Film and New Media (BA)
Program Description
Film and New Media integrates filmmaking and new media with study of their histories, conventions, and practices. Students who have a love for moving images, regardless of their background in film or the arts, are encouraged to enroll. The only requirement is that they bring their passion, curiosity, and hard work to their pursuits. In return, Film and New Media students explore different forms of screen media, including live-action narrative, documentary, animation, work with archival footage, and experimental work in nonlinear and interactive formats. Students take studies and practice courses, and finish their degree with a Capstone project that reflects their interests and prepares them for a lifetime of understanding our image-saturated world.
Although films, television, web series, videogames, and other screen media are sometimes understood only in terms of entertainment, media artists have applied critical understandings of media’s possibilities to make us laugh and cry, remember and dream, think and take action. They have combined centuries-old conventions from dance, music, theater, and visual arts, as well as cutting-edge methods of scientific inquiry and political analysis, to invite us to see the world with fresh eyes and reflect on our place in it. Film and New Media helps students to look at a big picture of media history ranging from pre-cinematic visual devices to virtual and augmented reality, and to learn how people across the globe have adapted technologies to convey their stories and questions—to move us emotionally or make us think critically.
Abu Dhabi is situated to provide a comparative perspective on film production and film cultures, embracing the study of both established and emerging film industries and practices. Students engage with local and regional landscapes, people, and their histories to discover the vibrancy of the world around them. From gateway Film and New Media classes through the culmination of their degree, the Capstone Project, this dialogue plays a critical role in students’ work and is part of what makes Film and New Media at NYU Abu Dhabi truly unique.
To bring imagination and ideas to reality, the program provides state-of-the-art equipment and facilities within the NYUAD Arts Center, supporting workflows on the latest digital platforms. Students gain access to the University’s sound stages, post-production, and screening facilities—providing cutting-edge technologies in an ever-changing medium to create meaningful works that have both emotional and intellectual impact. The NYUAD Library offers special collections of short and feature films from the adjacent regions and beyond. Film and New Media is a lens through which we can embrace a multitude of subjects—history, literature, music, theater, science, and the environment, to name a few. Students learn ways to not only articulate their visions, but, more importantly, develop their own points-of-view and voices. This process evolves over time and with life experience; the education at NYUAD is just the beginning. The Film and New Media program nurtures students to become the next generation of critical thinkers and image-makers—with the skills and confidence to turn their ideas into tangible results that reveal emotion and intelligence. In this spirit, students are prepared for creative and critical thinking that can include careers as filmmakers, scholars, curators, critics, educators, innovators, and leaders in film and new media industry, as well as a solid foundation for graduate and professional programs in a wide variety of disciplines and fields from business and law to arts and humanities. The program encourages students to explore all areas of the arts by requiring them to take one or more classes in other arts programs to deepen and broaden their understanding of their fields.
The major in Film and New Media emphasizes interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to film and new media. Students develop critical and interpretive skills for making and understanding documentary, experimental, narrative, and interactive modes of film and new media and learn critical, historiographic, and theoretical methods for analyzing film, new media and their histories. The electives courses can be taken from any area in the curriculum, but students should work with a mentor in the Film and New Media Program to plan a sequence to support a particular interest. They will also work with a Capstone mentor on an individual project.
Study Away for Film and New Media
The study away pathway for the Film and New Media major can be found on the NYUAD Student Portal at students.nyuad.nyu.edu/pathways. Students with questions should contact the Office of Global Education.
The Film and New Media program strongly recommends that students count no more than two courses taken away from Abu Dhabi toward the major.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.