Production Option - Film and Animation BFA


Production Option
Film and Animation BFA
Breadcrumb
- RIT /
- College of Art and Design /
- Academics /
- Production Option - Film and Animation BFA
Develop and refine your creative approach as you produce innovative and artistic cinema.
Overview
- Spend a semester in Los Angeles with Study Away: LA, RIT's semester in LA where you can intern at top studios and entertainment companies, and take two courses to complement the study-away experience.
- Explore fictional, documentary, and experimental live-action filmmaking.
As a student in the production option within the film and animation BFA program, you will explore fictional, documentary, and experimental live-action filmmaking. With insightful and accomplished faculty teaching in state-of-the-art facilities, students receive an unparalleled film education. This option is part of the film and animation BFA program.
This path focuses on production through visual and sound artistry utilizing hands-on experience with the camera, editing, and sound equipment. Students will understand the aesthetic principles of the art form and develop a range of technical skills while producing creative work from day one until graduation. Students also have access to labs and classrooms equipped with the latest software, technology, sound, and screening options to complete any project.
RIT offers more production experience than its peers and, as a result, draws students from all over the world. Students write scripts, recruit actors and crew, research documentary subjects, edit, mix soundtracks, live through critiques and screenings, and wait for the applause. This option requires many exercises and a minimum of three significant works, one of which is a year-long senior thesis. Students have been finalists in the Student Academy Awards while multiple production alumni have won Primetime Emmy Awards due in part to the extensive practical experience they received at RIT.
Graduates are qualified to begin careers in the industry or create their own independent productions. Work produced by students and alumni has been consistently honored with awards at international and national festivals.
Study Filmmaking in LA
Study Away: LA gives film and animation majors the opportunity to spend a semester in Los Angeles learning from industry professionals. The bulk of your time will be spent at internships, but you'll also complete two courses that will complement your study-away experience. Learn more about Study Away: LA and how you can gain industry experience in traditional filmmaking, animation, or cutting-edge areas like virtual production in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the global entertainment universe.
Join us for Fall 2023
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling, space-available basis.
Careers and Experiential Learning
Typical Job Titles
Agent | Chief Lighting Technician |
Creative Director | Director |
Documentary Filmmaker | Experimental Artist |
Producer | Production Manager |
Production Sound Mixer | Supervising Sound Editor |
Visual Effects Supervisor | Writer |
Salary and Career Information for Film and Animation BFA
Cooperative Education and Internships
What’s different about an RIT education? It’s the career experience you gain by completing cooperative education and internships with top companies in every single industry. You’ll earn more than a degree. You’ll gain real-world career experience that sets you apart.
Co-ops and internships take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. Co-op in the College of Art and Design provides hands-on experience that enables you to apply your artistic capabilities in dynamic professional settings while you make valuable connections between classwork and real-world applications.
Students in the production option are strongly encouraged to complete a cooperative education or internship experience.
Creative Industry Day
RIT’s Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education hosts Creative Industry Day, which connects students majoring in art, design, film and animation, photography, and select computing majors with companies, organizations, creative agencies, design firms, and more. You’ll be able to network with company representatives and interview directly for open co-op and permanent employment positions.
Featured Work
Sizzle Reel
A collection of student work from Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Film and Animation, which offers a BFA and MFA in Film and Animation and a BS in Motion Picture Science.
Student film hits theaters nationwide
Film and Animation students Anna McClanahan (BFA) and Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (MFA) won Coca-Cola's Refreshing Films program, leading to their "Say Cheese" film screening in theaters around the country.
Documentary Film
Annika Servin
Annika Servin '18 (Film and Animation; Photojournalism) was a co-winner in the Documentary category of the 2019 CILECT North America Best Film Award competition for her thesis documentary film, ...
Featured Profiles
RIT, NTID team up to create pioneering film
Students Anna McClanahan (BFA) and Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (MFA) brought together the deaf/hard-of-hearing and hearing communities in creating their finalist film for a Coca-Cola-sponsored program.
School of Film and Animation Overview
RIT's School of Film and Animation is a creative community that allows students to explore their talents in the art of filmmaking or the science and technologies used in the motion picture industry....
Pre-College Portfolio Prep Workshop 2022
RIT's annual Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop offers students an engaging and rewarding experience. The course, taught by our School of Art's drawing and painting faculty, is a visual arts...
Admissions and Financial Aid
This option is part of the Film and Animation BFA. Please visit the degree program page for admission requirements.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
100% of all incoming first-year and transfer students receive aid.
RIT’s personalized and comprehensive financial aid program includes scholarships, grants, loans, and campus employment programs. When all these are put to work, your actual cost may be much lower than the published estimated cost of attendance.
Learn more about financial aid and scholarships
Latest News
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November 14, 2022
Vote now for RIT’s tiger courier for 'Dota 2' game
RIT is vying to be the first university to develop and have a game character accepted into the wildly popular online game Dota 2. The character, or courier, in the form of a tiger, was developed in MAGIC Spell Studios by a team of former RIT students and a faculty adviser.
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October 4, 2022
RIT welcomes prospective students for National Portfolio Day
RIT's College of Art and Design faculty, along with those at 25 other top art and design schools, reviewed students' portfolios as they prepared their artwork for the college admissions process.
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September 26, 2022
School of Film and Animation director's documentary uncovers family stories
Shanti Thakur's hybrid-documentary Terrible Children has been met with a warm reception on the festival circuit. Screenings are scheduled at Rochester's Little Theatre Oct. 20 and 22.