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Show Us Your Work

Film & Media Portfolio

Film & Media portfolios give Cornish the chance to understand your artistic work and creative process, and your passion about each. Applicants applying to major in Film & Media should submit work that best represents their creative ability. We are looking for your ability to stage and light scenes, record sound, work with sound design generally, edit scenes together, and tell stories. If you do not have works to submit, please make work following two of the three prompts below.

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS FOR FILM MAJORS

Your film portfolio should include up to twenty pieces that may include work in visual media (drawings, photographs, 3D pieces) in addition to scripts and films. Also welcome are examples of your sketchbook, process book, reflective journals, works-in-progress, and other items that can help inform us of your creative process, influences, and technical proficiency.

If your portfolio lacks completed films, please respond to two of these three prompts to include with your application.

Film Program Prompts

  • Film a scene of up to two minutes that uses a single light source to light a conversation between two people. Choose the location with some care: diner, living room, kitchen, public park? Your goal with the conversation: neither person is willing to say what they really mean. Give it some emotional resonance.
  • Write a 3-5 page scene set in a single location such as a kitchen, a diner, a party, a car. Two characters are talking, but neither is really paying attention to what the other person is saying. This could be comic or dramatic. Use standard screenplay formatting if possible.
  • Find twelve to fifteen slides of a family from a site like www.archive.org. The photos should compel you, hold your interest. Download them and lay the pictures out on a timeline (in Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro) and write a story about them that helps you to say what the family story is. Record your own voice telling the story and lay that on the timeline, too, adding pauses and other sounds as they make sense for texture, ambiance, or emotional power.

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS FOR ANIMATION AND GAME ARTS MAJORS

Submit 12-20 works that best represent your artistic ability, creativity, and commitment. We encourage you to include a variety of work in your portfolio, whether you’re exploring an array of media, ideas, or both. Traditional, digital, and time-based media (video/film/sound) are all welcome. While the majority of your portfolio should be completed works, we also encourage you to submit items that can help inform us of your creative process and influences. This can include your sketchbook, process book, reflective journals, and works in progress. We want to understand how you are getting from ideation to execution.

Portfolios give Cornish the chance to see the passion and commitment behind your artistic work. You do not need to make work specifically for the admissions portfolio. If you have been creating work in your arts classes and as part of a personal artistic practice, you should have lots to choose from.

When it comes time to apply, all you need to do is curate a collection that shows your strengths. When editing your portfolio, ask yourself some of the following questions:

  • When were you excited to experiment with new ideas and/or techniques?
  • In which works are you most proud of your technical abilities?
  • Is there a work where you took a major risk that paid off?
  • Which works let you dive into a subject or medium you’re deeply interested in?
  • Did you explore the same idea or technique across multiple works?
  • Which works really allow your voice to shine through?

Please do not include work that directly replicates another artist’s work (including replications of cartoons, video game characters, anime and manga, or depictions of celebrities and other public figures). These are great for learning technical skills, but we want to see works that showcase your ideas.

Use your portfolio to tell us who you are as an artist and person, what you’ve been doing, what you believe in, and how Cornish fits into your journey moving forward. Our mission is to nurture the next generation of artists, citizens, and innovators. Your portfolio is your chance to show us that you are ready to become all those things.

When submitting your portfolio for admission and scholarship, please upload each file individually to the application portal. This will give you the option to add a title, date, size, medium, and caption for context.

Additionally, we offer students opportunities to have in-person and virtual portfolio reviews. Schedule an appointment for a one-on-one portfolio review with an admissions counselor.

National Portfolio Day

We welcome the opportunity to meet you in person or online and review your work before submission. Look for Cornish at the National Portfolio Day or schedule an online appointment with an admission counselor here.