The Film & Media BFA is an immersive, production-focused program designed for students who want to develop their creative voice through every stage of the filmmaking process. You’ll build expertise in directing, screenwriting, cinematography, producing, production design, editing and sound design while creating original narrative, documentary and experimental films. Working with professional cinema equipment and industry-standard software, you’ll gain the technical and artistic skills to transform ideas into compelling visual stories.

Throughout the program, you’ll collaborate with classmates, actors and faculty on increasingly ambitious productions while refining your leadership, communication and creative problem-solving skills. Workshops, guest lectures and critiques from industry professionals, combined with opportunities to showcase your work, navigate film festivals and develop a professional portfolio, prepare you for careers across the film and media industries. You’ll also complete a capstone project, producing a professional-quality short film or documentary that demonstrates your growth as a filmmaker.

The Film & Media BA combines hands-on filmmaking with the flexibility to explore additional academic and creative interests. You’ll build a strong foundation in directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound design and film studies while choosing from production and critical studies courses that align with your goals. Through creative practice and the study of film history, theory and criticism, you’ll develop both the technical expertise and analytical perspective needed to create meaningful work.

With additional elective opportunities, the Film & Media BA makes it easier to pursue a double major or add a minor across Seattle University while tailoring your education to your interests. You’ll collaborate on film productions, learn from practicing filmmakers and media scholars, and graduate with a portfolio that reflects your creative and academic strengths. Whether you pursue filmmaking, media production, graduate study or another creative field, you’ll leave with the storytelling, communication and critical thinking skills to succeed in a changing media landscape.

The Film & Media minor introduces you to the creative and critical foundations of filmmaking while developing skills in storytelling, visual communication and media production. You’ll explore film history and criticism alongside hands-on production experience, creating original projects that strengthen your creative and technical abilities. Whether paired with theatre, creative writing, communication, political science or another field of study, the Film & Media minor expands your understanding of moving-image storytelling and complements a wide range of academic and professional interests.

• Learn how to effectively communicate your vision and how to lead a crew in creating a safe and professional environment on set. Gain directing experience by working with classmates, theatre majors, and professional (SAG) actors, as well as directing individuals for documentaries.
• Screenwriting: Learn to develop your voice as a screenwriter across multiple courses. You’ll learn the foundations of the craft and then learn how to fully express your ideas on the page, incorporating drama, nuance, subtext, and thematic complexity.
• Cinematography: Master the elements of visual storytelling. As a film major at Cornish, you’ll explore how composition, color, movement, and light can sculpt your vision. You’ll learn the different tools and techniques for executing a director’s vision in both scripted and documentary filmmaking. Utilize a wide variety of professional cinema tools by accessing our equipment library.
• Producing: Learn to make films efficiently, thoughtfully, and safely by building your skills as a producer. Understand how organization can power creativity. Prepare for a film, hold auditions, scout locations, train a crew, and facilitate creative decision-making on a set. As a Cornish film major, you’ll see firsthand the importance of collaboration to good filmmaking.
• Production Design: Learn the importance of mise-en-scène, and how much the inanimate aspects of the frame (location, interior design, furniture, dressing, props, et al) can shape narrative and drive story.
• Critical Studies: A crucial thread in the fabric of great filmmaking, critical studies in film allows students to not only become more fluent in the language and history of cinema, but also helps inspire and enrich students creatively through contextual knowledge and evidence.
• Editing & Sound Design: Editing is the final revision of a story, and developing skills with editing reveals the power in decisions of where to cut—and when not to. In nonfiction and many forms of experimental and new media, the editor is the writer. As a film student, you’ll learn the power of the cut, the science of color correction, and creating visual and sound effects.

Upon successful completion of the Film & Media BFA, you will be able to:

• Analyze film and media as a historical, aesthetic, technological and cultural product, including questions of ethics, power and ideology.
• Realize voice and intent through communication of sound, image and writing, in creating films with originality, aesthetic depth and cultural consideration.
• Practice safe, effective and inclusive collaboration, problem solving and leadership on complex group projects.
• Generate a portfolio of creative work that demonstrates facility in one or more areas of focus.
• Craft professional materials and develop career strategies informed by cultural research and analysis of the contemporary film and media industry.

Upon successful completion of the Film & Media BA, you will be able to:

• Analyze film and media as a historical, aesthetic, technological and cultural product, including questions of ethics, power and ideology.
• Produce a culturally informed original work of film and media, that effectively communicates ideas through sound and image.
• Produce independent research about film and media through critical thinking and analysis, using primary and secondary sources.
• Generate a portfolio of creative and/or scholarly work that demonstrates facility in one or more areas of focus.
• Craft professional materials and develop career strategies informed by cultural research and analysis of the contemporary film and media industry.

Upon successful completion of the Film & Media Minor, you will be able to:

• Analyze film and media as a historical, aesthetic, technological and cultural product, including questions of ethics, power and ideology.
• Produce a culturally informed original work of film and media, that effectively communicates ideas through sound and image.
• Produce independent research about film and media through critical thinking and analysis, using primary and secondary sources.