Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Entertainment Media - Documentary Filmmaking

In the Documentary Filmmaking Concentration, students work to master the basics of visual non-fiction storytelling. Throughout the program, students gain practical experience in the underlying skills necessary for documentary production including producing, research, story development, interviewing, writing, cinematography, sound recording and editing. Students will learn the fundamentals of digital video shooting, sound recording and editing, while engaging in a comprehensive study of the history and stylistic range of the documentary genre with a focus on film language, techniques, aesthetics, structure and other elements of cinematic storytelling. Additionally, students practice the art of the pitch, and learn to produce high integrity, commercial non-fiction television programming.
During the course of study, students conceive, produce, direct and digitally edit a nonsynchronous 16mm short Observational film of up to 2 minutes, a short Character documentary of up to 5 minutes, 4 personal Vlogs (Video Blogs) for release via the internet, and a social issue documentary of up to 10 minute in length. Additionally, students will develop and pitch a documentary television series, collaborate in the production, editing and pitch presentation of a 5-10 minute 'sizzle reel of a documentary television series, and complete a thesis documentary of up to 30 minutes, to be presented at NYFA's Documentary Film Festival.

All students pursuing an undergraduate degree from the New York Film Academy must submit an official, final high school transcript in order to complete their application.
Non-U.S. residents or international applicants, for whom English is not the first or native language), are required to submit proof of English proficiency, in the form of:
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 520 or higher (190 for computer-based test or 68 for internet-based test), IELTS 6 or the equivalent.