Film and Video Production
What can you do with a Film & Video Production degree?
A strong hands-on emphasis characterizes the film and video production major at Grand Valley State University. Courses of study include animation, documentary, fiction, film studies, new media, nonfiction, scriptwriting, and sound design. The curriculum integrates production experience with insights offered by media history, theory, and criticism. The film and video production program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Open House Tours

Summer Film Project producing feature film for its milestone year
The crew wrapped up the production of a feature-length movie on July 31, 2019 for the 25th year of the project.
(Photo Credit: Valerie Wojciechowski)
Degree Options
BA/BS in Film & Video
Students may pursue a BA or BS with this major. The BA degree requires a cognate area consisting of a third-level proficiency in a foreign language while the BS requires three courses in Computer Information Systems, Statistics or History. Both options prepare the student for a successful career in the media industry, with a variety of employment options.
Film and Video production Major Information
Learning Environment
Film and video production students can expect the following:
- Development of their personal expertise and interests by exploring a diverse set of courses offered.
- Faculty members that are active practitioners with a broad range of experience and interests.
- High-impact learning opportunities outside the classroom through internships and local production projects.
- Opportunities to present work that are offered through regularly scheduled public screenings, and a peer-reviewed academic journal.
- Student organizations offering opportunities for growth, such as the student-run television station, radio station, newspaper, film screening clubs, and many more.
- Hands-on experience by producing projects for real clients in and outside of the classroom.
- Preparation for graduate studies in a variety of filmmaking and cinema studies programs.

Film and Video Production students discuss movie script with faculty.
Faculty
Spencer Everhart
Visiting Professor
Julie Goldstein
Assistant Professor
Program Coordinator
Joel Potrykus
Affiliate Professor
Kim Roberts
Professor
on Sabbatical Leave Fall 2021
John Schmit
Professor
Anal Shah
Associate Professor
Suzanne Zack
Affiliate Professor
Internship Coordinator
zacks@gvsu.edu
Course Catalog
100-level courses
Introductory course in the critical study of the various modes of
film/video/animation/new media production. Examines distinctive formal
elements of each mode as well as the economic and cultural context of
production and reception. A prerequisite course for film and video
production. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite:
Restricted to film and video, communication studies, health
communications, multimedia journalism, photography, advertising/public
relations, and theatre majors.
Credits: 3
Fundamentals of video production, including the techniques and the
aesthetics of shooting, lighting, and editing. Emphasizes hands-on
production experience, using digital video. A preadmission course for
film and video production. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Prerequisite: Restricted to film and video, communication studies,
health communications, multimedia journalism, photography,
advertising/public relations, and theatre majors.
Credits: 3
200-level courses
The second course in the video production sequence, emphasizing the
techniques and aesthetics of shooting and editing. Additional emphasis
placed on concept development and production management. Offered fall
and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Admission to major; Corequisite:
CFV 227.
Credits: 3
Intermediate-level digital media editing lab to be taken in
conjunction with CFV 226. Tutorials and workshops designed to advance
editing skills in support of course-related projects and upper-level
production courses within the major. Offered fall and winter
semesters. Prerequisite: Admission to the major. Corequisite: CFV 226
Credits: 1
Writing for film, video, radio, and mixed media. Writing exercises in
dramatic, informational, documentary, public service announcements,
and commercial formats. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Prerequisite: Restricted to film/video or broadcasting majors.
Credits: 3
Introduction to general principles of sound and to hardware and
software of radio and other major media uses of sound. This is a
production course. Offered fall, winter, and spring/summer semesters.
Prerequisite: Restricted to film/video, broadcasting, communication
studies, and multimedia journalism majors.
Credits: 3
300-level courses
This is an intermediate-level production course using class members
as the production unit focusing on fiction filmmaking, including story
development, production/post techniques, directing and interpretation
of drama from script to screen. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Prerequisites: CFV 226 and CFV 227.
Credits: 3
Working in production teams, students produce a documentary video
about a substantial topic of their choice. Includes viewings and
readings. Offered every year. Prerequisite: CFV 226.
Credits: 3
Basic electronics theory, audio and video recording, synthesizing on
audio or video signal, and signal processing. Offered fall semester.
Prerequisites: CFV 226 or CBR 281; Physics 226 or 229 recommended.
Credits: 3
Introduction to 3D modeling and animation using computers. Students
will demonstrate proficiency at basic modeling skills, surfacing,
lighting, and animation. There will be consideration of how color,
shape, lighting, and texture influence meaning. Work in critical
analysis provides a context for the animation process. Offered winter
semester. Prerequisite: Admission to the major.
Credits: 3
An introductory course in animation filmmaking. Students will work in
small groups on animation and movement exercises and will individually
produce a short final film. Readings will be assigned, films will be
viewed and discussed. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: Admission
to major.
Credits: 3
An introduction to theory and practice of new media production as a
means for storytelling and creative expression. Explores the practice
of user-testing and participation, image manipulation and multimedia
production with a focus on emerging and traditional forms of media
production. Offered fall semester. Prerequisite: CFV 226.
Credits: 3
A practical examination of the elemental codes and structures of film
and video. Exercises in lighting, sequencing, sound, color, and
composition. Viewings and readings. Offered winter semester.
Prerequisites: Admission to major and CFV 226.
Credits: 3
Explores the craft of narrative drama in motion pictures. Students
with some background in film, video, and/or audio gain an
understanding of the professional model of media production by
assisting in the planning and shooting of a dramatic film. Offered
spring/summer semester. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Credits: 3 or 6
Explores conceptual issues in editing images and sound in a digital
production environment. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Prerequisites: Admission to major and CFV 226.
Credits: 3
This course will introduce various perspectives on the study of film
in order to explore and explain how films generate meaning and
pleasure. Students will gain an historical understanding of film, and
learn to write in the language of scholarly film criticism. Offered
fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
A seminar in which students work on individual scripting projects of
substantial length, using class and instructor for critical analysis.
Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: Admission to the major and CFV 261.
Credits: 3
The process of studio and location lighting for film and video;
principles, instruments, measurement tools, filters/diffusers,
single/multiple setups. Offered fall and winter semester.
Prerequisites: Admission to major and CFV 226.
Credits: 3
A historical survey of American cinema which examines the cultural
and aesthetic significance of film as well as the changing economic
and technological contexts of the U.S. film industry. Offered fall
semester. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
A global historical survey of animated film and video production that
examines styles of animation, how animation techniques evolved as
technology changed and the economic determinants of the production and
reception of animated films. Offered fall semester of even-numbered
years. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
An historical survey of nonfiction film and video that examines the
theoretical context for documentary production, the varied functions
and styles of documentary work, how documentary technique evolved as
technology changed and the economic determinants of documentary
production. Offered fall semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite:
CFV 123.
Credits: 3
This course investigates the representation of gender, race and
ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity, and class in contemporary
cinema. It focuses on the role cinematic representation plays in the
construction of identity and stereotypes, and ways in which film can
also challenge conventional representations. Offered winter semester
of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
This course examines the international history of experimental film
and video and contemporary practice within the mode. The course
emphasizes the theoretical and critical analysis of significant work
in its historical context. Offered winter semester of even-numbered
years. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
Explores the economic, historical, and cultural context for film
production and exhibition in several countries to understand the
relationship between cinema and national culture. Examines the
influence and significance of films that have constituted alternatives
to the Hollywood entertainment model. Close textual readings of
foreign films. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: CFV 123.
Credits: 3
A survey of cinema in Latin America. The course will analyze
representative films as works of art and examine them as cultural,
historical, political, and economic products that characterize and
reveal diverse perspectives from significant film producing countries
in Latin America. Course is cross-listed with LAS 376. Offered fall semester.
Credits: 3
A study of special topics not regularly covered in the curriculum.
Expectations of the student in this course approximate those in other
300-level courses. May be repeated for credit when content varies.
Prerequisite: Admission to major.
Credits: 3
A two-part course: First, core topics that are the foundation of all
audio production. Second, topics of special interest, such as radio,
TV, film, music recording, and digital audio. Throughout the course,
professionalism will be stressed both in the final products and in the
individual performance. Offered winter and spring/summer
semesters. Prerequisites: CFV 282 and restricted to film/video,
broadcasting, communication studies, and multimedia journalism majors.
Credits: 3
400-level courses
In this advanced workshop, students will work in large production
crews to produce short, dramatic fiction motion pictures from their
original scripts. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites:
Admission to major and CFV 321.
Credits: 3
Working in production teams, students produce a documentary video
about a socially significant topic of their choosing. Readings and
assignments will develop an understanding of the methods for producing
independent documentary and the accompanying issues commonly
encountered. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: Admission to the
major and CFV 322.
Credits: 3
Continued work in animation production for character and graphic
animation. Introduction to 3-D computer animation and current
technologies for special effects in motion pictures. Students will
design, storyboard, and complete an animation project. Offered winter
semester. Prerequisites: Admission to major and CFV 325.
Credits: 3
A continuation of theory and practice of new media production as a
means for storytelling and creative expression. This course further
expands the focus on conceptual and technical skills in emerging and
traditional forms of media production. Offered winter semester.
Prerequisites: CFV 326 or permission of the instructor.
Credits: 3
Explores the craft of narrative drama in motion pictures. At an
advanced level, film students gain theoretical and practical
experience in the production of a dramatic film. Students fill skilled
positions on the film’s crew. Offered spring/summer semester.
Prerequisites: Admission to major and CFV 421.
Credits: 3 or 6
The process of audio, film, and video postproduction, emphasizing the
draft/revision process. Editing will proceed in a nonlinear digital
environment. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: CFV 261 and either
CFV 330 or CBR 281.
Credits: 3
Students produce media solutions to meet the goals of nonprofit
clients. Projects are field-tested to ensure professional-level media
production standards. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: Admission
to major and one intermediate video production course (CFV 320 or higher).
Credits: 3
In-depth study of recording and manipulating sound to enhance visual
communications. Students sharpen their skills in adapting standard
recording tools to the requirements of video/film. The class
encourages critical thinking about how sounds conveys meaning and
transforms the meaning of the image. Offered winter semester.
Prerequisites: Admission to major and CBR 281.
Credits: 3
A supervised work experience in an area of a student’s potential
career interest. Initiated by the student, who plans the work
experience with the advisor, the faculty sponsor chosen to supervise
the internship, and the supervisor at the worksite. Credit is awarded
only when the student, the faculty sponsor, and the work supervisor
have completed evaluations of the internship. Offered every semester.
Prerequisite: Admission to the major.
Credits: 1 to 6
The senior thesis/project demonstrates both depth and sophistication
in the major. Offered each fall and winter semester. Prerequisite:
Admission to the major.
Credits: 1 to 6
Professional Networking
Grand Valley Television (GVTV)
GVTV is GVSU's only student-run television station. They broadcast news, sports, fiction shows ranging from sketch comedy to drama.
Experimental Film Club
This organization equips students with resources and knowledge for experimental film production and critique.
Film & Conversations Club
This organization is devoted to viewing and discussing films
Otaku no Anime
This organization promotes the appreciation of Japanese animation.
Cinesthesia
Cinesthesia: The Grand Valley Journal of Cinema was established to provide undergraduates the opportunity to showcase their academic work, both written and video in format, in the field of cinema studies.
Other Links
Visit Us
Prospective Students are invited to attend one of the High School Student Receptions, held throughout the academic year. Receptions follow the Laker Experience Days.
Attend a High School Student Reception
Request Information
For questions about the Film and Video Production area, please contact:
Professor Julie Goldstein
Film and Video Production Program Coordinator
221 Lake Superior Hall
(616) 331-3465
goldstej@gvsu.edu
Other Areas
Art Education — Art History — Ceramics — Film & Video Production — Graphic Design — Illustration — Jewelry and Metalsmithing — Painting — Photography — Printmaking — Sculpture — Visual Studies