Student Handbook

Mid-Residence Reviews for BFAs

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Experimental Animation and Program in Film and Video

The mid-residence review is a check-in point for BFA students during the first semester of the second year (for PFV students) or the first semester of the third year (for EA students). During your review, you will meet with your with your mentor and a faculty committee
to discuss your past, current, and future work at CalArts and get feedback from your committee. Reviews are scheduled through the Film/Video office. You will receive specifics on the review schedule and your faculty committee when you are due for your mid- residence review.

Mid-Residence Reviews in Character Animation
All Character Animation BFA2 students will have a 45 minute Mid-Residence Review during the last week of Spring Semester. During the review, you will present your work to a committee of Character Animation faculty members, demonstrating your artistic growth during your BFA1 and BFA2 years at CalArts. The committee will assess your work and provide feedback in relation to the objectives of the program, and your progress toward your degree. A summary of the review is placed in your file and uploaded to the Hub. It becomes part of your permanent record at CalArts.

You can show your work digitally or on paper (or a combination of the two). Make sure to organize your work. For example, if you show your work digitally, you could create a folder for your BFA1 work, and a folder for your BFA2 work. Within each folder, create sub-folders as you see fit, etc.

  1. Artwork:
    • Show 20 – 25 examples of your artwork, demonstrating your artistic growth over the last two years. The faculty are interested in seeing the work you’ve done in your courses at CalArts. For example: Life Drawing I and II, Color and Design, Story I and II, Character Design, Perspective, Layout, CG work, etc.
    • Your current portfolio
  2. Animation
    • Show animation tests from your 2D and/or CG Character Animation classes.
  3. Films:
    • Show your BFA1 film
    • Show your BFA2 film, which you will have just finished. Present a brief selection of pre-production work. Give the committee a full picture of how you put together your film, and talk about your goals and process.