USC School of Cinematic Arts

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Infobox university The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in film. Under a name that directly preceded its present one, it became, in the 1980s, an academic unit of its own, within the university. Colloquially "SCA" or "the USC film school," it now has several divisions or programs, which treat artistic or business aspects of the creation of motion pictures and related media.

History

Template:Multiple image

In 1927, when Douglas Fairbanks became the first president of the nascent Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, one of his recommendations was that the academy have a “training school”. Fairbanks and his enablers reasoned that training in the cinematic arts should be seen as a legitimate academic discipline at major universities and be accorded degree considerations the same as those of fields like medicine and law. Although cinema-studies programs are now widely-entrenched in academia, this was a novel idea, and many universities turned Fairbanks down.

Tepid acceptance of this recommendation by Fairbanks came at the University of Southern California, which agreed to allow one class, called “Introduction to the Photoplay”. This debuted in 1929, the same year as the Academy Awards.<ref>From Douglas Fairbanks to George Lucas: USC’s School of Cinematic Arts turns 90Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2019</ref> Determined to make it a success, Fairbanks brought in the biggest industry names of the era to lecture. These included Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, William C. DeMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl Zanuck.<ref name="LATcntv">Rachel Abramowitz, L.A.'s screening gems, Los Angeles Times, Accessed June 16, 2008.</ref> From that one class grew a Department of Cinematography, established in 1932 in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. USC became the first American college or university to offer a course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree in cinema.<ref>Timeline 1929-1940USC School of Cinematic Arts</ref>

Douglas Fairbanks delivers inaugural lecture of USC film school.
With university president Rufus von KleinSmid standing at left, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., as 1st President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, delivers the inaugural lecture, Photoplay Appreciation, at the USC film school, February 6, 1929.

In 1940, the department was renamed the Department of Cinema. By the latter 1970s, it was the Division of Cinema-Television, which, in 1983, became an independent academic unit, the USC School of Cinema-Television.<ref>Timeline 1971-1992USC School of Cinematic Arts</ref> This, in 2006, was renamed the USC School of Cinematic Arts.<ref>Record-Breaking GroundbreakingSchool of Cinematic Arts News, October 5, 2006</ref>

On September 19, 2006, USC announced that alumnus George Lucas had donated US$175 million to expand the film school with a new Template:Convert facility. This represented the largest single donation to USC and the largest to any film school in the world.<ref>John Zollinger, George Lucas Donates $175 Million to USC Template:Webarchive, USC Public Relations, September 20, 2006</ref> Lucas's previous donations had resulted in the naming of two buildings in the school's previous complex after him and his then-wife Marcia, though Lucas was not fond of the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture used in those buildings. That complex had opened in 1984.<ref>USC’s New Film FactoryWashington Post, November 19, 1984</ref> For several years before it, the film school was housed in now-forgotten shacks that stood, along with campus tennis courts, between Waite Phillips Hall and Birnkrant Residential College. The site is now occupied by Leavey Library and its reflecting pool, along with the Generations Fountain.

Undated campus map shows "Future Home of USC School of Cinematic Arts."
On undated campus map, site of facility that opened in 2009 is marked “Future Home of USC School of Cinematic Arts.” Directly to its east are the buildings of the complex that opened in 1984. Farther east, Leavey Library, which opened in 1994, occupies the site of the tennis courts and film-school shacks of old.
Shacks of old film school are marked on campus map of 1971.
On campus map of 1971, tennis courts and the shacks of the old film school stand between Waite Phillips Hall and Birnkrant Residential College. “Cinema” is circled; and arrow points to “Cinema Annex,” which housed the chairman’s office.

An additional $50 million having been contributed by Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and The Walt Disney Company for its creation, the new facility opened in early 2009.<ref>And Action!—New Cinematic Arts Complex OpensSchool of Cinematic Arts News, January 16, 2009</ref><ref>World Premiere—Cinematic Arts Celebrates 80th Anniversary With All New CampusSchool of Cinematic Arts News, March 31, 2009</ref><ref name="NYT021009"/> Lucas, an architectural hobbyist, had laid out its original designs, inspired by the Mediterranean Revival Style that had been used in older campus buildings and elsewhere in the Los Angeles area.<ref>University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic ArtsArchitect Magazine, May 7, 2014</ref><ref>What George Lucas WroughtWall Street Journal, June 2, 2010</ref>

In fall 2006, the school, together with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, had created the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts (RSICA) in Aqaba, Jordan.<ref>Jordan Signs Cinema Pact With USC Template:Webarchive, USC Public Relations, September 20, 2006</ref> The first classes were held in 2008, and the first graduating class for the university was in 2010.

In 2020, the School of Cinematic Arts announced it would remove an exhibit devoted to actor and former USC student John Wayne. This was after months of insistence on the part of students who denounced the Hollywood star’s views and the portrayal of indigenous Americans in his films. The exhibit has been relocated to the Cinematic Arts library, which has many collections for the study of figures whose lives and works are part of society's shared history. These materials are preserved for posterity and made accessible for research and scholarship, as will be the materials in the Wayne Collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Facilities

The school maintains the following facilities:<ref name=Facilities>Facilities</ref>

At the center of the new television complex is a statue of founder Douglas Fairbanks. He is seen holding a fencing foil in one hand and a script in the other to reflect his strong ties with the USC Fencing Club.

Distinctions

File:052707-022-NorrisCinema-USC.jpg
The Eileen Norris Cinema Theater, a 340-seat theater that regularly hosts film screenings, lectures, and special events.<ref>Eileen Norris Cinema Theatre Complex, USC School of Cinematic Arts Facilities, Accessed January 3, 2009.</ref> It was where THX was first developed and installed.<ref name=USCselftour>USC Self-Guided Tour Template:Webarchive, University of Southern California, Accessed June 8, 2009.</ref>
  • Since 1973, at least one alumnus of SCA has been nominated for an Academy Award annually, totaling 256 nominations and 78 wins.<ref name=SCA040609>Mel Cowan, Cinematic Arts Celebrates 80th Anniversary With All New Campus Template:Webarchive, University of Southern California, March 31, 2009, Accessed May 1, 2009.</ref>
  • Since 1973, at least one SCA alumnus or alumna has been nominated for the Emmy Award annually, totaling 473 nominations and 119 wins.<ref name="SCA040609"/>
  • The top 17 grossing films of all time have had an SCA graduate in a key creative position.<ref name="SCA040609"/>
  • The current acceptance rate for the USC School of Cinematic Arts is 3%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards for USC Cinema short films

Awards for USC Cinema feature films

Template:Clear

Divisions

As presented at its own website,<ref>USC School of Cinematic Arts</ref> the film school’s divisions or programs are the following:

  • John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts
  • Division of Cinema & Media Studies
  • Film & Television Production
  • Interactive Media & Games
  • Media Arts + Practice
  • Peter Stark Producing Program
  • John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television
  • The John H. Mitchell Business of Cinematic Arts Program
  • Expanded Animation Research + Practice

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:University of Southern California Template:Authority control Template:Coord

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=USC_School_of_Cinematic_Arts&oldid=322064"