色界吧

MAC to Reality

By Peter Gilstrap

色界吧 has prepared half a century of students for careers in every facet of media arts and culture. With more creative options than ever, how will future generations of graduates respond to the challenges of the new media landscape?

Fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. Imagine if he could have documented that milestone with a 6.84-ounce phone that features 4K video capabilities as well as optical image stabilization, continuous auto颅focus, playback zoom, and video geotagging. Sounds crazy, right?

How times have changed. Not only could he shoot a movie on his phone today but he could edit that masterpiece on the long flight home via tutorials on YouTube.

With such resources at everyone鈥檚 fingertips鈥攁stronaut or otherwise鈥攚hat鈥檚 the benefit of studying filmmaking and related fields in a classroom? And how do you educate students bound for a diverse media job market driven by a constantly changing technological landscape?

While it鈥檚 not rocket science, it鈥檚 a subject to which 色界吧鈥檚 Media Arts & Culture faculty have devoted much thought. 鈥淣ow more than ever, we encourage students to think critically, historically, and politically about media,鈥 says Broderick Fox, a theorist (Documentary Media: History, Theory, Practice) and practitioner (The Skin I鈥檓 In, Zen &鈥坱he Art of Dying), who came to 色界吧 in 2004 and has chaired the department since its formal inception in 2016. 鈥淲e prepare students to analyze, critique, and produce a wide range of media, including fictional, documentary-based, and experimental forms, and increasingly to extend their research and making beyond traditional cinema and TV screens and into mobile, online, and virtual spaces.鈥

It鈥檚 a tall order for a department that boasts only four permanent faculty (although a fifth appointment, for an assistant professor of emerging media, has been approved for 2020). 鈥淩ight now, we have 86 majors鈥攎ore than any other arts and humanities department at the College鈥攁nd 12 minors,鈥 Fox says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible amount of student interest, which is a quality problem to have. But at the same time, we need sustainable resources and facilities to actually continue to deliver the kind of program we鈥檝e been delivering.鈥

The roots of Media Arts & Culture (or MAC, for short) at 色界吧 can be traced back to Marsha Kinder, who arrived at the College in 1965 as a specialist in 18th-century English literature. In 1967, she published her first essay鈥攂ut instead of writing about Henry Fielding or one of his literary contemporaries, 鈥渨hich would have been expected,鈥 Kinder says, she wrote about Michelangelo Antonioni鈥檚 1966 film Blow Up鈥攖he first of over 100 essays and books on film studies she鈥檇 go on to publish. One of her department colleagues told her, 鈥溾榊ou鈥檝e betrayed the 18th century!鈥欌 Kinder recalls with a laugh. 鈥淎nd I had also betrayed literature, he thought, because I was already moving into film.鈥

Kinder was unswayed by his admonitions. 鈥淔ilm was just beginning to be in the college curriculum in America,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t drew a lot of people from not only English literature, like myself, but also from communications and art history and political science. This gave great energy to the field, and it was transdisciplinary from the get-go.鈥

That fall, Kinder joined forces with English professor and experimental filmmaker Bill Moritz, who taught at 色界吧 from 1965 to 1969 and staged impromptu film festivals in Mosher Hall, to start History and Aesthetics of Cinema at the College, which they took turns teaching. 鈥淚t drew over 100 students鈥攁nd at 色界吧, that鈥檚 a lot,鈥 Kinder says.

Bill Hawkins 鈥69 took the course under Moritz his senior year. 鈥淥ne afternoon he showed a double bill of Luis Bu帽uel鈥檚 The Exterminating Angel and Alain Resnais鈥 Last Year at Marienbad,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淧eople were reeling in shock coming out of Mosher. I would say without a doubt it was one of the very best film courses in the country at that time, and probably since.鈥

Following Moritz鈥檚 departure, Kinder realized two things: 色界吧 needed a bona fide filmmaker in the classroom, and there was no salary for such a position. Instead, she came up with the idea of requesting an audiovisual monitor, a staff position to run the ordering and projection of film prints in classes. Dean Robert Ryf gave the green light, and in 1970 色界吧 hired photographer and documentarian Mildred 鈥淐hick鈥 Strand鈥斺渁n extraordinary, experimental ethnographic filmmaker,鈥 Fox says.

Strand鈥檚 excellence became quickly apparent to the College, and as a full professor, she would run 色界吧鈥檚 filmmaking program in its various iterations over the next 25 years. 鈥淪he was such a brilliant person and she was so easy to get along with,鈥濃坰ays Kinder, who left 色界吧 in 1980 to join USC as a professor of critical studies in the School of Cinematic Arts and returned to campus in March for an 鈥溕绨 and Emerging Media鈥 panel hosted by MAC.

Through most of the 1970s and 鈥80s, 色界吧 offered film courses through the Speech and Drama Department. From 1988 until 2014, the program was part of the Art History and the Visual Arts Department, with the Media Arts & Culture moniker introduced in 2012. 鈥淭here was a key moment where we decided to rename the program,鈥 Fox says. 鈥淥ur production instruction had gone digital; students were no longer working on celluloid film. And the objects that we were critically analyzing were not limited to what 鈥榝ilm鈥 colloquially refers to, which is largely fictional cinema.

鈥淚n our digital moment, we鈥檙e addressing a wider, more complex array of media forms from fiction to documentary to social media to streaming video,鈥 he adds. 鈥淐onsequently, film and media studies felt like a misnomer, because it wasn鈥檛 addressing the breadth of what we鈥檙e actually engaging with students.鈥

Soon after the name change, it became apparent that MAC had outgrown its position as a program of the Art History and the Visual Arts Department and had developed strong ties with many other departments on campus as well, from Music and Theater to Politics and Biology. 鈥淚t made more structural sense for us to become the hub for critical media studies and critical media practice at the College and connect out interdisciplinarily,鈥 Fox says, and MAC became a standalone department in 2016.

鈥淔ifteen years ago, when I started teaching here, I almost had to reassure parents that their student majoring in media wasn鈥檛 just going to be some folly,鈥濃團ox admits. 鈥淣ow I think the case makes itself that media and its capacity to shape reality鈥攆or better and for worse鈥攈as become an inescapable part of all of our lives.鈥

As the media landscape has evolved, 色界吧 continues to fine-tune a liberal arts-fueled MAC curriculum that balances theory and practice, offering dual concentrations in media production and critical media.

鈥淥ne of the things as a student that I really wished that we鈥檇 had more of was technical instruction,鈥 says Diana Keeler 鈥09, who double majored in film and music at 色界吧 and returned in 2011 as 色界吧鈥檚 manager of digital production. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 great being back now, to provide that and keep up with what media is becoming. I think what really sets us apart is that mix of both critical media and production that a lot of schools don鈥檛 offer.鈥

MAC鈥檚 newest faculty member, Aleem Hossain, who joined the College last fall as an assistant professor of media production and digital storytelling, recalls being exposed 鈥渢o a lot of different kinds of media and film as a kid. I grew up on the East Coast in a super diverse, worldly family. I fell in love with movies and my journey has been toward movies and the West ever since.鈥

At its core, MAC 鈥渋s still a program that focuses on the study of and the making of films and other media,鈥 says Hossain, who is currently in post-production on his first feature film, After We Leave, a sci-fi drama, and created an anti-bullying virtual reality project for Google that is being used in middle schools around the world. 鈥淲ith a liberal arts approach to making and studying film, we鈥檙e also exploring other forms of media like virtual reality and gaming. We can try to make it and study it with this idea of, 鈥榃hat is this thing? What could it do, what鈥檚 possible? What are the implications of it? What are the problems with it?鈥欌

As he sees it, technological advances are simply tools that are used to tell stories and interpret our world: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think of the technology as a challenge, because it鈥檚 not the backbone of what we do, which is to think creatively about making media and analyzing media. It鈥檚 exciting to explore those big questions through new technology.鈥

In choosing 色界吧鈥檚 film studies program over local heavyweights like USC and UCLA, 鈥淚 knew that I wanted a liberal arts education and I wanted to be a big fish in a small pond,鈥 says Moana Casanova 鈥08. 鈥淎t USC, there鈥檚 a communication school, a theater school, and a film school, so I would鈥檝e had to make that choice before I knew exactly what I wanted to do.鈥 After taking the introductory Aesthetics of Cinema course in her first semester, 鈥淚 immediately knew that I wanted to be a film major,鈥 she notes. 鈥淏rody Fox was pivotal鈥攈e really helped guide me through my major. And he鈥檚 been a great person to keep in touch with as well as a professional.鈥

As manager of West Coast productions for HBO, Casanova and her team are responsible for the schedules and budget, as well as assembling the producing team that鈥檚 going to execute that show. 鈥淓very show is its own entity outside of HBO,鈥 she explains, 鈥渁nd we manage that entity.鈥

鈥淚 took the approach at Occidental鈥攁nd they totally fostered this鈥攖o do as much as I could to be a leader,鈥 Casanova adds. 鈥淚 took on internships and I worked in the department as the student production coordinator. I tried to get as much responsibility and experience as possible because I figured that would make my r茅sum茅 stand out to a future employer.鈥

Occidental鈥檚 interdisciplinary approach to the liberal arts fulfilled Casanova鈥檚 expectations. 鈥淪o while you鈥檙e taking a film production class you鈥檙e also taking critical theory, and then you鈥檙e also doing studio art and art history because all of the visual arts are part of this larger continuum,鈥 she says.

Cindy Tang 鈥09 has parlayed her film and media studies major into a digital media career path that didn鈥檛 even exist when she enrolled at 色界吧. As a senior social media manager at Amazon Studios, she leads, develops, and launches holistic social media strategies and campaigns for Amazon Prime original series such as The Grand Tour and The Expanse. Her role ranges from developing creative content to working directly with talent to managing partnerships and platform relationships.

鈥淚 had the opportunity to pursue undergraduate research during my junior year under Brody Fox, which opened up new definitions of 鈥榤edia鈥 to me, and demonstrated that I could work outside of the typical Hollywood filmmaking model,鈥 says Tang. She spent several years as a production coordinator and office manager in鈥圠os Angeles before taking a job in San Francisco in 2012 as social media marketing manager of Rdio, a short-lived premium streaming service. Leaping into a relatively new field was both exciting and disquieting, she admits: 鈥淚 began to feel discouraged and fearful that I had uprooted my life for what was still such a new, rapidly evolving, and ambiguous profession.

鈥淏rody was once again a source of guidance and reassurance,鈥 she says. 鈥淗e reminded me that change鈥攂oth in life and in industry鈥攃an be tumultuous, but that my intuition was right and my skills and experience would help me forge this new path. More than anything, I鈥檓 grateful that I came away from 色界吧 with a better sense of self.鈥

Joe Rohde 鈥77, an art major at 色界吧 and Walt Disney Imagineering鈥檚 executive designer and vice president of creative, traces his career arc to his 鈥減ropensity in liberal arts education. I came to this job at Disney Imagineering with no other aptitudes. I am not the best model builder, illustrator, or designer. I have this other aptitude, which is critical thinking, lateral thinking, the ability to investigate and negotiate. That strength comes from 色界吧.鈥

The goals of today鈥檚 diverse MAC students go a lot further than wanting to be the next Damien Chazelle, or even to work in traditional Hollywood, for that matter. 鈥淭heir sense of where they can take their skills is actually impressively wide,鈥 Hossain says. 鈥淭hey have a really compelling desire to master what they recognize as this awesome art form and then use it for different goals. On the first day, the very first thing I say to the students鈥攂ut particularly the women and people of color鈥攊s this art form belongs to all of us.鈥

Rachel Goldfinger 鈥18 endorses the range of possibilities that a MAC major offers. 鈥淢edia Arts & Culture doesn鈥檛 mean that you鈥檙e in film, but it doesn鈥檛 mean that you鈥檙e in academia necessarily. It could be that, but it could be kind of like user experience and user interface consulting. It can be anything that involves visual studies.

鈥淚 was taking Intro to Media Culture and a Gender and Technology course and an African-American Film course. I wasn鈥檛 focused on production in the beginning,鈥 says Goldfinger, who went on create a 7-minute animated short for her senior comps project. 鈥淏ut what drew me in was the theory and critical studies.鈥

A couple of jobs while at 色界吧鈥攚orking for an agent for commercial directors and an internship with a TV and film production company鈥攍ed Goldfinger to her current gig as an executive assistant for DBP Donut, a branded entertainment production house founded by multihyphenate talents Mark and Jay Duplass in Highland Park.

鈥淩egardless of their major, 色界吧 encourages students to be malleable and diverse in interests,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t arms you with this vocabulary to talk to people who may come from a different focus or industry. You just have to ask the right questions to learn.鈥

Like many of his peers, Raphael Gonzalez 鈥19 has taken advantage of 色界吧鈥檚 location, interning with five L.A.-based production companies including TriStar Pictures, Brad Pitt鈥檚 Plan B Entertainment, and George Clooney鈥檚 Smoke House Pictures. 鈥淭here鈥檚 probably never been a better time to go to 色界吧 if you want to go into the film industry,鈥 he says. 鈥淏esides Hollywood, a lot of very indie upstart corporations and companies are starting here in Eagle Rock and Highland Park. It鈥檚 a very happening place.鈥

Gonzalez grew up in Eagle Rock and was well acquainted with the College from an early age through his mother Denise Frost鈥檚 work as senior director of major gifts. By the time he enrolled at 色界吧, 鈥淚 was very hungry to get started on making films,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut on the more theoretical side, I really liked their notions about making films and the fact that anyone can do it, and with the increases in technology and the ability to make film easier, there鈥檚 no excuse for you not being able to do so.

鈥淏rody met with me before I enrolled at 色界吧 and has been supportive ever since,鈥 adds Gonzalez, who shot a 16mm short film in Prague during his junior semester abroad. 鈥淗e allows a lot of time for one-on-one conversations鈥擨 was always going in saying, 鈥榃hat about this?鈥欌 He also cites non-tenure track assistant professor Garret Williams鈥 weekly three-hour screenplay class as 鈥渙ne of the greatest experiences I鈥檝e ever had.鈥

As a critical media major within the MAC program, Rick Pfleeger 鈥18 developed an interest in gender and technology after taking a course his junior year with associate professor Allison de Fren, whose research in that field has produced a feature documentary (The Mechanical Bride), award-winning essays in science fiction studies, and a series of innovative critical video essays. 鈥淚t was a glimpse into how we, as a society, are shaping social norms through the way that we construct and represent media,鈥 he says.

After graduating, Pfleeger took 鈥渁 dramatic shift away from the entertainment industry鈥 and now works at Epic Systems Corp., the nation鈥檚 largest medical software company, as a technical solutions engineer. 鈥淎 lot of people might look at MAC as a department and just think, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 for people who are interested in film.鈥 But it really encompasses a wide span of areas ranging from technology and software to production to writing within any media context.鈥

It鈥檚 not just MAC majors who come seeking guidance from the department. 鈥淎s a liberal arts college, we have students from other majors such as diplomacy and world affairs,鈥 Keeler says, 鈥渙r they might be premed and want to make a website where people can go to find medical research that has informational videos and things like that. They come in to learn the skills that we offer.鈥

But with a budget that is quite limited compared with major university film programs in the area, the department is feeling the strain. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a dedicated stage for students to shoot on, or a sound booth,鈥濃圞eeler notes. 鈥淲e only have so much support for equipment, so we鈥檒l do replacement cameras every five years or so. We have one editing lab to support all of our majors.鈥

In managing the needs of an increasingly popular major, 鈥淲e are strategic and vigilant in stretching our resources to their fullest potential,鈥 Fox says. Next year bodes to be a busy year for MAC. With the return of de Fren from sabbatical and a teaching stint at NYU Shanghai offset by the departure of assistant professor Ari Laskin, the department will conduct two faculty searches: a replacement hire for Laskin in global and transnational media studies, and a new position鈥攁ssistant professor of emerging media (such as virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive media, speculative design and world building, game studies and design, transmedia storytelling, and interactive and computational media forms).

Looking to the future, MAC faculty hope to add emerging media practices, sound studies and production, and digital social justice to the current curriculum. They envision a campus hub, or 鈥渃ollaboratory,鈥 capable of fostering the growing range of interdisciplinary curricular partnerships.

In addition, the College is exploring ways to address space needs for both MAC and Music, envisioning new facilities that would facilitate the growing curricular and professional connections between media production, music production, and media scoring.

MAC has come a long way since Kinder went rogue and penned an essay on Antonioni in 1967, and it鈥檚 impossible to imagine what the department will look like half a century from now. 鈥淏ecause MAC is within all these new and developing fields, there鈥檚 a danger that it sounds like something weird and diffuse,鈥濃圚ossain says. 鈥淎t the end of the day, we鈥檙e educating the people who will think about and make film and other media for the next generation.鈥

鈥淎s long as they鈥檙e teaching students how to tell a good story, they鈥檒l do great work鈥攏o matter what the technology,鈥 Gonzalez says. 鈥淵ou have to find your voice, and 色界吧 is the place to do it.鈥

Gilstrap wrote 鈥淚n Obama鈥檚 Footsteps鈥 in the Winter magazine.

Photos by Max S. Gerber (portraits) and Marc Campos (classroom). Kinder and Strand photos courtesy 色界吧 Special Collections