FILM SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
FILMSCHOOL Q & A: Peter Weishar
Savannah College of Art and Design

Peter Weishar is the dean of the School of Film and Digital Media at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD ), which offers multifaceted film and digital media undergraduate and graduate degree programs.   SCAD graduates are winning awards and nominations at film festivals around the world (300 to date).  Weishar took time to speak to Film School Confidential from the Savannah campus of SCAD.

HDE: Your background includes visual effects, writing, and teaching, what led you to Savannah?

WEISHAR: I taught at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University for about 10 years before joining the Savannah College of Art and Design. At first I taught adjunct in their graduate new media program (the Interactive Telecommunications Program, “ITP”), and then I worked as a full-time professor in the undergraduate film program. I also worked for many years as a commercial artist specializing in digital media. All of my books are on 3D digital art and design.

I came to SCAD because there is no other school to my knowledge that has such expansive, mature and well-integrated offerings in film and digital media. I found the opportunity to “take the reigns” of one of the best and most famous schools of its kind to be a very exciting offer.

HDE: There are undergraduate and graduate offerings at SCAD, could you give us an overview of the Film program that you are in charge of? 

WEISHAR: SCAD is one of the largest and most accomplished visual art schools in the U.S. Every single undergraduate student at SCAD must complete a full foundations program that includes drawing and design. There are also extensive liberal arts requirements that emphasize art history and communication. As a result of the environment and curricula, many students at SCAD have developed a strong visual sensibility and acumen before they enter the major. 

There are great opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration throughout the college. Our film students work with others enrolled in production design, visual effects, broadcast design, performing arts and at least a dozen other majors every term. I see evidence of these collaborations in the very rich and unique visuals and viewpoints that are becoming a signature of SCAD films.

Finally, there is the intangible—but very real—benefit of being part of such a large institution devoted to the arts. For four years, film students are enveloped in a community where creativity and unique forms of expression are the norm rather than the anomaly.

HDE: What kind of projects do the SCAD students create?

WEISHAR: We concentrate on short films throughout the program.  There have been feature length projects, but by and large students explore the narrative form through short films; we work within that 10 to 12 minute long structure to build a thorough understanding of story.  We do allow documentary films to go longer and some of them will fall in the 22-45 minute range.

HDE: Is there a philosophical or approach that makes SCAD different from other film schools? SCAD is such an amazing environment, what do you think contributes to that?

WEISHAR: SCAD has a filmmaking teaching philosophy that is different from most of the other leading film programs that devote the majority of their resources and curricular emphasis on the writer/director aspects of filmmaking. Of course, good writing and storytelling is the core of what we do. However, SCAD places equal emphasis on the other essential filmmaking roles. A student at SCAD will find extensive offerings in cinematography, editing, effects, compositing and sound design as well as writing and directing. In fact, sound design is its own major offered within the SCAD School of Film and Digital Media. I believe that we better prepare students to enter the collaborative field of film and television.

At SCAD every single film student, graduate or undergraduate, is given the opportunity to make their own thesis or senior film. In many other programs, that number may be one in five, eight or even one in 20. It requires a great deal more equipment and resources per student, but we believe that if a student is willing to put in the effort, the opportunity should be there to make his or her own film. In the same vein, we do not charge any lab fees for any of our film classes. A student is able to checkout half a million dollars worth of equipment without paying anything beyond tuition. Making a student film is still very expensive, but SCAD goes a long way to defray a large portion of the cost.

HDE: What technologies are your students interested in?

WEISHAR: On the technical side, there has been a great deal of buzz regarding stereoscopic (3D) films with our animation students. We have responded by creating specific classes in stereoscopic rendering. Many of them are also very excited about Disney’s return to traditional 2D animation.

The film students are extremely excited about the possibilities of high definition video. There is an ease of image capture and manipulation that provides them with a great deal of flexibility.

New distribution models and venues are very exiting for students and faculty alike. Student work can take on a new life beyond the classroom and traditional film festivals through Web 2.0 and mobile distribution.

HDE: Do you perceive that film students today take a different approach to filmmaking?

WEISHAR:  Absolutely.  Before, most young filmmakers looked almost exclusively to feature films for inspiration.  Our students are now looking at a variety of media, including Y ouT ube, video games and animation.  For example, one of our students launched motionographer.com, the number one motion graphic site on the I nternet.  We have seen motionographer cited as an inspiration in other student s’ films.  The environment that these students are experiencing is rapidly evolving and is fundamentally different than what any other generation of filmmakers have experienced.  Of course, their art and films will be new and different.

HDE: SCAD has developed a long-term collaboration with AVID, as well as a number of other companies.  Can you tell us a bit about these?

WEISHAR: SCAD has extensive and successful relationships with many leading companies and major production studios, including AVID. In fact, we work closely with Electronic Arts, Microsoft, HP, Pixar, Rhythm and Hues, Disney, Dreamworks, Autodesk, Pixar’s Renderman, Side Effects, Adobe Systems, Apple, and Mental Images. There are |many more valued partners than the ones listed, but SCAD has an active and consistent policy of close collaboration with industry and professional creatives. Our eagerness to learn and incorporate important technical changes in industry helps give our students an advantage when they start their professional careers.

HDE: The traditional filmmaking model, is it still in favor with students?

WEISHAR: We love those students who want to explore the fundamentals of filmmaking:  film, editorial, sound. Frankly, it’s a badge of honor to shoot on film.
We have a number of film cameras (20 – 16mm, 3 -35mm, and even a full Panavision system) that are busy all the time.  Our students are absolutely interested in the traditional path.  They will, however, use that experience to go forward and incorporate visual effects, animation, and other cutting- edge techniques.

HDE: How do you think that technology impacts the creative process?

WEISHAR: When I started teaching at a film school, we used to talk more about working with visual limitations. Now our students will incorporate digital matte paintings, CG effects and complex composites on a regular basis. I believe student films have started to “open up” and show things like crowd scenes, period pieces, fantasy, extreme weather, etc., features that were just not attainable a few years ago. SCAD is, in fact, the only school in North America to offer an accredited degree program in visual effects, offering both a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a Master of Fine Arts degree in the discipline. Because of the strength of our visual effects program, I believe you will see more visual effects incorporated into films at SCAD than most other schools. Visual effects don’t make the story better, but they do add a rich visual texture to the film.

HDE: How many students go through the Film Program every year? 

WEISHAR: There are nearly 600 students in SCAD’s film and television program. About 80 of them are graduate candidates. In addition to the film and television program, the SCAD School of Film and Digital Media offers degree programs in animation, broadcast design and motion graphics, interactive design and game development, sound design and visual effects. We have approximately 2,700 students total in the School of Film and Digital Media.

HDE: Are there a few alumni that you’re particularly proud of, or whose work you’d like to highlight?

WEISHAR: All of our students and alumni are very talented, but we have several this year who have received significant recognition recently for their films. Three alumni screened their film “The Execution of Solomon Harris” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and two of our undergraduate students were named among the finalists for the highly prestigious (and invitation only) Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Award competition. http://www.ccrfa.com/ccrfa/

For further information about the Savannah College of Art and Design, visit http://www.scad.edu.