After completing foundational coursework, sophomores apply for Candidacy to continue in the Film & Video track. The required portfolio constitutes an important early step toward career readiness. Contact a digital filmmaking professor if you have questions. The wisest of students allow sufficient time to improve multiple submissions with faculty consultation and revision.
Candidate Information
- Name
- Email Address: Provide your professional email handle – not your PennWest student email. Email addresses are frequently coordinated with web domain names (see below).
- Phone number: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
- Student ID (include @)
- Download your unofficial transcript from Banner, save as a .pdf, and upload here. A minimum GPA of 2.75 is expected of all applicants.
Professional Work – Digital Portfolio
Consistent colors, fonts, and design elements, memorably reinforce a filmmaker’s identity. The successful film/video candidate thus communicates a unified personal brand by aesthetically coordinating the following items:
- A link to your personal Vimeo site. Vimeo is the preferred hosting platform for professional filmmakers. The best of sites organize projects into albums for ease of visitor navigation. Films hosted on Vimeo may be easily embedded into personal websites (below), forwarded to prospective employers, or appended to competitive applications for grants and festival entry. Vimeo is also launching a new tool to easily find and hire top-tier video professionals, so you want to update your profile and use it as a job search tool.
- A professional website.
- First, register a domain from a site like Domain.com, Bluehost, HostGator, or GoDaddy. Securing a web address (like brianfuller.org, for example) is like buying a plot of land. Next, build the house, with a service like Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, or WordPress.
- Submit a link to the résumé page of your website. A résumé page is searchable in ways that a résumé .pdf or other document is not.
- Submit a link to the gallery page of your website. A gallery of completed projects, usually organized by genre (e.g., commercial, documentary, animation) or crew position (e.g., director, cinematographer, editor). For purposes of candidacy review, your gallery must include projects completed in ART 2005, Introduction to Photography, or ART2105, Introduction to Digital Film Production.
- Submit a link to the demo reel page of your website. A reel is a collection of your films’ most impressive moments. As a sophomore applying for candidacy, your reel might be less than 20 seconds in length. As your coursework continues, develop a habit of saving impressive images from each class project for a combined running time of a minute in your final semester.
- A business card design. Your card should feature a professional business email address. Students often find sites such as moo.com helpful in the design and printing of identity suite elements.
- Three to six drawings from ART 1100, 1300, 1106 & 1206. Of particular interest are images which demonstrate an articulation of depth and an understanding of composition.
Competencies & Qualifications
- A link to your LinkedIn Profile. Your profile should include a professional headshot and a customized url (the default url ends in a string of random numbers).
- An essay (500-750 words) which discusses (1) two goals you have for your remaining college projects and coursework, OR (2) two characteristics that make your work aesthetically distinctive. Because essays should be free of surface errors, please employ a reliable proofreader like Grammarly.
- A conversation with Career Coach for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences might include the following topics: on-line job search resources; freelancing and the gig economy; relocation; guild and union membership; the path from entry-level to experienced career. Enter the date of your most recent meeting with the Career Coach.