Art Degrees Online

Fine art principles and practices are the essential forces guiding the mission of the Program in Experimental Animation—a course of study designed for independent and adventurous artists who are interested in personal expression and who regard animation as a highly dynamic, ever-evolving art form. This program offers a framework in which students explore, develop and refine intellectually demanding, aesthetically progressive concepts and professional practices in their personal cinematic artmaking.

The curriculum begins by building a foundation understanding of a variety of animation techniques and concepts. Courses in 2-D drawn and direct animation, stop-motion, and 2-D and 3-D computer animation blend practical knowledge with creative stimulation, while animation history courses provide a detailed examination of all forms of animation art—with a special emphasis on the history of experimental forms. Once foundation studies are completed, students work closely with their mentors and other members of the program’s accomplished faculty as they experiment with and extend their own unique artistic visions. At the advanced levels of the curriculum, students chart a more individualized course of study in consultation with their mentors, who help to custom-tailor coursework according to each student’s particular interests.

The Program in Experimental Animation enjoys a long-standing international reputation for excellence in innovative animation production. Its faculty, students and alumni have consistently won top awards at film festivals in the United States, Europe and Asia, and are widely credited with helping to define the art of animation as we know it today.

MICA’s major in video allows you to address the technical and conceptual concerns of work in video and film with courses that explore the full range of opportunities for creating original artwork featuring moving images of all kinds. Major coursework combines a strong foundation of technical practice with an understanding of the history of film and video, and fosters the conceptual and intellectual sophistication necessary to develop a personal body of work, as well as strong problem-solving and production coordination skills.

You will have the opportunity to execute projects in both field and studio production, analog and digital post-production, sound recording, and musical composition. Through electives, you can build a specialty in an area such as content delivery via the Web, large-scale sculpture incorporating projected imagery, and computer programming.

Tailoring your study, you can prepare for a career in the production of narrative or documentary film and video. Or you might focus on developing a body of work for exhibition as video installation. Graduates in video at MICA are producing motion graphics, doing feature film production, pursuing graduate work in film, creating gallery-based projections and music videos, and have screened their work in film festivals including Sundance and the London Film Festival. Students can garner professional experience running screenings of work by students from MICA and other colleges through Channel Organix; and in internships at MTV Network, New York, Transistor Studios, Hollywood, WBFF Fox 45, Baltimore.

Facilities in video include a dedicated 20-workstation video lab featuring high-resolution television monitors, digital video decks, and sound editing equipment. Each workstation is equipped with Final Cut Pro, Pro- Tools audio editing software, and Adobe Aftereffects for motion graphics and special effects. Six digitally based editing stations offer extra monitors and workspace and a double floor-to-ceiling dub rack, which allow copying of work in ten different formats, including DVD to cassette, and multiple simultaneous dubs. Sound recording/editing facilities include a large recording studio with control room and mixing board, a smaller narration studio, two studio/performance/recording rooms, and a high-end sound post-production suite. A video production studio with professional lighting grid and lights and green/blue screen capabilities allows students to work on largescale projects with sets, and to undertake sophisticated lighting projects.