Motion Picture Arts
Be the star of your career.
A program of the Department of Theatre and Motion Picture Arts at Thorneloe University, the priority of the Motion Picture Arts program is to prepare students for traditional careers in the production of theatrical features, TV programs, and in advertising. Until recently, the platforms for this traditional media were once limited to movie theatres, broadcast TV, and home-video. With the introduction of the communications revolution brought about by the internet, new platforms are continually emerging and evolving, such as smartphones, tablet computers, etc. Each of these platforms then generates demand for supplementary content, thus generating more opportunity for employment for motion picture artists. Furthermore, an education in motion picture arts production prepares students for careers in the production of video games, webisodes, and all other media implementing motion pictures.
The constant expansion of 21st century digital media gives graduates more points of entry into the motion picture arts industry, such as social-media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, etc. Essentially, students of the motion picture arts option are prepared for careers as 21st century motion picture artists: creatively independent writer-director-producers who are equally comfortable analyzing the aesthetics, and application, of production design, cinematography, picture editing, and sound design.
APPLY FOR ADMISSION
(Through Laurentian University)
REGISTER FOR COURSES
(For students admitted to Laurentian University)
Academic Advisor
Benjamin Paquette
Telephone: 705.673.1730
Email: MPArts@thorneloe.ca
Office: Secretary: Susan Moores, 705.673.1730, ext. 100
What is Motion Picture Arts?
A program of the Department of Theatre and Motion Picture Arts at Thorneloe University, the priority of the Motion Picture Arts program is to prepare students for traditional careers in the production of theatrical features, TV programs, and in advertising. Until recently, the platforms for this traditional media were once limited to movie theatres, broadcast TV, and home-video. With the introduction of the communications revolution brought about by the internet, new platforms are continually emerging and evolving, such as smartphones, tablet computers, etc. Each of these platforms then generates demand for supplementary content, thus generating more opportunity for employment for motion picture artists. Furthermore, an education in motion picture arts production prepares students for careers in the production of video games, webisodes, and all other media implementing motion pictures.
With Thorneloe University and its other federated partners, Laurentian University is the largest university north of Toronto, and its Motion Picture Arts Production program is the only university-based centre for the study of film, TV, and other motion pictures in Northern Ontario.
Motion picture arts production in Northern Ontario, and specifically Greater Sudbury, has established itself as a regional hub for film and TV production. Productions in the city have included the Canadian Cult Classic Roadkill (1989), the CBC-TV feature Shania: a Life in Eight Albums (2005), the American thriller The Truth (2012), and the Canadian comedy Men with Brooms (2002). Television series filmed in the city include TV Ontario’s hard rock medical (2013), the Canadian sci-fi Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds (2013), and TFO’s French-language météo+ (2008-2011), and Les Bleus de Ramville (2012). March entertainment’s studio in Greater Sudbury has produced a number of animated TV series, including Chilly Beach (2003-2008), Maple Shorts (2005-present), the Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom (2006-present), and Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist (2008-present). Sudbury is also home to the Science North production team, an award-winning producer of documentary films and multimedia presentations for museums all around the world. Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival, Canada’s 4th largest film festival after the Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, and Vancouver International Film Festival, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014.
Our Region
As a region, Northern Ontario is home to three quarters of a million people, and Greater Sudbury, the largest city north of Toronto with a population of over 160,000, is its facto capital.
While the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a world leader in the motion picture industry, Northern Ontario is fast becoming a regional hub. Since 2004, for example*, Northern Ontario has benefited from $100+ million in direct/indirect spending on 72+ theatrical and/or TV projects, which created 3,500+ jobs.
*Statistics provided by Music and Film in Motion, a not-for-profit organization based in Greater Sudbury.
Labelle, and Ox. The rap metal band Project Wyze is also based in Sudbury.
Program Options Include
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Specialization in Motion Picture Arts (4 years)
Minor in Motion Picture Arts
Admission Requirements
Based on Grade 12 4U/M courses:
1 English
5 other courses
Minimum Average of 70%
Ontario High School Applicants
1 grade 12 English U/M course
5 other grade 12 U/M courses
A minimum overall average of 70% in the 6 best grade 12 U/M courses
Please note that students are required to submit a portolio and complete an interview before progressing to the second year of study. Plesae contact the Department Chair for more information at ptedford@laurentian.ca.
Additional information for applicants who have completed Advanced Placement courses.
Additional information for applicants who have completed the International Baccalaureate.
Applicants from outside an Ontario High School
Canadian High School Applicants from outside Ontario
For Current Students
The degree options listed below are for the upcoming academic year, not the current academic year. If you are a current student looking for which courses to take in order to complete your degree options from a previous academic year's curriculum, please consult with an academic advisor.
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Total 120 credits
Students must complete a specialization (60 credits) in Theatre, Music, Music Performance, or Motion Picture Arts and an additional 24 credits in Fine Arts electives. Students may choose to include these electives in a minor in a second Fine Arts discipline. The remaining 36 credits must include 6 credits in the Social Science, 6 credits in the Sciences, and 24 elective credits in subjects other than Theatre, Music, or Motion Picture Arts.
Students must follow the BA regulations in order to meet graduation requirements for the BFA.
Admissions to this program have been suspended as of May 2020
Specialization in Motion Picture Arts
First Year
CINE 1005E Motion Picture Arts: Form
CINE 1206E Photography
ENGL 1705E Introduction to Writing and English Studies
OR ENGL 1706E Introduction to Writing and English Studies I + one of (ENGL 1707E or ENGL 1717E)
6 elective credits in Fine Arts
9 elective credits*#
Second and Third Years
CINE 2005E Motion Picture Arts: Production I
CINE 3005E Motion Picture Arts: Production II
3 credits from Motion Picture Arts Composition Theory:
CINE 2036E Theories and Practice of the Motion Picture Arts
CINE 2046E History of the Motion Picture Arts
ENGL/FILM 2846E Rhetoric of Film and Image
6 credits from Motion Picture Arts Composition Practice:
CINE 3205E Screenwriting
ENGL 3516E Creative Writing
ENGL 3517E Studies in Creative Writing
ENGL 3556E Principles and Practices of Workplace Communication
9 credits from Motion Picture Arts Interdisciplinary Studies:
CINE 2207E Cinematography
CINE/DEUT 2216E German Cinema
CLAS 2036E The Ancient World in Film
ENGL/FILM 2815E World Cinema
ENGL/FILM 2826E Rhetoric of Documentary Films
ENGL/FILM 2827E Documentary Film Making
ENGL/FILM 2835E American Film Directors
ENGL/FILM 3836E Applied Media Aesthetics
ENGL/FILM 3846E Applied Media Aesthetics
ENGL/FILM 3847E Film Theory
ESPA 3226N Film in Spain and Latin-America
HIST 3916E Propaganda, Politics and Film
HIST 3917E Fascism on Film
ITAL 2216N Italian Cinema
MUSC 2046E oundtracks: Music in the Movies
PHIL 2716E Philosophy and Film
RLST 2327E Jesus in Film
RLST 2365E Religion in Film
12 elective credits in Fine Arts
18 elective credits*#
Fourth Year
CINE 4005E Motion Picture Arts: Production III
9 credits from Motion Picture Arts Interdisciplinary Studies (see list above)
6 elective credits in Fine Arts
9 elective credits*#
* in subjects other than Theatre (THEA), Music (MUSC), or Motion Picture Arts(CINE)
#Students must include at least 6 credits in the Social Sciences and 6 credits in the Sciences from among their elective credits.
Note: Students may not exceed 48 credits at the 1000 level or 9100 level in their degree program.
Minor in Motion Picture Arts
Admissions to this program have been suspended as of May 2020
CINE 1005E Motion Picture Arts: Form
CINE 1206E Photography
CINE 2005E Motion Picture Arts: Production I
CINE 2036E Theories and Practice of the Motion Picture Arts
OR CINE 2046E History of the Motion Picture Arts
CINE 3205E Screenwriting
List of Faculty Members
Patricia Tedford, Chair, Theatre and Motion Picture Arts, BFA Cordinator
Benjamin Paquette - Supervisor of Program; Sessional Faculty
Jason Jallet - Sessional Faculty
Andrew David, Sessional Faculty
Gerry Kingsley, Sessional Faculty