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About

Along with providing a theoretical understanding of media, the Communication department offers undergraduate level instruction, and resources to create media arts projects. Students may follow two production paths Cinema (including narrative, documentary, experimental, and audio) or the New Media Track. The media production unit aims to foster creativity, strengthen students’ media making capacities, and cultivate critical thinking about the media arts. The unit actively engages with the broader media community, such as the Writing for the Stage and Screen Minor, the Hollywood Internship Program, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Fellowship, the ECL Film Studies Concentration & Global Cinema Minor, and the Art Department.    

The New Media Track is designed for students interested in the computer as a humanistic or artistic medium. Students develop both creative and critical approaches through a cross-disciplinary curriculum. Students choose from designated classes in Communication (COMM), Computer Science (COMP) and the School of Information and Library Science (INLS). Students are also encouraged to take courses in the ISIS Program at Duke University.

Through careful and steady growth, the production concentration operates with a stable SOA infrastructure with regards to support and equipment. The production concentration continues to offer quality instruction in lab-based learning and through research opportunities. Within the Media Production concentration you can expect to couple writing skills with production skills to produce a well rounded and potentially powerful portfolio with which to enter the marketplace or further your academic career.

The Dept. of Communication media production facilities are housed at 108 E. Franklin Street and comprised of the following:

  • The 24/7 access Apple®-based lab is comprised of 40+ workstations running the Master Collection suite of Adobe products, Unity, Pro Tools, and Media Composer. 
  • Large Studio:
    •  385 sq. ft green screen, a voice-over booth, and an attached 256 sq. ft. sound conditioned, advanced HD color correction screening room which also serves as a surround sound authoring audio studio/control room.
    • lab space for the New Media Track, HD projection system, and gaming PC and consoles for Game Design courses. 
  • Classes are small and hands-on: 14 to 16 students with 2 students per computer and, a 1:16, professor::student ratio.
    • Courses include: Video and Audio production, Compositing, Experimental video, Narrative, Documentary, New Media, Audio, Interactive, Game design, 3-D and 2-D Animation
  • A sound conditioned audio studio & VO room houses  voice over booths, Universal Audio hardware and software, Pro Tools  with MIDI interface. 
  • The Media Lab offers a total of 29 iMac and iMac Pros for advanced student work,
  • Two instructional spaces 340 sq. ft. and  360 sq. ft. Each outfitted with overhead HD projection and audio, and each with 8 iMac workstations.

Our equipment room houses many great production toys such as a GlideCam, doorway dolly, spider dolly, fig-rigs, jib, drone, full lighting selection, fixed focal length lens selection, and a collection of Pro/Pro-sumer level HD cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark II and III, Canon XF200, Canon C-100, Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K+, and BlackMagic Cine camera 2.5K and 4K. Additionally, a robust selection of microphones and recording/mixing equipment is available.

The Hollywood internship is one of several internship opportunities that capitalize on the comradeship generated through Carolina and its alums. This opportunity, in specific, places students in Hollywood internships in their senior year and situates those students in the Hollywood experience with a support structure.

The strength of the program hinges on the liberal arts armature of the College. The diversity of courses and exposure to opportunities coupled with the production instruction and projects will prepare you to solve problems and assertively enter the workplace or advanced degree programs post graduation.

A fantastic opportunity that leads to employment in the media industry.