Film/Video Department to adopt New Curriculum and Relocate
The Institute has approved a new curriculum for the Film/Video Department in the School of Art and Design while plans are under way to move the department to a new space on campus as part of Pratt’s campus master planning initiative.
The new curriculum is designed to emphasize the fundamental techniques of digital cinema production while simultaneously encouraging the development of non-traditional video content, which is evolving from the twentieth-century reality of video production, exhibition, and distribution. In addition to the focused core classes, students will also be expected to take an array of electives from within specialized areas of Film/Video as well as in related departments. Reflecting the nature of video making as it exists in today's world, the new curriculum will offer a robust cross-disciplinary education. Aspects of the new curriculum will be adopted in Fall 2013 with full implementation planned for Fall 2014.
The Institute plans to relocate the department to 550 Myrtle Avenue, the current location of the Prattstore, as of Fall 2014. Reflecting national trends, Pratt administration identified the Film/Video Department as a growth area in terms of enrollment. The department facilities are currently located in the lower level of the Athletic Resource Center (ARC), but they are inadequate for the needs of the department, according to administrators.
School of Art and Design Acting Dean Leighton Pierce said that the reconfiguration of 550 Myrtle Avenue into an academic space for Film/Video will create a state of the art production facility for the updated program while increasing undergraduate student enrollment from 50 to 200 over the course of four to six years. The new facility will also pave the way for the development of the new master’s degree program in Film/Video, while simultaneously providing opportunities for students from other programs across the campus to take courses offered by the Department of Film/Video.
“The new curriculum will help position Pratt’s Department of Film/Video as an innovative leader in its field over the coming decades while the new space will serve as a dynamic hub to support student digital cinema production,” said Pierce. "Video is the new writing; it is an essential communication and artistic tool in today's world. This facility and curricular expansion anticipates its growing presence in the future media landscape."
Following a competitive selection process, Pratt chose architectural firm WASA/Studio A, the same firm that designed Pratt’s Myrtle Hall at 536 Myrtle Avenue, to redesign the space to best accommodate the needs of the department. Initial plans include two sound stages, a sound-mixing facility, a screening room, and state-of-the-art studios and classrooms.
Renovations are planned to begin in the summer of 2013.
Text: Amy Aronoff
Gateway Editors
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