Cinematic Arts

As Hawaiʻi’s film school, ACM: The School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) is at the forefront of cinematic arts in the Pacific. Located in Honolulu at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, SCA is dedicated to academic and creative excellence through its Bachelor of Arts degree designed to encourage innovation and collaboration with emphasis on Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, and Asia. Focused in the heart of a state with a robust film and television industry, SCA encourages professional development, mentorship, and community engagement through a variety of programs including internships, master classes, and industry screenings such as the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. 

Mission Statement

SCA nurtures and empowers students to develop their own unique voices as storytellers, exploring creative media forms rooted in personal experience and place-based learning through animation, critical studies, digital cinema, and screenwriting. 

SCA Students Are: 

Driven by a boundless curiosity, SCA students collaborate and support each other in their creative endeavors and conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner. SCA students create stories for the screen rooted in diversity and personal identity. These films offer windows into their communities, cultures, beliefs and experiences. Whether on set or in the classroom, SCA students embody the values and ethics of emerging artists and scholars who aspire to educate, challenge, and entertain audiences through their work. 

SCA offers a core curriculum in three tracks: Cinematic Arts, Animation, and Digital Cinema.

Cinematic Arts is the central track for SCA majors providing a strong foundation in cinema history, culture, storytelling, and cinematic production. This track provides students the flexibility to focus on areas such as producing, screenwriting, documentary, media studies, as well as the focused study and extended practice in the student’s chosen area of competence. Track requirements are interdisciplinary and allow for a broader understanding of cinema as an art, mode of storytelling, business, and cultural product.

For more info about UH Mānoa’s program, please visit their site.

Prerequisites

N/A

Core Requirements

Core: 18 Credits

CINE 255 – Introduction to Cinema and Digital Media
CINE 215 – Introduction to 3D Computer Animation or CINE 310 – Cinematic Narrative Production
CINE 350 – Screenwriting
CINE 360 – Indigenous Aesthetics
CINE 385 – Topics in Cinematic Arts
CINE 460 – Ethics and Film 

Track (Required Courses): 12 Credits

CINE 330 – Independent Producing
CINE 380 – Genre and Narrative Theory in Cinematic Arts
CINE 381 – Documentary Studies
CINE 382 – Authors in Cinematic Arts

 

Electives

Track (Elective Courses): 12 credits/4 course

CINE 216 – Fundamentals of Animation
CINE 312 – Cinematography
CINE 314 – Experimental Art and Animation
CINE 315 – 3D Modeling
CINE 316B – Intermediate 3D Animation
CINE 316B – Intermediate 3D Animation
CINE 317 – 3D Lighting, Camera, and Rendering
CINE 320 – Animation Production I
CINE 321 – Storyboarding and Animatics
CINE 325 – Motion Graphics
CINE 352 – Screening Asian Americans
CINE 353 – Scenic I: Beginning Scenic Design
CINE 355 – Oral Tradition to Screenplay
CINE 356 – Costumes I: Beginning Costume Design
CINE 370 – Directing the Actor on Screen
CINE 372 – Editing for Cinema
CINE 374 – Post-Production Sound
CINE 375 – Directing the Camera for the Screen
CINE 384 – Study Abroad
CINE 386 – Techniques in Cinematic Arts
CINE 390 – Workshop in Cinematic Arts
CINE 399 – Independent Group Project
CINE 405 – Documentary Production
CINE 410 – Advanced Cinematic Production
CINE 412 – Advanced Cinematography
CINE 415 – Computer Game Production
CINE 419 – Virtual and Augmented Reality Programming
CINE 420 – Animation Production II
CINE 450 – Advanced Screenwriting
CINE 452C/452E – History and Film
CINE 455 – Indigenous Filmmaking
CINE 470 – Directing the Motion Picture
CINE 475 – Screenwriting Capstone
CINE 480 – Oceanic Media and Culture
CINE 484 – Data Visualization
CINE 485 – Seminar in Cinematic Arts
CINE 486 – Capstone Creative Production
CINE 487 – Video Game Design and Development
CINE 490 – Global Media
CINE 495 – Cinematic Arts Internship
CINE 499 – Directed Study

Program Overview

As Hawaiʻi’s film school, ACM: The School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) is at the forefront of cinematic arts in the Pacific. Located in Honolulu at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, SCA is dedicated to academic and creative excellence through its Bachelor of Arts degree designed to encourage innovation and collaboration with emphasis on Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, and Asia. Focused in the heart of a state with a robust film and television industry, SCA encourages professional development, mentorship, and community engagement through a variety of programs including internships, master classes, and industry screenings such as the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. 

Mission Statement

SCA nurtures and empowers students to develop their own unique voices as storytellers, exploring creative media forms rooted in personal experience and place-based learning through animation, critical studies, digital cinema, and screenwriting. 

SCA Students Are: 

Driven by a boundless curiosity, SCA students collaborate and support each other in their creative endeavors and conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner. SCA students create stories for the screen rooted in diversity and personal identity. These films offer windows into their communities, cultures, beliefs and experiences. Whether on set or in the classroom, SCA students embody the values and ethics of emerging artists and scholars who aspire to educate, challenge, and entertain audiences through their work. 

SCA offers a core curriculum in three tracks: Cinematic Arts, Animation, and Digital Cinema.

Cinematic Arts is the central track for SCA majors providing a strong foundation in cinema history, culture, storytelling, and cinematic production. This track provides students the flexibility to focus on areas such as producing, screenwriting, documentary, media studies, as well as the focused study and extended practice in the student’s chosen area of competence. Track requirements are interdisciplinary and allow for a broader understanding of cinema as an art, mode of storytelling, business, and cultural product.

For more info about UH Mānoa’s program, please visit their site.

The School of Cinematic Arts
Crawford 210
2550 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822

(808) 956-5660
cinema@hawaii.edu

Contact an Admission Specialist