Media
(VIS-BA-003, previously VA27)
The Visual Arts – Media major provides comprehensive, hands-on training in film, video, and photography. Combining technical mastery with conceptual development, students gain skills in narrative and documentary filmmaking, video art, sound design, and both digital and analog photography. Working across lens- and time-based disciplines, students build adaptable critical- thinking, analytical, and collaborative skills that translate across diverse fields.
The curriculum prepares emerging creators for careers in film production, contemporary art, and digital platforms, as well as graduate study. Eligible students in the Honors track work directly with faculty on senior thesis projects, including short films, video installations, exhibitions, and books.
Major Curriculum Sheet:
Please note, the department is implementing changes to the curriculum, be sure to select the appropriate curriculum sheet below. Contact an academic advisor if you are not sure which version of the curriculum you should follow.
For Students Declared Fall 2025 and Later
For Students Declared Fall 2021 to Spring 2025
Students with the major declared prior to Fall 2021 need to contact an academic advisor for the appropriate curriculum sheet.
Development of Technical and Conceptual Skills
Rooted in a rich history of experimentation at UC San Diego, the program is led by a faculty of world-class artists who equip students with the critical tools to forge distinct creative voices. The curriculum blends technical expertise with ambitious conceptual inquiry, offering comprehensive instruction in moving image and still photography across both digital and analog media. The major prepares students for professional creative fields, from contemporary visual art to independent digital video production on emerging platforms.
Moving image instruction covers:
- Short-form film production
- Video editing
- Sound design
- Cinematography
- Screenwriting
- Experimental video
- Multi-channel installation
Photography coursework spans:
- Documentary and studio practices
- Darkroom processing
- Bookmaking
- Fine art digital printing
- Art direction
- Photo editing
- Gallery display
Seminars, critiques, and coursework hone students’ conceptual skills, including:
- Translating ideas into film, video and photography
- Building visual literacy and moving-image grammar
- Fluency in film and media history
- Developing proposals, scripts, and production workflows
- Collaboration and creative partnerships
- Innovation within technical constraints
- Engaging in constructive critique
- Exhibiting across gallery, theatrical, and digital platforms
Critical Inquiry and Public Engagement
The Visual Arts – Media major encourages students to engage deeply with social, political, and cultural questions of our time. Students develop a critical approach to conventional film, experiment with formal and aesthetic play, and examine photography within an expanded ecology of images. The curriculum empowers students to challenge dominant narratives, interrogate visual power, and contribute meaningfully to the contemporary media landscape and broader public sphere. Course offerings include:
- Engaging Social, Political, & Cultural Questions: Race and Class in Visual Culture (VIS-012R), Media in Social Context (VIS-152), Identity through Transnational Cinemas (VIS-152D), History of Social Documentary (VIS-158C), and Documentary Evidence (VIS-180A)
- Critical Approaches to Conventional Film & Dominant Narratives: Film and Media Aesthetics (VIS-084B, VIS-085B), Seminars in Film and Media Theory (VIS-150A, VIS-151A), and Digital Cinema: Theory and Practice (VIS-171)
- Photography within an Expanded Ecology of Images: Photographic History and Strategies (VIS-083, VIS-164), Photography After 1960 (VIS-158B), and Advanced Photography & Exhibition Practices (VIS-169A, VIS-182A)
- Formal/Aesthetic Play & Experimental Practice: Experimental Cinema (VIS-151), Media Sketchbook (VIS-174), 16mm Filmmaking (VIS-176), and Sound: Theory and Practice (VIS-178)
Facilities and Tools
Recognizing film, video, and photography as complementary mediums with shared technical foundations, the program provides students with access to an elite suite of industry-standard tools housed in the Media Teaching Lab.
Students gain hands-on experience with:
- Camera & Lighting Systems: Analog film and digital cinema cameras, professional studio lighting setups, field audio recording gear
- Video & Audio Post-Production: Mac Pro editing workstations running Adobe Creative Suite, and industry standard sound-design and mixing platforms (DAWs); 16mm and Super 8 optical scanners
- Photography & Darkroom Facilities: Traditional darkroom for photo developing, fine art printing stations, color-correction preview displays, and high-resolution scanning suites
- Display & Presentation: Flat-screen displays, high-definition critique monitors, projectors, and studio lightboxes
- Printmaking & Publishing Lab: Risograph printing, large-format vinyl cutting, etching press, and a complete bookbinding and publishing lab equipped with stack cutters, paper creasers, and book presses
The Adam D. Kamil Media Awards
Established by the Kamil family in memory of Visual Arts – Media major Adam Douglas Kamil, these annual awards celebrate the power of film and video to connect people. Open to undergraduates across all majors, the award honors emerging filmmakers and video artists at UC San Diego.
Submissions are judged by Visual Arts faculty and graduate students, culminating in an exhibition in the Adam D. Kamil Gallery and a screening ceremony. The prize awards a $4,000 grand prize alongside two $2,000 finalist prizes. Applications are typically due in the Spring Quarter.
Past Winners: Browse selected submissions and award-winning projects from recent years.
Comparisons with Related Majors
The Visual Arts – Media major offers an immersive, production-focused curriculum where students master digital cinema, analog photography, and sound design alongside extensive study in media theory and exposure to interdisciplinary, visual art coursework. Alternatively, the Cinematic Arts and Film Studies major examines cinema through a cross-departmental humanities lens. Review the comparison below to explore the key differences between both programs.
Download the PDF Comparison Chart
Visual Arts – Media Major
Students focusing on film, video, and photography receive extensive hands-on studio experience alongside instruction in media history and theory. Upper-division courses (exclusive to majors) emphasize technical mastery of digital cinema, analog film, photography, and sound design in state-of-the-art facilities, preparing graduates to be filmmakers, video artists, and photographers.
- Focus: Active production, interdisciplinary art-making (narrative/documentary film, video art, digital media, photography) and media theory.
- Interdisciplinary Breadth: Electives in Computing Arts, Speculative Design, painting, sculpture, and performance.
- Senior Projects: Self-directed creative project (short film, photo book, video installation). Up to 12 units of faculty-mentored independent study available via the Honors Program.
- Unit Breakdown:
- Film/Video & Photo Production: 40 units (2 introductory, 4 intermediate, 4 upper-division)
- Media Studies: 20 units (5 classes)
- Interdisciplinary: 16 units (4 Vis Arts classes in Studio, ICAM, or Spec Design)
- Art History: 4 units (1 class)
Cinematic Arts and Film Studies Major
Offered by the Institute of Arts and Humanities, this program draws courses from Visual Arts, Communication, Literature, and other humanities departments to foster deep literacy in film history, critical theory, and cinematic form.
- Focus: Scholarly, theoretical, and historical analysis of cinema (global, independent, experimental, Hollywood).
- Production Foundations: Lower-division fundamentals (directing, editing, cinematography) and access to intermediate courses from the Visual Arts and Communication departments to equip both scholars and filmmakers with technical understanding.
- Senior Capstone: Dedicated practicum and capstone project.
- Unit Breakdown:
- Film Production: 32 units (4 foundational, 4 intermediate, 0 upper-division)
- Film Studies: 32 units (8 classes)
- Practicum & Capstone: 8 units (2 classes)