Rhode Island School Of Design Film Animation Video

Film Animation Video students setting up lights for film project

In Film/Animation/Video students explore the art of the moving image, learning to master the tools needed to articulate a creative vision, whether using film, animation, installations, interactive media or a combination. FAV professors support the investigation of the technical, aesthetic and conceptual questions central to creating strong content with a unique voice.

Degree program

a film still by RISD alum Brianna DeLuca capturing the movement of a dancer

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

With the option to focus on live action, animation or open media, the FAV bachelor's encourages you to make work in a range of genres, master technical skills and deepen your knowledge of the moving image as a powerful art form.

In the studio

In the studio, FAV majors bounce ideas off each other while focusing on making documentary, experimental and narrative films or animated work using a wide range of techniques, from CGI to hand-drawn to stop-motion animation and more.

Student work

Anthony Huang BFA 2017
Cayla Gao BFA 2018
Korinne Faye BFA 2017
Savannah Barkley BFA 2017
Tiffany Ng BFA 2018
Brianna DeLuca BFA 2018
Tess Wagman BFA 2018
Carillon Smith BFA 2018
Sofiya Fayzieva BFA 2018
Katie Falk BFA 2018
Nabila Burias BFA 2018
Daisy Borders BFA 2018
Natasha Sharpe BFA 2017

A Film Animation Video student works at an editing table

Film/Animation/Video alumni make their mark as creative professionals in a wide variety of ways. Working as entrepreneurs or through studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks or Harmonix, or for networks like Fox, HBO and PBS, they write, direct, produce, serve as animators, cinematographers, character designers, game designers, lighting specialists, sound artists and much more…

Alumni at work

A still of actor Amy Schumer performing in a tv show produced by RISD alum Ryan Cunningham

Ryan Cunningham BFA 02 | tv/film producer

Television and film producer Ryan Cunningham has collaborated with acclaimed comedians like Amy Schumer, Tracy Morgan and John Mulaney on numerous high-profile projects. The co-owner of NYC studio Running Man consults on scripts, works on set during shooting and oversees "pretty much everything that happens from the moment the camera stops rolling to the point when a show airs." While still at RISD, she started her career as an intern for WGBH public broadcasting, where she went on to win an Emmy for producing the children's seriesThe Electric Company.

A still from work by Film Animation Video alum Ryan Trecartin

Ryan Trecartin BFA 04 | video artist

Within five years of graduation, video artist Ryan Trecartin had landed a trio of major awards, racking up more than $200,000 in art prizes leading the art critic forThe New Yorker to proclaim him "the most consequential artist to have emerged since the 1980s" andNew York Times critic Roberta Smith to predict that he's "bound for greatness." A regular collaborator with RISD Sculpture alum Lizzie Fitch, Trecartin has shown work in solo exhibitions all over the world, from the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and MoMA PS1 in NYC, to Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, Austria among many others.

A still from RISD alum Gus Van Sant's film Milk starring Sean Penn

Gus Van Sant | film director

Known for his audacious, often offbeat movies, director Gus Van Sant has built his success on a magical combination of ingenious writing, perceptive casting and a healthy obsession with detail. FromMy Own Private IdahoandDrugstore Cowboyto the Oscar-nominatedGood Will Hunting andMilk, he has shown great range while maintaining an independent voice.

Film Animation Video students work at a post-production editing table