The pathway below represents an efficient and effective course taking sequence for this program. Individual circumstances might require some changes to this pathway. It is always recommended that you meet with an academic counselor to develop a personalized educational plan.
The courses have been intentionally placed and should be prioritized in
the order
in which they appear. If you are unable to take all the courses in
a semester, you
should prioritize enrolling in the courses in the order below.
Some courses have
been noted as “Appropriate for Intersession” 
. Should you need (or want) to take
classes
in the summer and/or winter intersessions,
the program recommends these courses as appropriate for the condensed
schedule of
the intersessions.
Some pathways combine a “Certificate of Achievement” and an “Associate
Degree”. If
you are pursuing only the Certificate of Achievement, you are only
required to take
the courses marked “Program Requirement” 
.
All pathways include at least one “Gateway Course” 
which introduces you to the program and/or field of study and helps you
decide if you want to continue with this Academic and Career Path.
Most Associate degrees (though not Associate Degrees for Transfer)
require satisfying the SMC Global Citizenship requirement. If the Program
Requirements do not include a “Global Citizenship course” 
, be sure to select a General Education course that also satisfies Global Citizenship.
The program in Film Production will provide hands-on instruction in filmmaking/digital video production. This encompasses creative and logistical production, directing, editing, cinematography, and audio, as well as techniques for making specific types of films and/or videos, and the planning and management of film/video operations. All of the production classes infuse theory into and through the course products.
Upon completion of the program, students will:
- Upon completion of the program students will produce film projects of high quality, congruent with films accepted into high profile film festivals. Students will become proficient in the use of the latest technology including High Definition (HD) and 4K formats. Students will gain significant exposure to the industry and film professionals and develop a network to support their career in film production.
Icon Key
-
Gateway Course
-
Program Requirement
-
General Education -
Appropriate for
Intersession
-
Available Online -
Global Citizenship
Semester 1
16-18 Units
This course will introduce the art, technology, language, and appreciation of film, exploring the varieties of film experience, film and the other arts, and the ways of viewing. Students will learn about the basic cinematic techniques and structures, including mise-en-scene and montage, use of cinematic time and space, the image, soundtrack, and the script. Consideration will also be given to analyzing the fundamentals of film production, directing, acting, and editing; how the elements of the production process are analyzed separately, then brought together to show how they create the emotional and intellectual impact of the film experience. Film examples will be screened in class.
- Skills Advisory: ENGL 1
- 3A: Arts
- C1 - Arts, Dance, Music, Theater
- Area III: Humanities
A broad survey is made of the history, theory, techniques, and development of motion pictures. The history of film as a major art form and its major artists, works, and styles are emphasized. Film examples are screened in class.
- Skills Advisory: ENGL 1
- 3A: Arts
- C1 - Arts, Dance, Music, Theater
- Area III: Humanities
This is an introductory course covering both the basic techniques of digital filmmaking and of critical appreciation, while emphasizing students' personal and creative expression. Topics will include the theory and practice of visualization, the grammar of cinematic storytelling, the aesthetics of various film movements, camera technique, lighting, sound recording, directing, and other fundamentals related to learning the craft of digital filmmaking. Students will engage in critical appreciation and individual and group analysis of movies, as well as in filming exercises under the direct and continuous supervision of their instructor.
This course is designed to teach the student the basic tools of scriptwriting for film, television, or theater, focusing on the aesthetic and commercial demands of each medium.
- Skills Advisory: ENGL 1
CSUGE Area B4 Course 3-5 units
This introductory course in rhetoric emphasizes clear, effective written communication and preparation of the research paper.
- Prerequisite: ENGL 21B or
- Prerequisite: ENGL 22
- Prerequisite: ESL 19B or
- Prerequisite: Group A on the Placement Test
- 1A: English Composition
- A2 - Written Communication
- Area IV-A: Language and Rationality (Group A)
This class is designed for students who are either undecided about their educational or career goals, validating their decisions, or seeking to transition into a new career. Students are guided through a process that focuses on their individual interests, skills, personality and values to aid in the selection of a major, determine a career direction and develop career goals. Students will relate their self-assessment information to possible college major and career choices. Decision-making models and goal setting techniques are examined and will be used to develop short and long term education and career plans.
- E - Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development
Semester 2
16 Units
This course focuses on intermediate techniques of digital filmmaking and theoretical and critical rubrics, allowing the student to gain proficiency in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing. Students learn the roles and responsibilities of various facets of the filmmaking process during pre-production, production and post-production. Working with previously produced scenes written by industry professionals, students learn skills that include the visualization of the screenplay, script breakdown, preparation of shot lists, direction of actors, and the staging of action for the camera.
- Prerequisite: FILM 31
- Corequisite: FILM 32L
This is the laboratory component of Film 32. The laboratory projects will parallel the lecture topics. The lab projects will pertain to directing, cinematography, lighting, sound recording, and the acquiring of images in the HD (High Definition) format. Students will produce elaborate and well-crafted narrative scenes, working in collaboration with other students in the class.
- Corequisite: FILM 32
This course is designed for students who are interested in transforming a creative concept into a practical production plan. By viewing, discussing, and analyzing scripts, television, and film, students will learn skills necessary to start production of a film or video.
- Skills Advisory: FILM 20
This introductory course familiarizes students with the fundamental aspects of digital video production. Covering acquisition formats, authoring formats and delivery formats. The class provides a strong foundation for working with visuals and sound in non-linear digital video post-production. Topics will include digital vs. analog, time code, frame rates, frame size, aspect ratios, broadcast and streaming codecs and distribution formats. *Catalog Course Comment: This course uses Adobe Premiere Pro.
In this hands-on course, students will delve into the art and craft of cinematography:the methods and techniques by which motion picture photography and lighting help give a film meaning and aesthetic purpose. Through lectures, demonstrations and exercises in a supervised classroom environment, students will learn to operate state-of-the-art digital and electronic equipment while applying the fundamental principles of lighting, composition, exposure, focus, lens selection, and camera dynamics into purposeful visual storytelling.
Advanced study of the principles of Cinematography, which includes the technical and aesthetic discussion of film and digital cameras and their corresponding workflows. Film genres, lighting (light and shadows), composition, camera movement, and lens selection (Spherical & Anamorphic) are also discussed. The analysis of Cinematic Film format aspect ratios, their history and most common uses today, and a brief study of art history and painting. The interpretation of the meaning of color-related and applied to art direction, wardrobe, and production design, while carrying the process through color grading and color correction of the visual image (footage) to the ultimate presentation of the actual finished film.
This course provides a practical in-depth study of the fundamental aspects of recording and mixing production sound for film and television. Subjects include: introduction to production sound equipment, location sound recording and mixing techniques, on-set sound assessment and troubleshooting, digital audio workstation basics, along with dialogue and ADR (automated dialogue replacement) recording and editing.
FILM 7 recommended
See the full list: Required Elective from "Program Electives" list below
CSU GE Area C2 Course 3 units
Semester 3
15-17 Units
In this course, students go through the process of making a short narrative film together, emulating a professional working environment. Supervised by their instructor, students develop, pre-produce, rehearse, shoot, and edit scenes from an original screenplay that is filmed in its entirety in the lab component course (Film 33L) at the end of the semester.
- Prerequisite: FILM 32
- Corequisite: FILM 33L
In this course students will collectively develop and shoot one narrative short film throughout the semester. This course is the laboratory component for Film 33 and will parallel the lecture topics of that course.
- Corequisite: FILM 33
This course focuses on advanced techniques of digital filmmaking and theoretical and critical rubrics, allowing the student to gain increased proficiency in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing, while at the same time producing original content. Students hone their skills in various facets of the filmmaking process during pre-production, production and post-production. Working with original content that has not yet been produced and/or material written by themselves, students advance their skills in the visualization of the screenplay, script breakdown, preparation of shot lists, working with actors, and the staging of action for the camera.
- Prerequisite: FILM 32
- Corequisite: FILM 34L
This is the laboratory component of Film 34. The laboratory projects will parallel the advanced filmmaking lecture topics taught in Film 34. The lab projects will foster advanced skills in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing. Students will produce elaborate and well-crafted original content based on narrative film scenes written by themselves or derived from scripts that have not yet been produced. These advanced projects will be filmed in their entirety in class, working in collaboration with all the students enrolled in the course.
- Corequisite: FILM 34
This introductory course familiarizes students with the fundamental aspects of digital video production. Covering acquisition formats, authoring formats and delivery formats. The class provides a strong foundation for working with visuals and sound in non-linear digital video post-production. Topics will include digital vs. analog, time code, frame rates, frame size, aspect ratios, broadcast and streaming codecs and distribution formats. *Catalog Course Comment: This course uses Adobe Premiere Pro.
In this hands-on course, students will delve into the art and craft of cinematography:the methods and techniques by which motion picture photography and lighting help give a film meaning and aesthetic purpose. Through lectures, demonstrations and exercises in a supervised classroom environment, students will learn to operate state-of-the-art digital and electronic equipment while applying the fundamental principles of lighting, composition, exposure, focus, lens selection, and camera dynamics into purposeful visual storytelling.
Advanced study of the principles of Cinematography, which includes the technical and aesthetic discussion of film and digital cameras and their corresponding workflows. Film genres, lighting (light and shadows), composition, camera movement, and lens selection (Spherical & Anamorphic) are also discussed. The analysis of Cinematic Film format aspect ratios, their history and most common uses today, and a brief study of art history and painting. The interpretation of the meaning of color-related and applied to art direction, wardrobe, and production design, while carrying the process through color grading and color correction of the visual image (footage) to the ultimate presentation of the actual finished film.
This course provides a practical in-depth study of the fundamental aspects of recording and mixing production sound for film and television. Subjects include: introduction to production sound equipment, location sound recording and mixing techniques, on-set sound assessment and troubleshooting, digital audio workstation basics, along with dialogue and ADR (automated dialogue replacement) recording and editing.
CSU GE Area A1 Course 3 units
CSU GE Area E Course 2-3 units
Semester 4
16 Units
CSU GE Area B3 Course 4 units
ENGL 2 recommended for transfer options
See the full list: CSU GE Area A3 Course
POL SC 1 recommended for CSU
See the full list: CSU GE Area D Course
CSU GE Area F Course 3 units
Program Electives
6 Units
An introduction to artistic practices by exploring the myriad manifestations of visual culture in our world through a cross-cultural thematic approach. This course examines themes in art like Religion, Power, Reproduction and Sexuality, and traces them across cultures and time periods. Emphasis will be placed on learning the language of visual culture both in terms of the formal elements of design as well as the content of style and subject matter and finding connections and differences. Students will explore the various media of art from drawing, sculpture, fresco, oil, photography, motion pictures, architecture to contemporary advertising and design and investigate how various cultures have used specific media and themes. This course is designed to introduce Fine Art and Art History simultaneously providing a unique opportunity to explore these fields as well as to prepare students for a course of study in Fine Art and Art History.
- Skills Advisory: Eligibility for English 1
- 3A: Arts
- C1 - Arts, Dance, Music, Theater
- Area III: Humanities
- Area V: Global Citizenship
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of digital audio design and provide them with the basic tools to use the technology appropriately, creatively, and effectively. A large element of "hands-on" practical experience will be balanced by an emphasis on understanding the fundamental theoretical principles of the technology and its applications within the entertainment industry. Topics covered will include the basic characteristics and differences between analog and digital audio; principles of good audio design; the essential hardware and software tools of music production in a digital environment; characteristics and differences between the main digital audio formats; basic principles of sound waveform editing; and recording techniques for multimedia and video integration. *Catalog Course Comment: This course uses Avid Pro Tools.
This course focuses on the advanced techniques, skills, and theories of editing as well as the technical requirements for assembling a digital video project. Through a series of hands-on projects, students will put traditional theories of picture and sound editing into practice using advanced techniques of layering, rotoscoping and motion graphics. This course will utilize a industry standard editing application with a shared storage server. *Catalog Course Comment: This course uses Avid Media Composer.
- Skills Advisory: DMPOST 3
This advanced computer-based course covers the design and production of a faculty supervised project for portfolio development. Students will produce post-production projects utilizing original and provided footage. Emphasis will be placed on aesthetic quality and technical execution of the narrative format. Students will complete multiple projects for their online site as well as a demo reel of their work. Multiple editing software will be utilized in this course.
- Corequisite: DMPOST 24 or
- Corequisite: DMPOST 32
This course surveys American motion pictures that have been made by filmmakers representing three United States ethnic groups, including African Americans, Latino Americans, and Asian Americans. Students will also analyze Hollywood's treatment of those ethnic cultures throughout film history.
- Skills Advisory: ENGL 1
- 3B: Humanities
- C2 - Humanities
- F - Ethnic Studies
- Area III: Humanities
- Area V: Global Citizenship
This course is designed to provide intermediate level training in skills required to create scripts for film, television, or theatre. Techniques of writing and marketing scripts are explored.
- Prerequisite: FILM 20