Film & Photography

CAPTURING AND TELLING VISUAL STORIES

Pacifica's film production and photography programs offer students a robust, hands-on introduction to the art of crafting still and moving images. Teaching cutting-edge skills in both visual composition and dynamic storytelling, these courses equip students to engage in meaningful ways with today's image-saturated world. Diverse projects—including photography exhibitions, short film productions, and SCREEN Film Festival—encourage students to practice making their own marks in contemporary culture, while explorations into the history of photography and cinema give them a perspective that helps them to understand their creations as part of a larger, ongoing story.

Screen Student Film Festival

Now in its 17th year, the Pacifica-produced SCREEN Student Film Festival has grown into one of the largest student film fests in Los Angeles. SCREEN receives hundreds of submissions annually from some of the best high school filmmakers in California and culminates in a red carpet event at American Cinematheque’s historic Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Students in the film program perfect the art of storytelling from developing an idea and writing, pre-production, production, to post-production. Together students write, produce, direct, shoot, edit, and create original narrative films while learning the process and the variety of roles that go into the filmmaking process.

EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES

Students have several opportunities to collaboratively produce events and exhibit their work throughout the school year. Most notable are the annual Winter Art Gallery and Pacifica’s beloved i.Sight Festival. Having the courage to put one's creative work out there for pubic view, competition, and critique, creates important growth moments for a young artist, and builds a tight community like no other experience can.