Film
Eliciana Nascimento
About this opportunity
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School offers powerful opportunities to Honors students majoring and minoring in Film to tell empowering stories with a unique voice and vision. Once accepted to the Honors College, film students should contact the lead FHA to learn about these opportunities within the film school. Film Honors students may pursue credits through the Enrichment Honors Contracts with our award-winning and diverse faculty and expand their knowledge and skills in various areas of screenwriting, film pre-production, production, post-production, marketing, and distribution. All students must complete a thesis/creative project to fulfill the requirements to graduate from the Barrett Honors College.
Thesis
The Thesis/Creative project is completed in two semesters and two classes. Students may choose to develop a project they are currently working on or create a new project from scratch. If students decide to make a film or a video, they should use the two semesters to complete all phases of pre-production, production, and post-production to its completion.
Before getting started with the Thesis/Creative project, students are required to complete the workshop Getting Started with Thesis and Creative Project: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/thesis/gettingstarted
Academic Preparation
The required classes to complete the Thesis/Creative project:
- FMP 492 Honors Directed Study
- FMP 493 Honors Thesis
To get started working on the Thesis/Creative project students must enroll in the Honors Directed Study. Students should choose a full-time faculty with a terminal degree to be their first thesis director and also a second faculty or FA to serve as a second director. They should contact the FHA for film to get all detailed information on how to enroll in the courses and get recommendations on their thesis directors.
Recommended Timeline
Students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Film and Media Production will produce a professional portfolio based on multiple creative projects. Students in the BA Filmmaking Practices major must create an independent senior project. Honors students from either major are required to complete their Thesis/Creative project and their thesis projects for their designated majors.
Example of Thesis/Creative project:
- A short or feature screenplay; a television pilot or series proposal
- Short Narrative, documentary, animation, or experimental film
- Short Videos: music videos, commercial or promotional videos
- In-depth analysis of current industry trends
- In-depth critical research paper for publication
Students in the BFA program working on capstone films for the major are advised to explore other areas of creative projects or research within film or other disciplines. We do not recommend that these students make a second film as an Honors Thesis. Please consult with the Film FHA for proper guidance.
Other Honors Opportunities
Students should also take advantage of the opportunity to create enrichment Honors contracts in non-Honors film classes. In these contracts, students can discuss a subject they want to explore in more depth with a full-time faculty to advance their knowledge and get some mentorship from their professors. Honors contracts should be established with only full-time film faculty. Students should approach the professors they want to make Honors contracts with during the first week of classes to discuss their area of interest and design the research or project they should complete.
More information about the Honors Enrichment Contracts here: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/honors-courses-and-contracts/honors-enrichment-contracts