The experience of going abroad can be invaluable for you as a Cinema Studies major. Your firsthand experience abroad can help you gain new perspectives in areas such as production and screenwriting, while also providing opportunities to study and experience the film industry of your host country. CU-Boulder offers more than 90 programs throughout the world with various types of film courses. These programs offer credit that counts as if you had taken the courses in residence at the University of Colorado at Boulder; in some cases, also fulfilling specific Cinema Studies major and/or A&S core requirements. Depending on the program you select, you may spend a few weeks abroad, a few months abroad, or even a full academic year.
Early planning for education abroad is essential. Most Cinema Studies majors find that Junior year is the best time to study abroad, but you should talk with your advisor about your individual goals and graduation timeline to determine what might be best for you.
For further information and next steps, please visit the CU-Boulder Education Abroad Programs website at http://abroad.colorado.edu
Global Seminar: Cinema & the City (Paris, France)
Summer 2024
Highlights
- Enjoy film screenings and lectures along with visits to museums, film locations and other sites around Paris.
- Spend 3+ weeks of your summer studying film and art in Paris!
- Some afternoons and weekends are free to explore Paris on your own, while there will also be scheduled site visits, tours, and self-guided destinations assigned or led by the faculty director.
- This program is open to all majors and will be offered every other summer (2024, 2026, 2028) and alternates with Cinema & the City (Rome, Italy).
Approved for:
- Cinema Studies Critical Studies elective
- A&S Gen Ed: Arts & Humanities
- Engineering Humanities/Social Sciences
- CMCI Core: Humanities & Arts
- International Affairs Off-Campus Experience
Course Description
This course explores the many histories, inspirations, and imagery of the city of Paris as seen in Classic and Contemporary French and American films from the 1940s to the present. As location, cultural capital of Europe, and the epicenter of French cinema, Paris has played a historic and long-lasting role in film culture since the invention of the medium in 1895. Not only has Paris always been home to the French film industry, but it has also featured as a location—exotic and familiar at the same time—for some of the greatest films in history. Parting from a reconnaissance of the city as seen in Hollywood films like Casablanca and An American in Paris, to groundbreaking films of the French “New Wave” (1958-1964), to new classics like Hugo, Girlhood and Ratatouille, the course will investigate the cinematic history of Paris as viewed by the cinema. We will immerse ourselves in the city as locale, character, and sole universe of many films, and examine the fascination it instills on American views of French culture in general. With readings, screenings and visits to many sites featured in our filmography, we will explore, experience, and take in the many faces of Paris and its surroundings as the most culturally significant metropolis in the history of cinema.
Global Seminar: Filmmaking Abroad: Acting & Directing (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Summer 2024
Highlights:
- Get hands-on experience by participating in all aspects of a film shoot on location
- Earn major credit while spending three weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland, a city with a vibrant arts community
- Learn from professional filmmakers and visit film-specific sights in Scotland
Approved for:
- Production elective for the BA Production Track and BFA (Production)
- Cinema Studies elective for the BA Critical Studies track
- Theatre & Dance elective
- Creative Technology & Design focus elective credit
- A&S Gen Ed: Arts & Humanities
- Engineering Humanities & Social Sciences credit
Course Description:
This class aims to advance the skills of both Actors and Filmmakers specifically in the production of location specific narrative video. The course is designed to take advantage of an environment that is unfamiliar, utilizing an arts community that is new to students. This course draws from different departments and encourages collaboration across the disciplines, teaching filmmakers how to direct actors and actors how to perform on camera. Students will be asked to realize a short film production in an unfamiliar location and work as a team utilizing a culmination of techniques learned from your home programs to secure locations, cast actors, shoot, and edit a film in a foreign country. Students will then edit and present these works before returning to Colorado.
Students will be broken into teams of 3-4, taking on the roles of director, cinematographer and principal cast. Each team will be required to scout a location, cast the remaining actors, and film on location in Scotland.
Students will learn to work with colleagues from a different background, which will require students to interact with the host population and communicate ideas with them. Students will handle responsibilities on both sides of the camera to better understand the various job relationships and will help fulfill the production needs of the course.
