Film at Mason is a community of cinematic storytellers that fosters creativity, analysis, diverse perspectives, professional practice, and socially conscious filmmaking.
Taj Kokayi's White Mirror follows a young game designer who comes face to face with the question, "if you could change who you are, would you?"
As a diverse program, Film and Videos Studies supports and trains students in telling their stories and exploring the world as it is, not as it has been historically imagined in mainstream film. From the basic course Writing for the Moving Image (FAVS 280) to senior capstones like Advanced Visual Storytelling students learn the structure and craft of screenwriting that reflects and expands our world. In Documentary Filmmaking, Interactive Storytelling for Social Change, and Video Production for Social Change, students work with community organizations, express complex social issues, and build projects through the research of social scientists that value audience engagement.
Above: Film alum, Esraa Abo Oun, tells us about her experience at George Mason.
In Film and Video Studies, we encourage our students to understand the financing of production and structures of our industry to help them move those stories forward. Our approach to business teaches students to read contracts, build budgets and schedules, and seek financing through required classes Business of Film and Video (FAVS 250) and Producing (FAVS 311). Several of our graduates have launched their own production and service companies as a result.
Our students are not afraid to tackle issues such as mental illness and disability. They feel competent enough to address some of the critical issues facing society and to use the language of cinema to connect that to an audience.