Requirements BFA | Film & TV Production Design

Bachelor of Fine Arts 2024 through2025

Film and Television

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Production Design Concentration

Students majoring in the BFA Film and Television program are forbidden from double-majoring in the BA Film and Television program; as well as from minoring in Digital Cinema and Television Production.

Curriculum Requirements

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First Year

  • FILM 101 Foundations of Cinema for Majors
  • FILM 105 Foundations of Television
  • FILM 110 Cinema Production I for Majors
  • FILM 131 History of Cinema Production
  • FILM 170 The Art of Production Design
  • FILM 171 Visualizing Cinema I: The Art of Film Drafting
  • FILM 172 Visualizing Cinema II: Advanced Film Drafting
  • ILL 200 Illustration Foundations
  • SCWR 110 Inclusive Representation in Film and Tv
    OR MPOP 274 Diversity and Inclusion in Cinema and Television
Liberal Studies Requirements

Second Year

  • ANI 220 Storyboarding I
  • FILM 173 Visualizing Cinema III: Drafting for Production Design
  • FILM 250 Cinematography I
  • FILM 270 Production Design
  • FILM 274 Behind the Scenes: Film and Television Construction Methods, Materials and Budgeting
  • FILM 279 Visual Design
  • FILM 283 Directing I: Script Analysis for Directors
  • POST 110 Editing I
  • VFX 320 Fundamentals of Virtual Production
Liberal Studies Requirements
  • 1 Arts & Literature
  • MAT 120 Quantitative Reasoning
  • MAT 120 Quantitative Reasoning


Third Year

  • DES 387 Scene Painting (2 credit hours)
  • FILM 174 Visualizing Cinema IV: Designing for the Art Department
  • FILM 271 Survey of Architecture and Art for Film I
  • FILM 272 Survey of Architecture and Art for Film II
  • FILM 273 Interior Design / Set Decoration for Film
  • FILM 370 Advanced Production Design
  • GD 150 Illustrator Workshop (2 credit hours)
    OR GD 151 Photoshop Workshop (2 credit hours)
  • POST 128 The Art of Sound Design and Film
  • SCWR 101 Screenwriting for Majors
  • SCWR 120 Film Structure for Majors
  • VFX 324 Production Design for Virtual Production
Liberal Studies Requirements
  • 1 Experiential Learning

Fourth Year

  • DES 284 Model Building (3 credit hours)
  • FILM 210 Cinema Production II
  • FILM 371 Production Design IV: Production Design Studio
  • FILM 398 Digital Cinema Capstone
  • Four (4) Credit Hours of Major Electives
Liberal Studies Requirements
  • 1 Arts & Literature
  • 1 Philosophical Inquiry
  • 1 Religious Dimensions
  • 1 Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry
  • 1 Historical Inquiry
  • 1 Scientific Inquiry Lab

Major Electives

Major Electives must be selected from 200 or 300-level courses in ANI, CP, DOC, FILM, POST, SCWR or VFX.

Open Electives

Open Elective Credit Hours are required to meet the minimum graduation requirements of 192 hours. Open electives may be taken from any unit at DePaul.


Liberal Studies

The Liberal Studies program is the general education portion of the curriculum at DePaul University. Students must earn a grade of D or better in all courses taken to satisfy these requirements. The only exception is the Capstone course which is considered also a major requirement and WRD 103 and WRD 104 in which students need to earn a C- or better.

Students may choose to take some CDM courses that carry Liberal Studies credit but they cannot double count them if they are part of the major requirements. A complete list of courses that carry Liberal Studies credit can be found on the Liberal Studies website along with an overview of the Liberal Studies requirements for this program. Students can search for courses that satisfy a particular Liberal Studies requirement on campusconnect.

Although students are free to take course requirements in any order they choose, provided they have mastered the course-specific prerequisites, it is strongly recommended that students follow these year-by-year suggestions, especially regarding the first-year major courses.

Courses offered in the student's primary major cannot be taken to fulfill LSP Domain requirements.

Degree Requirements

Students in this degree must meet the following requirements

  • Complete a minimum of 192 credit hours
  • Earn a grade of C- or higher in WRD 103, WRD 104, and all Major and Minor courses
  • Earn a grade of D or higher in all other Liberal Studies and Open Elective courses
  • Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher

Students who earn a cumulative DePaul University GPA

  • Between 3.500 and 3.699 will graduate Cum Laude
  • Between 3.700 and 3.849 will graduate Magna Cum Laude
  • of at least 3.850 will graduate Summa Cum Laude

For DePaul's policy on repeat courses and a complete list of academic policies see the DePaul Undergraduate Handbook in the Course Catalog.