapers and magazines universities regional, provincial and federal bureaus and agencies development offices commissions specializing in film and media

 

Have more questions?

If you have any questions, not answered by this page or the University Calendar, then direct your inquiries to the Undergraduate Programs Office or the Film Studies Program Coordinator.