Curriculum and Internships

The student will secure an internship that will meet the minimum number of 135 hours. This practical internship experience in a professional environment, arranged with the help of the VPA Semester staff, will be at a company that is in line with the student’s learning objectives. The class will meet four (4) times remotely throughout this semester to explore your experiences at your internships, and discuss any challenges or concerns. There will also be one-to-one meetings with the Director which will take place twice during the semester. The purpose of these meetings is to make sure the student is meeting their goals and discuss any roadblocks to their learning outcomes.

Your career is dependent on your ability to network. It is critical to know how to sell yourself and your ideas to others, both to get work and to create your team around you to make it all happen. This course will explore places, industries, social media, and other digital avenues to network today. This class will also explore online pitches, in person pitches and the effective way to present yourself to get what you are looking for. The class will bring in guest panelists to hear pitches and give feedback.

Explore LA neighborhoods and Angelenos’ favorite pastime through hiking and see where LA’s different industries are located. Guests will join the hikes to discuss living in LA and making it in the professional industry through a more casual and fun experience.

Explore art in Los Angeles by visiting art studios, studying Los Angeles-based artists and critiquing work. Open to all students but required for studio arts majors.

Part one of a two-course sequence that supports and guides students in an independent project or body of work as the culmination of each student’s educational experience, intellectual interests, and artistic pursuits. For studio arts majors only.

Students will explore the history of animation and its cultural implications. The course will look at how animation both reflects the global society and how animation conversely impacts society and culture. The course will explore the power of animation as a storytelling medium and how it has evolved in reaching new and broader/global audiences.

ZBrush is the industry-standard digital sculpting software, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing, and painting, essential for today's entertainment artists. By following my curriculum and incorporating hands-on practice, students can develop a strong foundation in ZBrush and become proficient in creating stunning 3D models and has limitless potential in the concept, illustration, 3D printing and production pipeline worlds. By the end of this course, you'll have gained the foundational knowledge to start building your own models, and you'll have made substantial progress in your modeling skills.

Knowledge of Unreal Engine is quickly becoming the most sought-after attribute in college graduates seeking to enter the field of animation and VFX. This course will teach students how to use Unreal, culminating in an animated project at the end of the semester.

This course will build a professional portfolio for animation and illustration students to prepare for their career launch. Learn additional skills in social media, website design, and pitching ideas and self for employment.

For students interested in illustration/animation for visual development in entertainment, illustrating worlds with consistent story and concept designs. This course will have students work in teams to write a story outline, design characters and have at least three environments following the hero’s journey format.

Individual and collaborative projects will employ traditional and digital drawing and paint media creating characters and environments. Final projects could include storyboards, animation, game or book in its final format.

Special topics course in foundations of drawing.

The student will secure an internship that will meet the minimum number of 135 hours.  This practical internship experience in a professional environment, arranged with the help of the VPA Semester staff, will be at a company that is in line with the student’s learning objectives. The class will meet four (4) times throughout this semester to explore your experiences at your internships and discuss any challenges or concerns. There will also be one-to-one meetings with the Director which will take place twice during the semester. The purpose of these meetings is to make sure the student is meeting their goals and discuss any roadblocks to their learning outcomes. 

Your career is dependent on your ability to network. It is critical to know how sell yourself and your ideas to others, both to get work and to create your team around you to make it all happen. This course will explore places, industries, social media, and other digital avenues to network today. This class will also explore online pitches, in person pitches and the effective way to present yourself to get what you are looking for. The class will bring in guest panelists to hear pitches and give feedback.

Explore LA neighborhoods and Angelenos’ favorite pastime through hiking and see where LA’s different industries are located. Guests will join the hikes to discuss living in LA and making it in the industry through a more casual and fun experience.

This course will expose students to the different aspects of production from production design, sound/foley, music/composition, acting contracts (SAG), grant writing and fellowship/labs, distribution, and marketing. It will bring in industry panelists/speakers and go onsite to see sets, sound recording studios, mills for production design, camera/lighting rental houses, etc. It will prepare them to enter the professional sets better prepared for industry practices, know their rights, and expose them to other aspects of film that might be a career possibility moving forward.

Senior Project is a two-semester course for majors intended to integrate knowledge from previous theory and practice courses into a coherent whole. In this course you are expected to produce an artistic film or video. The film should demonstrate aesthetic and technical merit that stands as evidence of your development as an artist and as a synthesis of all you have learned in the BFA Film Program. Each student is responsible and accountable for his/her film concept and rationale, visual and audio strategies, direction and editing. You may use collaborators in the script, cinematography, sound, music, post-production, special effects, credits and sound mix.

This class will throw the students into the fire by making them Field Producers on a theoretical season of The Amazing Race. Each student will be assigned a different country/city; from there they will have to research the cultural and historical aspects of the destination in order to create a racecourse though the area. Students will have to assemble visuals and create decks in order to pitch their racecourses and challenges; they’ll need to take criticism, make changes, and re-pitch in order to get a creative sign-off. Once their racecourse is approved, they’ll have to plan the episode logistically (including travel, housing, props, food costs, etc) and budget it accordingly, presenting plans and paperwork for review by a real Line Producer, again taking notes, and tweaking their work until it is “approved to go to network.”

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a forum to discuss ideas and examine existing narratives to engage with the principles of visual storytelling to better understand narrative and dramatic structures. Students will learn the art of writing a script for episodic television and streaming while learning to pitch their stories to appropriate agencies. Students will be expected to read books, scripts, and industry trades as they relate to writing and business of television production in addition to watching several television shows. At the end of the course, students will complete a written pilot of high quality that could potentially be submitted for production.

Question, what do Martin Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, Noah Baumbach, Todd Haynes, and Bo Burnham have in common? Answer, they’ve successfully crafted both scripted feature films and feature documentaries. When auteurs like these effortlessly flow in/out of storytelling forms, and their fiction and non-fiction projects began to be represented, sold and marketed equally, the seemingly quaint documentary form promptly became just another part of the Hollywood Industrial Complex. We’re not going to delve too deeply into the “form” and “art” of the Documentary in this class, rather, we’re going to dissect and explore why this storytelling technique has become big business. Students will meet and hear first-hand insight from filmmaking insiders from both the creative and business side, and at the end of the semester will have the opportunity to pitch their own idea to a panel of Documentary insiders.

This course will survey the LA food landscape and how it is showcases the local and global impact of environmental and sustainability issues. Students will explore how Los Angeles is adapting to climate change, population changes and cultural factors to address both food insecurity and the politics of food in LA.

The course’s purpose is to introduce interested students to aspects of record production and the role of the record producer. They will gain an understanding of the collaborative artistry of working with musicians, songwriters and A&R, record label staff. As a music business course, students will also become familiar with the financial aspect of record production, the recording fund, budgeting, costs, producer fees and royalties.

Legal aspects of music industry. Ethical considerations for management and artists. Study of domestic and international copyrights, contracts, labor agreements, conflicts of interest, licensing, trade practice regulations, mechanical rights, taxation, privacy, piracy, and payola. Music industry major or permission of instructor.

The overall objective of MUI 409 is for the student possessing basic competence on modern DAW systems into a “power user” able to work in a professional music production environment. This course also includes diverse subjects and practicum experiences such as learning the art of high-level music editing in all genres, exploring the producer/engineer interface, the language of score markup and take based music production and editing. The semester culminates in several projects that utilize current mixdown tools and techniques, so the final product meets all technical and sound quality standards present in the music production industry today.

Students will learn what materials are needed in getting an audition, reel development, website and effective headshots for film and TV casting.

This course will expose students to the materials required for commercial casting, the players in commercial casting/directing, and the know how to land a commercial.

This course will expose students to the Los Angeles theater scene, meeting guest panelists, seeing theater shows and exploring unique LA plays and playwrights. This course will dive into well-established theater venues to smaller community theaters to explore LA’s vibrant theater offerings.

Students will explore acting for the camera; techniques, blocking, working with directors, crew, etc. Students will come out with new material for reel development.