FILM AND NEW MEDIA

What does it mean to research filmic expression at the Graduate School of Film and New Media? After all, many people make films and other works as undergraduates or as industry professionals. Academic background is not a strict requirement for filmmaking. Anyone with equipment and technical skills can make a film. So why go through the trouble of studying at a graduate school?

A little digging into this school’s history will reveal that until the establishment of the Graduate School of Film and New Media in 2005, this university consisted only of the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Music. The histories of both faculties stretch back as far as the Meiji era, and both faculties currently embrace numerous fields of study. This division into specialized fields is a clear sign that a discipline has attained maturity. Such a discipline has its own distinct theories and methodologies, allowing students studying it for the first time to efficiently acquire the accumulated knowledge.

In contrast, the discipline of filmic expression is still expanding, and as a result, it cannot yet be consolidated into areas of study. For the sake of convenience, this graduate school is organized into the three departments of Film Production, New Media and Animation for the master’s degree programs, as well as the doctoral program in Film and New Media Studies. However, it makes little sense to question whether a documentary should use live-action footage or animation. Both approaches are valid. Live-action film, media art, and animation all can contribute to artistic expression such as stage performances, game productions, or virtual reality projects. Filmic expression is still a fluid and dynamic field in terms of both the objective of storytelling and the employed methods.

Given these circumstances, this graduate school plays an important role in developing the field through researching media production methods and theories. The word “research” may sound pretentious, but in essence it means verbalizing the thought processes involved in creative works. These thoughts and methods might originate with an individual creator’s work, but they can also serve as useful references for other creators. Furthermore, these observations accumulate and eventually transcend individual works to form theories and methodologies. Although the issues to be addressed in the course of research are left to the individual, there is a multitude of factors that need consideration: How to entertain the audience? How to offer a completely new experience? How to bring underlying issues to the surface? How to enable viewers to visualize the invisible?

The departments in this graduate school share in common the encouragement of “thinking while creating.” It is well known that exploring the mind during the creative process is an effective route to making new discoveries. However, this exploration is difficult to achieve while in university. This graduate school encourages students to embrace this opportunity to “think while creating,” and posits the importance of creating outstanding works while also gaining new insights through research. One day in the distant future, people just might trace the field’s intellectual roots back to our own era.

Takashi Kiriyama
Dean

Established
April 2005

Campus
Developed in collaboration with Yokohama City at 4-44 Hon-cho, Naka Ward, Yokohama (the former Fuji Bank building).
Nearest station: Bashamichi Station on the Yokohama Minatomirai Subway line

Name of degree conferred
Master’s Program–Master (Film)
Doctoral Program–Doctor (Film and New Media)

Graduate School of Film and New media WEB Site
http://fm.geidai.ac.jp/en/